Gearing for Road SingleSpeeds?

[FSSS]

I just finished fixin' up my old 80's Trek; converted it to singlespeed (not fixie). Took it for its first spin yesterday... nice and fast.

It's set-up with a 52:17 ratio right now and it seems to work well for the riding I do (down the Minnehaha Creek trail and around the lakes).

What gear ratios are other people running?


tp

[LightWeight]

I had my commuter setup 36:16. Kinda spinny on the flats, but I have a few hills to contend with. It also works well for Burley hauling.

[ppgc]

I had my commuter setup 36:16. Kinda spinny on the flats, but I have a few hills to contend with. It also works well for Burley hauling.

Same here. It isnt' the fastest but I can get up those hills without much work.

-pete

[FSSS]

Maybe it was the heat, but I was pretty sluggish today with 52:17.

I'm gonna try 52:20 on my ride tomorrow. It still have the old 6-speed hub and horizontal dropouts, so experimenting with different ratios is easy.

Plus, the 4 small uphills I hit during my ride will be a little easier on the knees.

[Aaroneous]

I'm running 40-15 on my fixie right now, and I really dig it... I'd rather spin on the flats than die on hills - and I can ride all of Wirth without touching the brakes.:D

[bolmsted]

I'm putting the finishing touches on a ss road bike right now and I'm setting it up to be 39x16. ...It's what I had around the house mostly. I'm thinking I'll want a bigger gear though because I commute on my mtb in a 44x16 or 44x14 mostly (with knobbies). Maybe I'll set it up with a 50x16 if I don't like it. I have a spare 50 tooth ring sitting around from the old days of junior mandated max gear ratios for regionals and nationals races.

[KleinCrazy]

Right now my Cross is being set up to run 42X17 with a option of 42X20 if I have a really hilly ride.


I will also probably get a larger front ring 45/48/50 for those long rides in Nebraska and Kansas.

[Trevize1138]

I've got a 44X17 on mine and it works out quite nice for commuting. I considered running something with a 50+ tooth ring up front but everyone experienced at that recommended against such tall gearing.

[mara]

My road single looks suspiciously like my SS mountain bike, so I usually ride 32x16, the toughest gear I can run without major parts swapping. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. I'll never set any land speed records, but I'm learning how to maintain a fast spin for more than a few seconds at a time.

[funky-funky-chicken]

Some of y'all push some pretty dang big gears! I guess that I'm a wimp riding 42/18 fixed. That rolls out with my tires to be about 63+ gear inches. With my normal riding cadence of somewhere between 90-120 RPM, that puts me anywhere between 17 and 23 miles per hour. My legs don't really comfortably pedal slower than about 90 rpm, and I certainly don't have the strength to ride much faster than I do.

Sure, I spin out on some downhills, but find that I just backpedal a lot to keep my speed in check. I was perfectly comfortable with my gear choice for my recent ride up to Duluth and back. I've also done a lot of 60-80 mile road rides in Washington county, through Stillwater, Afton, etc. with the same gearing. I find that it's a great choice for me.

[Aaroneous]

Some of y'all push some pretty dang big gears! I guess that I'm a wimp riding 42/18 fixed.

I think it's cuz most of them have these little clicky things in their hubs that let them rest whenever they want... ;)

[Kosk]

46x18 on 26" wheels with 1.5" slicks works pretty dang good for me, year round.

[PMC]

52:17 is pretty tall at around 81.4 gear inches. Most I know run around 68-73 gear inches which will get you up pretty much any hill in the area but not have you spinning out at 20 mph.

I run a 46:17 fixed/46:18 single speed flip-flop on my winter bike which is 72 and 68 gear inches respectively.

[FSSS]

I figured 27" x 1 1/4 tires and 52:17 comes out to 82.8 gear inches. This wasn't bad if I had some serious energy to burn, but overall was too high for my typical road ride.

I switched to 52:20, which is 70.4 gear inches. I've kept that for the last few weeks and I like it.

[JayT]

mine = 44x16 (not fixed). I'd use a 46t ring if I had one.

[Wolfchimp]

I have been running a 42x16 gearing on my commuter with 170mm cranks. I also deal with a few hills, which makes the gearing seem a little stiff at times. I think I'll be switching to an 18t in the rear. I like my knees right now. I dont feel like blowing them out.

[Aaroneous]

If you haven't used this
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
you're missing out!

And remember, if you're riding fixed, prime numbers are your friend!
[40/15=2.666666666666666666666667] = evenly worn tires
[44/16=2.75] = flat spots
Nobody likes flat spots!!

;)

[Aaroneous]

Here's an interesting article about why freewheels are stupid:

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/articles/lee/lee.pdf


Not that there's anything wrong with having a freewheel... I mean, some of my best friends are freewheels... I'm just saying... y'know...


;)

[Burke]

I built up my new fixie Tuesday with a 48:15 then rode it to work on Wednesday. Too steep for my liking, so I put on a 16 for the ride home. Better, but I think 48:17, possible 48:18 is going to be the gear for me.

[Aaroneous]

I built up my new fixie Tuesday with a 48:15 then rode it to work on Wednesday. Too steep for my liking, so I put on a 16 for the ride home. Better, but I think 48:17, possible 48:18 is going to be the gear for me.

Cool, man... Yeah, 48:15 is pretty stiff ~84 gear inches. I'm running ~72 gi and love it - the 17 or 18 should feel really nice @ ~74 or 70 gi respectively...
I've been considering gearing down a little and ditching the brakes entirely...

[Tetreves]

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/articles/lee/lee.pdf



Good article!

Once I own a [few] more bikes, I'll definatly give fixed a try! I knew that there were claimed power and efficiency advantages to a fixie, but I've never read anything like this that actually discusses WHY. Very well written...

[Standard]

I'm running a 42x16 on my just-finished commuter. I need to find a 44 or 46, though, as I like to stay around 80-90 rpm for cadence, and I'm just not going fast enough with a 42...