The only thing I really know about gearing is bigger in the front makes it harder, smaller in the rear makes it harder and vice versa.

I've been riding the stock 48/16 rings on my Bianchi Pista for about a year. It was OK if a bit high in New York, but I just moved out to Southern California and it feels like too much.

Would something like 48/18 be more appropriate for the rolling hill type of stuff of SoCal? Or something more radical with a change of front ring too?

The gear inches thing I understand but I don't know what like 72" feels like. Suggestions?

I roll with 81" of fury here in SoCal.

Ride whatever you feel comfortable with. One thing to keep in mind is that with an easier gear it may be easier to spin up a hill, but its also to spin out on the other side.

Try the 48/16 and see if you like it, if its still to tough go with a smaller ring up front.

I think your best bet is to take a ride on a multi-speed road bike and experiment with different gears until you find one you like---then buy whatever cog will give your Pista the same or similar gear ratio. In this case, what anyone else says about what a certain gear feels like to them is probably going to be too relative to be helpful.

One easy way is to use a geared bike and find a combination thats either near the new gearing you've chosen or you like to use and base your gearing choice of that.

Sheldon brown has a good gear inches calculator so you can see how it would match up:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

I use a 48x18 in SF and its pretty good all round. Good speed on the flats, but with enough left to get up most (but not all) hills without a huge struggle. Occassionally I still need to push up the odd block, like the Fillmore St hill. Haven't yet had a problem spinning out.

gearing is in the eye (or the legs) of the beholder!

do we need a "gearing" sticky, too??!?!?!@?@??!?!?!?!?!?!?WE?DAS?DAS?D

I think so!!! but maybe it should be called "Pissing Contest"

Too many stickeys already!

Let's just add to the FAQs that before you ask a question, do a forum search first

it was a joke!!!!

pisspisspiss

I've managed North Carolina rollers running a 52x16 (88")
but find that something in the mid-70" range is better for
rolling rides over 40 miles. My newest runs a 52x19.

Gearing depends on whether your using a fixed gear for conditioning or wrecking yourself.

68" is a long time favourite of mine, you can climb over anything and on the flat you will hold 27/30kmph at a cadence of 90-100, do the maths.

Low cadence training won't condition your muscle groups to their most efficient range (85-100) and when the pressures on you'll be jamming big gears to keep up.

Spin is king just ask Lance.

OK ... I'm not really good at talking about numbers but I'll try to do this ...

It seems like riding a multi geared bike to figure out what ratio you are comfortable with wouldn't work because you have the longer chain and the derail-thingy. Everyone, myself included, defends single speed bikes by saying, among other things, you can run a bigger ratio and not have to work as hard to do as you would on a multi-geared bike, right? Does anyone know how to calculate how many gear inches you gain running single speed?

Sorry if there is an obvious answer to this but my brain doesn't do math so well ...

I have used Sheldon Brown's gear calculator and the Gerz Bicycle Gear Table to find a gear on a multi-gear bike I could use as a sample, and then I've spent the day in that gear.
I commute 7.5 miles with a 500' gain one way.
In a 48X18 gear I can do it all in the saddle and in a 48X16 gear I have to get out of the saddle for about 50 yards of it.
So, now I have those two sprockets on my Pista; one for strong day and one for a puny day.

Maybe. I'm a newbie to the fixed/ss world (just launched a project to build my first), but going by Sheldon Brown's website, the benefits are: a) fun -- due to a closer connection between you, the bike and the road, b) fitness/form since you can't coast or shift down when the going gets tough, c) feel, especially in slippery conditions, and last but not least, d) efficiency due to less weight, better chainline, and less drag caused by the derailleur pulleys. It's this last issue I think you're referring to.

Slarti........ the gear inches stay the same the difference to your ride is less drag from derailleurs and cluster(minor) and momentum from the back wheel reducing your effort to get over the top of the gear(major).

The common mistake is to use the bigger gears which duplicate dynamic load weight training which you can achieve with a good MTB workout rather than using the benefits of the momentum to increase your cadence and conditioning for higher spin and greater extension which equals greater muscular efficiency.