Hello,
I'm considering singlespeeding my road bike for the winter, largely for a commute which is best described as gently undulating but with one slightly steep bit (which can be avoided if necessary).
What sort of ratios should I be thinking about (700c wheels)? I'll stick it into a similarish gear and leave it there for a day to see how I get on and work from there I suppose. Really just after a starting point to experiment from.
Also, if I take the plunge to ss I quite fancy the idea of a flip/flop 120mm track hub spaced out to 130mm. This would afford me the versatility of changing frames to a proper ss frame in the future (which tend to be 120mm spaced).
Anyone got any experience of this? Any issues with chainline etc I should be aware of?
Ta!
48 x 17 for me
There are much harder men about though. Haven't plucked the courage up for 48x16 yet, I think it might be a step too far for my commute.
Leaving your geared bike in one gear and just trying it never made sense for me. Its never the same
Goldtec track hubs are available in varying widths. Not sure if they are all the same hub and spaced out differently on the axle though or actually different hubs. They do a 130mm one
Cheers - I agree bike left in one gear isn't the same (I ride both SS and geared MTB). I'm just looking to try out some ratios over a few days to see what suits before deciding what cogs to buy.
48-16 for me. I found it hard on climbs to start with but I feel like its made me a lot fitter as I can get up the same climbs fairly easily now. Mtb feels effortless in comparison and I'm climbing things 1x9 stylee that I was struggling with on the granny ring before 🙂
I used to commute on my SS mtb. Running a 32x 16 is geat off road, but makes you spin like a tit within seconds of pulling away from the lights on the road.
My new commute bike (26" wheels) is 48 x 18. Hard slick tyres mean I can get it moving pretty quick and I don't spin out too easily on the flat. My commute is a steady drag up a long gentle 2 mile hill, but there are 2 nasty steep kicks near the top. Theres just enough time to recover from the climb before descending down the ramp of the underpass and stamping hard back up the steep climb the other side. By the time I reach work my legs are nicely humming, but I never feel too badly over-geared.
I'd suggest starting with 48x18.