On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 10:49 AM, Patrick in VT <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I don't consider myself a masher, and anything less than a 70 inch > gear ratio is a real drag for me on ss road rides, especially if I'm > riding fixed and/or for distance. > > What kind of cadence do you have to spin to sustain a moderate pace, > say 15mph, with a 60 inch gear? Personally, intense spinning wears me > out much, much faster than powering up hills. > > With a 60 inch gear, I figure I'd lose about an hour off of what it > would normally take me to do a ss 50 mile club ride with a 70ish inch > gear (about 3 hours) - and I'd be absolutely cooked!! I'm exhausted > just thinking about it!
Terrain and riding style matter a lot, as do expected average speed. I rode 42x16 as both my fixed and ss gear for a few years, and just last year found it more comfortable for my usual city riding with a 42x18. I think part of it was a lack of strength in the spring from not riding much last winter, and part an improved spin from a few thousand miles on a single. I don't often do fast club rides at all, and rarely fast road rides on a single, and the 42x18 gear lets me comfortably spin 18-20mph on most terrain around here but still get up any road hill. For hilly routes on a singlespeed, i'd certainly understand gearing lower, and i think that's how a lot of QBs are used - and for mixed road/dirt too. In those cases, you can coast down the hills and the 40x18 is low enough for a pretty good variety of dirt too. Not coincidentally, that was my preferred singlespeed CX gear this year. You'll almost always want a higher gear for road fixed riding - but of course, who would want *less* time on a bike? :-) -- Bill Connell St. Paul, MN --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
