In the process of building up a single speed,thinking of 32 front and 16 rear ,whats your most favourable combinations.
Nearest i’ve got a present on me marin is 32/15 so going to play around with that for a while.

Also will i get away with just a rear brake,or better to go for both,looking at trail course use more than anything,and few local bridleways which are always mud plugs so brakes aren’t much use anyway till you’ve played in the water to remove the mud .

32:15 will be a good starting point if that’s what you’ve got.

A single brake isn’t legal on public roads. And a rear brake alone is weak compared with a front and might result in lots of skidding.

33:17 here – 32:15’s pretty ambitious if you’ve got hills and mud, but all depends on how strong you are.

32:18 on a 29er here – the wheel size does make a little difference. An brake front and back!

32:14 but its reasonably flat round here..

Try as rear brake alone and let us know how you get on, preferably with video…

I started with 32:16 but have been running 34:16 (here in pancake-land) for ages now. Have been thinking of switching up to something a bit tougher of late but not yet taken the plunge.

rear brake only should be fine, as long as you don’t go down any hills, or need to stop for any reason.

32:17 for me here in the Pennines. Seems about right although I do have a 16 for extra pain. Bit too much of a struggle though.

32 front and 16 rear

Also will i get away with just a rear brake,or better to go for both,looking at trail course use more than anything,and few local bridleways which are always mud plugs so brakes aren’t much use anyway till you’ve played in the water to remove the mud .

last winter my front brake broke, so for the next 4 months i rode with out one. It was ok most of the time with a couple of hairy moments. Until i went to Brechfa and went over the back of a berm (got some good air too) Bought and fitted one as soon as i got home.

So it depend on you riding really and how well you know the trail you riding.

32:14 but its reasonably flat round here..

On a 26er? If so where is that flat?

32:16 in the peak district here on my SS. I have torque in my legs rather than cadence though, so can push a slightly higher gear though.

32:18 here (Leeds). Works for just about everything I do, and it’s a magic ratio for my frame, so no tensioner needed.

Just to confuse matters (I’m like that), I run 32:17, but with 170 cranks.

APF

32:16 here, as is prescribed in law:

Deut 32:16
They made him jealous with their foreign gods
and angered him with their detestable idols.

Sorry…

36:19 here (Leeds). Works for just about everything I do, and it’s a magic ratio for my frame, so no tensioner needed.

I chose a bigger size for more chain wrap and (slightly) less wear. I also had a 36t Bash. As luck would have it was the perfect ratio for my frame 😛

When I was out testing on my double (36t 22t) and bash gearie bike, the 18t was pretty much perfect, but wanted slightly more acceleration on the flat, and figured I needed something a bit lower for the hills (tis Yorkshire after all) so went for the 19.

34:16 on my Cindercone
46:22 on my belt-drive A

Lovely big hils round here in Northumberland, you don’t half get up them fast with silly ratios!

I appear to have accumulated a few singlespeeds:

32:16 Winter bike
36:17 Summer bike
34:18 Wagon wheel bike
50:18 Commuter bike

32:16 Winter bike
36:17 Summer bike
34:18 Wagon wheel bike
50:18 Commuter bike

Thats alot my wife would kiil me, any non SS?

34:18 and 34:16 great gearing for me

34:17 for the hardtail, and 32:15 on the fully rigid

in Devon if that makes any difference…

32:16 – have also run 36:18 for more chain wrap and less wear. All on a 26″ bike.

32/14 for me 🙂

42:16 on the road bike
34:16 on one MTB
36:18 on another MTB
Have tried 38:18 as well.

I ride in Suffolk/Essex/Norfolk mostly.

Rode 32:16T around he trails at Cannock and that was hard work but I got round allt he trails. If I did that again I would use 32:18.

45/18 On my Roadrat which I use for commuting.
Most hills are fine and it’s a dream on the flat, I can hit 20mph without spinning out.

I did have to modify my route home a little to avoid a really steep hill that I was having to walk up- well, there’s no avoiding it but I was able to attack it from a different direction that breaks the climb into 2 more manageable chunks.

34:18 on my Gryphon seems to work well

scottfitz – Member

32:16 Winter bike
36:17 Summer bike
34:18 Wagon wheel bike
50:18 Commuter bike

Thats alot my wife would kiil me, any non SS?

Err, for the record then there’s a mid range road bike in the shed and a 1×9 full suss ‘holiday bike’ too. I own a bike shop so they’re all demonstrators really.

42×15

Scaled down from 48×16

36:19 29″
32:16 26″

46/16 but thats on my commuter.

Only off road SS i have ridden was 34/16 and seemed pretty good.

32:16 on my Love/Hate.

Perfect for Delamere..

32:16 because that is what it came with. I should really up it to 34:16 but that means actually spending time working on it.

32:18, wagon wheels. Goes up most things.

42:18, 180 cranks, skinny wagon wheels. Goes faster.

32:18 for Winter gloop when I’m not so fit
36:18 for rest of time when I am

It’s easier for me to change the chainwheel than the freewheel :o)

44:16

When people run so many combinations of wheel size and tyre size, just giving a ratio doesn’t really help. http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

44 : 18 on my Humu for shopping and canal path duties.

For my big tyred 29er I ran 34:18 as a singlespeed, which is 55″.
The same bike fixed is now 34:16, which is 61.9″.

On my 26″ wheeled MTB with 2.3″ tyres I run 32:17, which is 49.7″.

For reference, a 2.1″ tyred 26er with 32:16 is 51.9″.

32:16 here. I have a 12% gradient climb on the way home which requires stomping on the pedals.

It’s a nice ratio actually.

33/19 – winter Cannock off piste/away day ratio 29er
35/19 – summer Cannock off piste ratio 29er

32/20 Frankennfatty.

33/18 local flat stuff,and dog running ratio,29er ,er of course.