I rode my Karate Monkey for the first time proper last night. 32 X 17 but seemed quite high. TMy fixed 29er is 34 X 16 and I was expecting it to be quite a bit lower than that one. What gear are you riding? Off road, mud, hills and stuff…………….

32/20 to save my knees. I’m quite a spinny rider as well.

32/20

32 x 18 is the rule, 20 if you knees are weak and 17 to stuff your mates

33/19

32:19 on my Swift as it weighs a ton, 34:19 on my Niner as its light(er)

38:18 here, I don’t mind winching up hills and through mud when I can keep a good speed on the flats.

34-19 on the jones, 34-18 on the selma for racing and 32-18 on s big boingy fronted chumba.

all work lovely for the peak district, wales, and thrashing around woodsy singletrack

Ran 32:16 on the 26er SS. Running 32:20 on the 29er to make it a little easier

I run 33×17. Works out nice for most things, but I do live in Norfolk… Although I have ridden hills in Wales and the Peaks with it.

32 x 18, ride around the south downs.

32:18 most of the time (Chilterns, Beacons etc). 32:19 for bikepacking over steep hills (eg. Highlands)

32×18 or 38×21 for more chain wrap

32×20 if the going gets really muddy…

35×20
34×19

both with wobble type chainrings.

33×18 as it’s what the bike came with, seems to work OK for me.

32:18 is as close to 52″ as you can get.

I’ve just swapped to 33:18 because I’m bas-ass (and 33t was 25% cheeper).

Bit of a hijack, TINAS, is 52″ what 32-16 on a 26″ wheel is?

34×20 -here fine for most climbs – but limiting on the flat in a group ride if I am honest i do only have 1 speed when I ride the singlespeed.

My fortitude came with a 33:18 setup. Fine for pretty much anything local to me.

32:17 here on my 29er for Forest/Woods/South Downs.
Dabbled with 32:16 and 18, 17 fits me well.

Been doing this ratio for a few years now, perhaps I need a change.

Bit of a hijack, TINAS, is 52″ what 32-16 on a 26″ wheel is?

Yup.

(32/16)*26″ = 52″

(32/18)*29″ = 51.55″

note: gear inches is the equivelent diameter on an ordinary (penny farthing) bike, not the distance traveled for 1 pedal stroke (which would be times pi).

btw, I’ve found that going for one cog less than your “comfort” gear can do wonders for leg strength

note: gear inches is the equivelent diameter on an ordinary (penny farthing) bike, not the distance traveled for 1 pedal stroke (which would be times pi).

might be in your world, in the road and track world it’s the distance travelled hence the way the rules are framed for juniors and the way the gear tables are quoted

3.3 Gear Restrictions
3.3.1 In all road events (other than events promoted in accordance with T.R. 7.12) juniors shall be restricted to a maximum gear such that the distance covered per crank revolution is 7.93 metres. The gear restriction shall not apply to seniors.

as the distance travelled in a pedal rev is the most useful way of gauging the gearing I would stick with that

might be in your world, in the road and track world it’s the distance travelled hence the way the rules are framed for juniors and the way the gear tables are quoted

as the distance travelled in a pedal rev is the most useful way of gauging the gearing I would stick with that

Sheldon:

Gear Inches
One of the three comprehensive systems for numbering the gear values for bicycle gears. It is the equivalent diameter of the drive wheel on a high-wheel bicycle. When chain-drive “safety” bikes came in, the same system was used, multiplying the drive wheel diameter by the sprocket ratio. It is very easy to calculate: the diameter of the drive wheel, times the size of the front sprocket divided by the size of the rear sprocket. This gives a convenient two- or three-digit number. The lowest gear on most mountain bikes is around 22-26 inches. The highest gear on road racing bikes is usually around 108-110 inches.

Wikidedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gear_inches

I didn’t say it was the only system, but it’s the only one I’ve ever heard in use. Bessides it’s easy to differentiate as most people quote gear development in meters and gear inches in (drum roll) inches.

4.1m for me.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/why-does-no-one-use-gear-inches-or-metres-development

I may put on the 18t tonight and try that. I’m not too keen on spinny, (old knees) but it was a struggle in the mud last night and that was avoiding the worst of it…….what I really need is a 33t Middleburn Uno, pity they don’t make one……..

34×18 on my Karate Monkey, although it’s currently built up as a cross bike with 34×16

34×18 on my Swift and 32×20 on my Pugsley

33:18 here, but the front is a wobble ring so its a bit like cheating. 🙂

(tazzymtb started it, dont blame me).

32/19 here in the Sth pennines for general stuff, 20 for 24hr ‘races’

A tooth here or there doesn’t seem to matter too much – you will adjust.

I fancied a wobbly ring, are they still about???

I fancied a wobbly ring, are they still about???

yes mate, what size do you want?

Oh I missed out on them last time! Are there any 4 arm 33t in existence still?

33×17 as that’s what came fitted!

yes BETD Goldtec have a few in stock pretty much all the time. Kev is the man you need to talk to, or Hadge of this here forum as he’s one of that mob as well.

Sweet, I’ll get in touch with them

36 x 20 works in the Cotswold clagg

After advice from here I’ve decided to try 18-32… 😀
If you see a grey haired old man blowing out of his arse on a salsa…throw me a jelly baby…and be nice..
Mmmmmmmjellybabiesmmmmmm…

32:18 here…

But (Deuteronomy) 32:16 is better “They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols.”

Tazzy, I fancied a Uno copy, but there’s are non dished and I don’t think they’d work with my set ups……….