SINGLE SPEED GEAR RATIO?

Hi

Im building up a hardtail single speed MTB and was just wondering what gear ratios people recommend. Can anyone help?

depends where you ride.

I’m on the South Downs aroudn Brighton and find that 32/18 and 32/17 work for me (depdning on which bike I’m on).

Somewhere flatter I’d go for 32:16, though.

32:18 on 29er here.

32:16 is standard on 26″

Gear Of Champions, of course (32:16 for the uninitiated). If that’s too hard / too spinny you can change – give it a month though as your fitness will improve

edit: I’m on the edge of the peak district and 32:16 is fine up the hills round here 😉

I run 32:14 but with enough slack in the chain to be able change up to 32:16 if needed but I commute on and off road on mine. Of course I did do Stainburn and forgot to change which was a bit of a pig!

32:16 unless you have the big hills of Surrey to contend with.
give it a few mths though as it will surprise you what you can get up.

38:16 here in South Leics. Pretty flat, but the noteworthy climbs tend to be steep (and slow towards the top 🙂 ).

Going to Wales (Dyfi Forest area) for the weekend and will be trying out 28:17 – last time I went there I went with 32:16 and had to stop for a breather every 10 mins while climbing!

32:16 i nw leics. I do have a 17 for when my legs feel week but that’s a cause of much micky taking

I run 36/16 on my 26″ SS then 32/18 on my 29″ SS.

I live in the flat lands of Essex though

34:17

It is the same ratio as 32:16 but more niche

😉

32:16 for me round the likes of Mabie, Ae, Glentress, etc. Don’t have to push that often and I’m a fat nacker!

42:14 ftw.

33:17, sprockets last longer.

32:14, mostly Wales/Peak.

I like 34-16, it matches bmx gearing which I always find to be spot on 🙂

I’ve got 32:16 on mind, which gets ridden in the hills between Manchester and the Peak District, just bought a 15 and a 14 as well as it’s getting a bit spinny as my fitness improves.

34:16 on my Cindercone and 46:22 on my belt-drive A and used to run 48:17 on my fixie road bike.

Surrounded By Zulus – Member

42:14 ftw.

For off road? You must have legs like Schwarzenegger!

On the 26er I use 34:17 SS for Peaks / trail centres / local stuff. Then switch to 30:17 for big Lake District riding, Garda and Colorado / Moab 🙂

I switch up to either 34:16 or 34:15 (flip-flop) when I run it fixed…

36*20 at glentress red route last time out was do-able on the climbs and felt a tad spinny elsewhere.

32*18 may be spot on for me.

Echo what others said about it being surprising (pleasantly surprising!) how quickly you get strong.

34*16 at Drumlanrig had me off and pushing once at a sharp hill near the start and totally knackered by the long hill near the finish.

Used 46*17 fixed on road – got up most things – albeit with square pedalling at times. Reckon 2.5 to 1 would be the perfect ‘all-day’ onroad fixed ratio for undulating terrain.

Offroad, don’t think I could be bothered with any more than 3-4 hours max singlespeed.

32:18 to ride everything, but 32:16 gives a more acceptable cruising speed on the flatter bits.. with a Surly chaintug there are two mounting positions for the axle and I jammily discovered you can swap between the two without changing chainlength as long as you set the chain up as 32:16 in the furthest away hole.

It’s entirely possible this is by design, as with all things I didn’t read the instructions 🙂

SINGLE SPEED GEAR RATIO?

THIRTY TWO: SIXTEEN, STOP SHOUTING.

32:16 is the way to go for 26″

44:15 on my CX

32:17 here.
I find 16t just a bit too hard going some of the time, especially when the climbs get steeper, twistier and more technical.

36/17 for me. I tried dropping to a 16 at the back a while ago but whilst I had no problem turnng it, it made the bike feel duller and less responsive, so less fun.

32:16 OK for South Downs although the ascent of the Steyning North Face does make my eyes bug out in a funny way.

dave360 – the one that does me in is heading west on the SDW between Pyecombe and Seddlescombe. I found I ended up walkign with 16t, with 17t I can get up the hill if I keep my HR above 180 and try not to worry about potential nose bleeds.

I run 32:17 on my 26er. I could give a niche reason to do with odd and even teeth numbers and mismatched numbers, but it’s because On-One didn’t have an 16t sprockets.

32:16 here in Delamere.

32:16 here in Delaware.

36:18 on the North Downs – obviously the hills are a lot smaller and more gradual than the South Downs. 😉 I’m switching to 32:16 (same ratio, smaller cogs). To conform to the general consensus and fit in with the herd, mainly.

waswaswas – yea those sea level to 600 feet climbs are a bit of a bugger, especially if its a bit claggy. Lovely and grippy at the mo, so less excuse to get off and walk. Which is not always a good thing 😉

51.9″ for commuting.
48.8″ for 12 hour solo.

32:17 – in the middle of too hard and too easy.

I let the knees tell me what they want – but I tell them off if they say ‘a range of gears’.

33:18, in the lakes. Have only really ridden whinlatter and dalbeattie though, no proper stuff.

I rock a 32:16 in the badlands of Cheshirecicestershire.

About to give it a go at MM in a couple of weeks, I may well die a horrible death 😆

34:20 on the haulage/utility/do anything bike, 34:18 on the 29er, and 42:18 on the road. That’s in rural South Devon, which has lots of short and often very (very) steep winding hills – so much so that the road bike gets walked up some of them.

34:20 gets up pretty much anything – but some climbs still defeat me if I get mired on a heavily sloped rock-garden, or anything too rooty, as there’s only so much hopping about one can do going uphill. 😕

52:17 but that is dark-side road bike and I do pedal squares occasionally.

39/19 makes you look hard with a huge chainring, but you can actualy climb with it, and it’s only really the rear you need to wory about wearing out as its smaller, I’ve had the same 38t ring on various bikes for years.

Basicly any 2:1 ratio works on a MTB, as you get fitter* going one or two teeth higher at the front is an option, or down one at the back, I did 38/16 for a short while but it was seriously hard work, like driving a car with turbo lag or a really narrow power band, as soon as you droped below a certain speed in a corner, that was it, you were stuffed!

*note, SS gets you fit for SS, I found I was slower on the geared bike when I went back to it. SSing you grunt up a hill, coast, sprint, coast repeat. Trying to use that strength on a geard bike knackeres you as you end up grunting up the hill then trying to maintain that high level of effort, so you’re fast for the first few minutes then you die.