Recommended gear for hilly Singlespeed?

[ldrcycles]

I'm doing the Mebbin Marathon down in northern NSW on May 8th, but with the way the weather has been (and given my chain snapped in the mud after 11k last year) I want to take a singlespeed with me in case the mud is too much (decide on the morning when i've actually seen the trails). I've got an early 90s steel Graecross Legacy i built up as a singlespeed a while back but haven't really ridden it, what ratios do people out there like? (bearing in mind this is a pretty hilly race). I'm thinking 28-16 (i want to use a screw on freewheel-i trust it more in mud than i would a cassette freehub)

[mitzikatzi]

Is that on a 26 inch bike? So 28/16 would give 45.5 inches?

My 29er is 48 inches. Not a lot of top end speed. 21km is a good hour on the road, 23km is a very good hour.

[ldrcycles]

Yep it's a 26 inch, i haven't tried a 29er yet, my budget doesn't extend far and 29ers aren't to be found at the tip yet lol. Just to test different ratios with what i had lying around i tried 36-21 (44.5inch) which seems a reasonable compromise, heavily biased towards the climbs. This may be for nothing anyway though, if it keeps on raining i don't think i'll do the race, i HATE riding in the mud

[trailgumby]

if it keeps on raining i don't think i'll do the race, i HATE riding in the mud

Yep, good way to trash your bike and hurt yourself washing out on a wet tree root. Those things go like ice in the wet. Mind you, on a singlespeed it should be cheaper - less gears to destroy, you just have to make sure you carry enough spare brake pad sets in your camelbak to get you to the finish line

[ldrcycles]

if it keeps on raining i don't think i'll do the race, i HATE riding in the mud

Yep, good way to trash your bike and hurt yourself washing out on a wet tree root. Those things go like ice in the wet. Mind you, on a singlespeed it should be cheaper - less gears to destroy, you just have to make sure you carry enough spare brake pad sets in your camelbak to get you to the finish line

The first race i did was the Noosa Enduro back in 2008 and i washed out on a tree root and ended up falling a couple of metres down a gully into a barbed wire fence, luckily just a few scratches (and didn't get caught in the pedals, all the more surprising given it was the first ride i'd ever done clipped in).

I've decided not to do the race, 700 odd kilometres of driving, listening to my better half complain about camping (funny she still comes with me to every race i do), and the misery of slogging up a hill in mud to my armpits dragging a bike that weighs 45kilos with all the mud stuck to the frame. But in case i'm overreacting, does anyone on here know what the trails around Mt Warning are like atm?