Soldato
I've got a single speed - never had one before - and am tempted to up the gearing slightly. Firstly, is that even possible (I presume so) and if so do you need to replace the chainset or cassette? And then what do people opt for?
What gearing on your single speed?
- Thread starter Russinating
- Start date
Soldato
I don't know Bristol that well as all, but I think of Bristol as being pretty hilly.
Is this single speed bike a fixed gear or not (as it could you freewheel down say a 5% downhill section without your legs having to spin at silly revs)?
If it has a freewheel option, that makes life a bit simpler, if you intend to ride in undulating terrain. You can then happily change the gearing by replacing the sprocket and/or the chainring, so you can tackle your hardest climb.
If it is fixed gear, you have a hard choice to make... Easier gearing for getting up the hills means you will have to spin at silly revs on descents, perhaps as silly as ~200rpm.
Back in 2010, until I made a jigsaw out of my upper jaw, nose and hand in Dec 2013, I rode a Specialized Tricross Singlecross. Back then, bikes were simply a cheap commute method rather than actively trying to improve my fitness, like I've done over the past ~2 years. It came with 42/17 gearing IIRC and I could happily climb https://www.strava.com/segments/1680949 on my home, years before I joined Strava. These days, when I'm lurgy free, I'm sure I could get up there in harder gearing... But these days I now also know of this local "wall" that hits ~20% https://www.strava.com/segments/19974352
Gearing is very personal, it's about your power:weight ratio for any given length of time climbing. If it's an option, use a multi-geared bike of your likely routes, to see what gear combo you can comfortably (or just about get up if you really push yourself
) and then use a calculator such as https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gear-calc.html to work out the "gear inches" of the combo you used. Then play around with the calc to work out what chainring and sprocket on the SS gives something similar.
Is this single speed bike a fixed gear or not (as it could you freewheel down say a 5% downhill section without your legs having to spin at silly revs)?
If it has a freewheel option, that makes life a bit simpler, if you intend to ride in undulating terrain. You can then happily change the gearing by replacing the sprocket and/or the chainring, so you can tackle your hardest climb.
If it is fixed gear, you have a hard choice to make... Easier gearing for getting up the hills means you will have to spin at silly revs on descents, perhaps as silly as ~200rpm.
Back in 2010, until I made a jigsaw out of my upper jaw, nose and hand in Dec 2013, I rode a Specialized Tricross Singlecross. Back then, bikes were simply a cheap commute method rather than actively trying to improve my fitness, like I've done over the past ~2 years. It came with 42/17 gearing IIRC and I could happily climb https://www.strava.com/segments/1680949 on my home, years before I joined Strava. These days, when I'm lurgy free, I'm sure I could get up there in harder gearing... But these days I now also know of this local "wall" that hits ~20% https://www.strava.com/segments/19974352
Gearing is very personal, it's about your power:weight ratio for any given length of time climbing. If it's an option, use a multi-geared bike of your likely routes, to see what gear combo you can comfortably (or just about get up if you really push yourself
) and then use a calculator such as https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gear-calc.html to work out the "gear inches" of the combo you used. Then play around with the calc to work out what chainring and sprocket on the SS gives something similar.
Soldato
Also depends if you're talking about for road use or mountain bike use.
Associate
- Joined
- 9 Dec 2015
- Posts
- 800
I heard jam jars go great with single speed