[Closed] What is the optimum gearing for mainly road, light off road single speed use?

I don't think many people use sprockets smaller than 16T because of the heavy wear on relatively few teeth and the reduced chain wrap.

I'd not go any lower than a 15 on the rear (and that's marginal) for the reason given above. If you're not hitting any major hills, then a 14 would probably be OK, but keep an eye on wear...

The 15t would make a small but noticable difference, you should be able to spin that gear to well over 20mph.

I'm thinking of a similar setup on an old frame to avoid knackering my road bike on crappy days. Currently tossing up between 38-18, 36-16 and 42-18.

I run 42-16 on my road bike, nice and spinney on the flats, bit of a workout on the bigger hills.

42:18 on my SS CX bike that's used for commuting and occasional off road forays.

But it's a bit of a daft question. I mean, it'll depend how fast you can spin comfortably and how much power you have at the low end for steeper stuff. So what's fine for me, may be too long or short a gear for you!

Depends a bit on how hilly it is, and if you're a grinder or a spinner, surely?

Yeah it's a tricky thing. with you all on the small rear cog, thanks for that insight.
So sticking with 16, will adding 2 teeth by going to a 36 really make that much difference?

I'd imagine 38 would be more on the mark, is there any kind of gear ratio chart to work from?

All the feedbacks useful, doesn't strike me as a daft question though.

Fairly hilly in Leeds but nothing massive. 34:16 will fly up any hill round here and running a gear this low forces you to spin to retain momentum.

I guess I'm wondering if 34:15 or 38:16 is best for a close approximation to 42:17 which seems fine on a road bike round here.

Funny, but to ensure maximum efficiency at low and high speeds, i've always found gears you can change whilst riding helpful. HTH

hi zokes, Lets not make this a gears v single speed thing, I'm making the most of a cost effective commute bike that cannot except gears

Well, i'm shifting some old stuff at the moment - surely even 8-speed is better than 1? 😉

(Sorry, just jesting)

63" probably isnt a bad start point (see [url= http://www.63xc.com/ ]here[/url]), and 42x17 is 61.5ish (depending on tyres) if you're mainly riding road you wanna get slicks, they make a big difference but that could seriously handicap your "light offroad"

if you drop the offroad all together 70" is what you want IME 🙂

[url= http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/ ]gear calculator[/url]

38:18 did me for 18 month - off road and on road

D0NK that's a great link, think I've got my head around what it means. The road bike i tried came to 66", a 38:15 would give me 63" with slicks, where a 42:16 would get it almost bang on - i think?

Tim, you're set up is pretty close to how mine is now (if I've understood the gear ration chart correctly).

The quest for bigger rings begins,

thanks all

38:18 here too on 26" mtb Conti's 1.3 slicks.

Resalable gear for the flat, but geared for the climbs.

I would stick with 16 on the back and go for something bigger on the front.

I ran 42:16 then realised I'd got fitter so now run a 42:14 26" wheels 1.95 slicks. Not many big hills but there's a long gradual climb on the way home with one steep bit where it gets to 1:8

rear sprokets are cheap as so i don't mind if they wear.

Best place to get a bigger front ring may be sjs cycles, got mine for about £20.

Used to run 33/13 on the commuter. I have now gone to 44/16. It feels quicker on the flats and not too bad uphill either.

On the off roader its 33/16 all the way.

cheers guys, going to try for 42:16, with just the one ring to buy :D.
Went out on my geared mtb last night and noticed that i was substantially smoother and fitter thanks to spinning like mad these past couple months on the single speed.