48 tooth gearing?
 

i am currently running 48/17 and it is just a bit too low for me. I am looking for a good cog size that would give me some speed with a low cadence while keeping my same chainring. any help would be appreciated. thanks!

The only way to get some speed with a low cadence would be to go even smaller than your 17, but you say that the 17 is a bit to low. So your post is somewhat confusing.

maybe using a smaller cog would be a good option: 16 or 15T. 48x16 looks like a happy medium to most people.

the ratio itself is low, the cadence is too high for me. especially mobbing down big hills.

do you think a 15t would make it impossible for hill climbing? I normally ride flat and downhill but i have to climb hills once in a while.

depends on the slope of the hill. you won't know until you try

A 48/15 will give you 84.2 gear inches if you are running a 700x23c wheel. At 90 rpm you could ride at 22.5 mph. Any moderate or steep hills at that big of a gear would be hard to push. IMO

You should be able to hold 27-30mph going down hill on that ratio. Really it's not low at all. And you won't be able to climb any hills more than 1/2mile long with a higher ratio.

Learning to spin faster will help all areas of your cycling. Put on a full set of brakes, so you still have full stopping power, and learn to spin.

48x17 is not very low at all, spinning is good for your knees and they will thank you later in life when you can still walk. Work on your technique and smoothing out your pedal stroke.

+1

If the hills you're going down are indeed big enough to spin out 48/17, there's no way you'll be able to climb them with a higher gear. If your area is that seriously hilly, you might consider switching to single-speed. But try spinning first. Don't put a higher gear on it.

48x17 = 74.2 gi, 48x16 = 75.6 gi, 1.4 gi not a material difference.

It's enough to cause knee pain in some people. I can't ride 48x16 without my knee hurting, 48x17 is fine though. Also 48x16 yields one skid patch.

Learn how to spin.

x2

Oops, I mean't 46 x 16 = 75.6 gi.

um... just buy a cheap 16t avenir cog for $8 and try it out for yourself.

i know how to spin fast but i just want more speed while being a little more relaxed and not pedaling my ass off.

I'm currently on 48/15 and it's a ***** going uphill. I haven't been riding long, so I have room to improve, but I'm planning on getting atleast a 16t, probably a 17t.

Man up. 52/14 FTW.

Take it one step further. 53/13. 107 gear inches of pain.

The ideal gear is where it hurts as much going down hill as it hurts going uphill.

People tend to go too tall single speed, thinking the harder it is to pedal, the faster they will be going. That may be true for brief sprints, but for most people the taller gear will destroy your average time. 48/17 is plenty tall for solo road riding.

I run 49/16 and run some hills (not daily but often enough.) They are Ohio hills, so not terrible by any means, but I find this ratio to be perfect. About ~85 gi

Thunder Thighs! :)

My gearing is 48x16t w700x/25mm tires for 79.1 GI. 21.2 mph @ 90 rpm and 28.3 @ 120 rpm. 120 is pretty hard to hold form for any length of time. At least, it is for me. My commute is 41.2 miles rt w/a 500 ft elevation difference. On mapmyride.com the hills on my homeward commute are rated @ 2-4% grade when factored in the overall commute. When tracked one at a time from bottom to top it turns out they are 6-8%. One is 1.25 miles going from 5 to 8% for the last .5 mile. The last six miles have me climbing 425 feet of the elevation difference. :notamused: On the same hills into work I 'pedal out' on some of the down slopes.

I'm sort of in the same quandry. I'd like to drop down to 15 or 14, but my knees feel pretty good w/this gearing. And I am getting much better about not bouncing in the saddle while spinning on the downslopes. Like someone suggested I'll buy a cheap cog and try it out for a couple of weeks. By dropping down 1 tooth size it increases one's GI by more than 5...that's quite a bit. Takes one to 22.6 mph @ 90 and 30.1 @ 120.

52x14? 98 GI w/a top end of 35.0 mph @ 120. FTW, indeed. :eek: