Fixed gear ratios

[jrenaut]

I think what worries me most is starting on a hill. I can stand up and push through a lot, but starting from nothing on a hill when the light turns green is not appealing.

[OneEighth]

Easier if you remain clipped in.

[jrenaut]

@OneEighth 104433 wrote:

Easier if you remain clipped in.

I have been meaning to work on my track stands.

[OneEighth]

I am lazy. I just grab onto whatever fixed object is handy. Don’t have dcv’s skill when it comes to doing track stands.

[Phatboing]

@jrenaut 104420 wrote:

I think what worries me most is starting on a hill. I can stand up and push through a lot, but starting from nothing on a hill when the light turns green is not appealing.

34×16! BRING ON THE HILLS!

The only downside to this is that anything above 15mph and the bike begins to pedal you.

[jrenaut]

@Phatboing 104461 wrote:

34×16! BRING ON THE HILLS!

The only downside to this is that anything above 15mph and the bike begins to pedal you.

My knees hurt just thinking about that.

[Phatboing]

@jrenaut 104466 wrote:

My knees hurt just thinking about that.

It’s why I kept both brakes. And right now with low pressure 38mm studly tires, it’s not terrible. But Modifications will inevitably occur.

[Jason B]

Vince et. al.,
What are you guys running on your cross races? Is there an ideal/common ratio for cross?
Is your ratio set to climb hills or run than gun?

[dkel]

@Jason B 104600 wrote:

Vince et. al.,
What are you guys running on your cross races? Is there an ideal/common ratio for cross?

I think I read on Sheldon’s site that 2 to 1 is a good place to start; 34×17, for example. Having never done SS CX, I wouldn’t know whether this is any good or not!

[dcv]

@Jason B 104600 wrote:

Vince et. al.,
What are you guys running on your cross races? Is there an ideal/common ratio for cross?
Is your ratio set to climb hills or run than gun?

I was 36:16 (60gi), but tried 39:19 (55gi) on the last race. Maybe it a was because it was a fast / flat course but 55gi felt too low.

[vvill]

Learning to do a rudimentary track stand is on my “to do”/NY resolution list this year (last year’s was learning to ride fixed). It will be much more meaningful/useful than a mileage target! There are a couple places in my commute where I really don’t want to clip out because of a potential uphill start with traffic behind me.

@Jason B 104600 wrote:

Is there an ideal/common ratio for cross?
Is your ratio set to climb hills or run than gun?

I’ve read that 42/17 (~67 on 32c) is the classic SSCX gearing but I assume this is for the Cat 3 and above types. I ran 39/18 though (~58.5 on 32c), and was able to ride everything I could ride on my geared bike. That said I did spin out a bit a few times in DCCX.

As a rough guide I’d say 50-60 is for MTB/technical CX, 60-70 for faster CX/gravel, 70-80 for general road, 80+ flat/track.

[Phatboing]

Ok, time to decide what to do about my ice fixie. My current setup with 58gi is way too low – going downhill is painful. I have a crankset with a 42mm chainring and 172.5 cranks, which brings up the gearing to 71.7, but I fear it’s likely too tall for icy situations. Part of me wants to switch back to freewheel and deal with this in the spring.

[jrenaut]

I’m very happy so far with 46/16. I can go downhill without dying, and I made it up Matthewson Hill, a 9% grade. I want to do the Seagull fixed this year (at least the metric) and may try 46/14 because it’s totally flat and not much stopping.

[dkel]

@jrenaut 106072 wrote:

I’m very happy so far with 46/16. I can go downhill without dying, and I made it up Matthewson Hill, a 9% grade. I want to do the Seagull fixed this year (at least the metric) and may try 46/14 because it’s totally flat and not much stopping.

When you say “made it up,” what do you mean? I’ve “made it up” every hill I’ve tried so far, but some are pretty awful, including the street in front of my house. Standing up and grinding it out at a snail’s pace, even for only a few yards, feels to me like I must be doing something wrong, or have the wrong gearing. Is it like that for everyone at times? I’m running 46×17 on 165 cranks, with my tank-like 1984 steel frame.

[Phatboing]

@dkel 106074 wrote:

When you say “made it up,” what do you mean? I’ve “made it up” every hill I’ve tried so far, but some are pretty awful, including the street in front of my house. Standing up and grinding it out at a snail’s pace, even for only a few yards, feels to me like I must be doing something wrong, or have the wrong gearing. Is it like that for everyone at times? I’m running 46×17 on 165 cranks, with my tank-like 1984 steel frame.

You’re not pedaling hard enough.

Also, maybe you need longer cranks? I’m usually on 170mm (and 172.5 once I swap out the cranks to make a more reasonable 42×16 fixie), and you’re considerably taller than me.

[Author]

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