Jamesw2

This is my go to calculator for gearing. I am at 260 lbs (still) So my needs may be the same for a rider with full gear.
Mike Sherman's Bicycle Gear Calculator

My KHS Urban X was not geared low enough for me with tired legs ( after 40 miles) to get me over a small steep hill let alone a climb at altitude.

With a new crank I now have a 22 front 34 rear or as i put it a 12 tooth difference between front and back (about 18 gear inches) A 26 front 36 rear (700c 42 mm) will give About 20 gear inches

I have determined that that a 10 or 12 tooth difference for a low gear is low enough to make a turn into a steep uphill driveway at slow speed.

I ride 42 mm tires so that helps with stability at slow speed.

I have other bikes with higher ratio low gear.

rifraf

I recently sold my Moulton APB (20" wheels)).
My accommodation situation decrees I own but one bike.
I found my Moulton wasn't suitable for local conditions, lacking water hauling capacity being the main (but not only reason).
I miss the Moulton but have to acknowledge, mixed surface touring on the Ogre is a more satisfying experience

Booger1

A million years ago I road SF-LA with my old Ross road bike....42-28 or something like that...with panniers

Once was enough for me.....

ct-vt-trekker

I think most people voting missed the word "light"?
If you use 20 gear inches for light touring what do you use for heavy loaded touring?

krobinson103

I seldom ride 'light' even commuting. I think my current load sits at 16kg bike and gear weight so I like to have low gears to grind up the hills with. Fast day on a roadie? compact with 32 at the back.

nun

16kg for bike and gear is pretty lightweight.

bradtx

That's about what my touring bike weighs with three full water bottles and repair items.

Brad

Doug64

I didn't miss it; I use essentially the same low gearing for both light touring and loaded. The frame may change , but I have no need to change the gearing very much. My light touring bike, <20 lbs, has a 119"-19" spread, 4.5-26.5 MPH @80 RPM. My touring bike, 28-32 lbs, has 107"-17.2" spread, 4.1- 25.3 MPH @ 80 RPM. I have not had many situations where I have a need, or can pedal faster than 26 MPH. I have used my lowest gear on both bikes a lot.

When touring even if the mileage was the same for going uphill and downhill, much more time is spent going uphill. I select my gearing for the type of terrain I spend the most time cycling, uphill.

What are the reasons you would want a higher gears in either situation?

krobinson103

Only reason I can think of for that is to go faster downhill. I'm happy going 30mph downhill more than that scares me. Don't need more than 48-11.

Sixty Fiver

My heavy duty touring bike has a range of 16-95 gear inches, with nerve damage in my back affecting my left leg I have to do most of the heavy lifting with my right leg and I spin like a gerbil on crack (90-95 rpm) but can maintain this all day... I run an LX compact triple with a 20 tooth granny and a custom 12-32 block.

The light tourer (which could also do some heavy hauling) currently has a 23-90 gear range... it has 20 inch wheels and a 42/53 road double and 11-34 cassette and will eventually get a 9 speed dual drive. As it is I can spin it out at 55 kmh on the flats but more important is that I can maintain a pace of 30kmh for 160 km in good conditions and the bike stays in the 53 tooth ring most of the time... that is with 20 pounds of gear / water.

In either case, I can pull stumps if I need to... I don't have any knee issues and find that this higher cadence approach really improves my stamina and I usually end the day going just as fast as I started.

djb

some recent experience from a two day 200km overnight camping trip, I thought of this thread....

the route for this trip was supposed to be entirely on a rail trail, hence with gradual grades, so I left the 12-27 cassette on my bike and the low gear is 26 g.i.
I had my tent, warmer sleeping bag (expected night temps maybe down to 3 or 4c), some warmer clothes and extra clothes to cover cold riding in the rain, full rain gear, food etc. Ended up using my old front panniers as well just to balance everything out, could have gone rear only but it would have been a bit heavy and I wouldnt have room for stopping at end of day and adding in some more foodstuffs (especially bulky stuff that would be only there until supper and breakfast)

so about 20lbs, maybe 25 tops

the second day ended up being horrible weather wise, warmest was maybe 7c (45f) and rained cats and dogs, I must have ridden 6+ hours in the rain, rode 110km and wasnt going to camp a second night cuz the weather was so unrelentingly wet and cold.

the rail trail got so sodden that I got fed up with the softness regularly slowing me down like molasses, so bailed on the trail and took a secondary highway that had some pretty long, reasonably steep hills--going through downhill ski hill territory, kind of expected it.

bottom line, for me with that amount of weight and 26 g.i, the gearing was a bit too high and I now have a sore knee. Ironically the knee that never gives me problems-I suspect I overworked it worrying about my other knee that I have to be careful with, which was and is perfectly fine.

so lesson learned, having lower gearing than you think is fine is never going to be a detriment. There will always be times like this, being tired, soaking wet, hitting steeper hills than expected, that you will appreciate having a lower gear or two.

If I had put the 11-32 and longer chain on, my knee wouldnt be sore and I'd be riding today rather than taking the car to work. Going slower up the hills with a higher cadence would have been easier on my knees, and in the big scheme of things wouldn't have been much more time over the course of the day.

I'm about 50, and am mindful of my knees overall, but I still have ridden about 3800km this season and this is the first time in years a knee has bugged me like this, I'm taking a bunch of days off riding and hopeful it will just get better on its own, from being strained a bit too much.

so there you go, and to the original poster, as said before, put the weight on your bike that you think you will be taking, and do some weekend rides hitting hills and really listen to what your legs and knees tell you, there aint no shame in lower gearing.

neubilder

WARNING! - rekindling old thread alert -

I don't get it. Why are virtually all of the posts talking about gear/inch ratios in the teens or low 20's?

I just completed a 2500km tour throughout upstate New York and New England, including the Finger lakes, the Catskills, the Berkshires, and a bit of southern Vermont. So lots of hills, even small mountains. Close to 50,000 feet of climbing altogether. My bike is a litespeed blueridge with campy record parts and weighs 22lbs with racks. My loaded gear weights 25 lbs including camping equipment. Total bike + gear weight = <50lbs. I weigh 158lbs, 5'-11".
Gear ratios are 53/39 front and 14-28 rear. I found my gear ratios were good 98% of the time, but on occasion (long climbs greater than 8% or 9% I found myself having to do switchbacks (yes I understand the risks of this, but I'm also confident in my ability to do it safely). My gear/inch ratio equaled 36.8 at the low end. If I had one or two more lower gears bringing me down to gear/inch ratio of around 32 I think I'd be set for all conditions, except perhaps climbs of more than 12 or 14%, but in these cases I'm happy doing a few switchbacks. Anything under 25 would be unusable to me.

This was my 6th long distance tour. Years ago I crested the Pyrenees at Andorra with a gear/inch ratio of 36 and almost 45 lbs of gear (65lbs total bike+gear weight).

I've passed people who were riding moderately-loaded touring bikes like they were standing still. They were spinning yet hardly moving, looked like they were about to tip over. My cadence was where it should be and without overloading my knees.

Surely I'm not that much of an outlier.

djb

If it works for you, fine. That's really what it comes down to. Everybody has to just ride their ride, speed, cadence, amount of stuff taken, whatever.
If you are having fun and your knees are fine, then congrats.
If you are writing this to feel better than others, what's the point?

rawklobster

I responded with 20" but when my bike is built, it will be 16-17".

fietsbob

my 54t mountain drive crank on my Brompton acts like its got 21.6t in low range , the BSR hub has a 15t cog on it.

so low is 17.4 "

the 24:34 in a 622-35 wheel was 19.2"

SurlyLHT26in08

I am using 24-32-42t crankset and 11-34t 9 Speed cassette on my Surly LHT 26in