Fixie / SS Gear to choose
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Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby .isaac. » Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:44 am
I cycle about 6 kms to school and I sometimes ride 20-30 kms into to city, down to docklands and back.
I want to go relatively fast such as 10-30 kms/h.
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby jimsheedy » Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:06 am
plenty of info here.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html#bigsmall
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby rkelsen » Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:29 am
46/18 isn't a bad choice, and will get you to 30kph at about 95rpm.
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby bunchridefinder » Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:33 am
+1, thats what I run, and its gold!rkelsen wrote:As above, how flat is it?
46/18 isn't a bad choice, and will get you to 30kph at about 95rpm.
http://www.bunchridefinder.com.au
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby brauluver » Tue Sep 07, 2010 4:04 pm
helped me out heaps in the early days
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby .isaac. » Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:13 pm
The only problem is I haven't bought my cranks yet so I don't know the length of them.
It requires you to put it in to a text field.
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby tomns » Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:20 pm
Tom
Peugeot Versailles - Fixie
Peugeot U08 - Poser
Repco Nishiki - Single Speed
http://www.yehudamoon.com/images/strips/2008-03-29.gif
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby brauluver » Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:39 pm
That wont effect your gear inches any way, only your gain.But default to 175 unless you plan on using a more track friendly 165 to avoid pedal strike when riding fixed.EvilGenius wrote:That is quite an interesting piece of software.
The only problem is I haven't bought my cranks yet so I don't know the length of them.
It requires you to put it in to a text field.
Rim and tyre size do change the gear inches however.Even a smal dif between say 700/23 and 700/25.
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby europa » Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:04 pm
Most people seem to ride around 70 gear inches - it's like taking off in too high a gear on your geared bike but not excessively so, gives a reasonable speed on the flat, allows you to control your speed with your legs without ruining your knees and gives a decent top speed. For a flat road, it gives a cadence of about 90 at about 30km/hr. Get used to that and your legs will tell you if you want more or less.
Crank length - 165-170 mm will work best. The problem with fixed gear is that the pedals are always turning so you run the risk of a pedal striking the ground. You learn to ride around this and it ceased to be a problem, but 165-170 should give you all the ground clearance you need unless you're on a frame designed for longer cranks.
The shorter cranks are also easier to spin and that's important in fixed gear riding - you will be pulling cadences you normally wouldn't on your geared bike when going down hill and being able spin smoothly is an important skill.
USE BRAKES. I know, it's cool not to have them and maybe one day you'll have the skills to ride brakeless, but when your legs are cold or tired and you need to stop NOW, brakes work a treat. Personally, I use the brakes pretty much as I would on a freewheel bike only a lot less so because I'm also controlling the speed with my legs. Stopping using your legs alone will eventually muck up your knees - how quickly this happens depends on how high your gear is, so start with a low gear to learn the skills first, then build up gradually.
There are a lot of ifs and buts and 'what suits you' in this post, but that's exactly what fixed gear riding is like - it's highly individual.
Richard
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby hartleymartin » Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:48 pm
Most people seem to be happy with a gear in the high-60's to low 70's (about 66 to 72 gear inches)
http://raleightwenty.webs.com - the top web resource for the Raleigh Twenty
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby .isaac. » Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:37 am
I'm actually building a single speed so I need brakes anyway.europa wrote: USE BRAKES. I know, it's cool not to have them and maybe one day you'll have the skills to ride brakeless, but when your legs are cold or tired and you need to stop NOW, brakes work a treat. Personally, I use the brakes pretty much as I would on a freewheel bike only a lot less so because I'm also controlling the speed with my legs. Stopping using your legs alone will eventually muck up your knees - how quickly this happens depends on how high your gear is, so start with a low gear to learn the skills first, then build up gradually.
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby Crawf » Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:07 am
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby .isaac. » Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:30 am
Sorry but I'm not reading you.Jacobite wrote:69 dude, both my bikes have it.
Can you explain?
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby brauluver » Thu Sep 09, 2010 9:11 am
he means 69 gear inches ,the delivery is a reference to an 80's movie called bill and ted.You may be little young.Ask your parents.EvilGenius wrote:Sorry but I'm not reading you.Jacobite wrote:69 dude, both my bikes have it.
Can you explain?
1 min 39 into this vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrGWooNDPiE
I like 71 Gi for street commuting duties
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby robsta » Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:00 am
I'm old enough to remember the movie. Just watched the clip from the previous post. Very funny. It was a movie that could make me laugh out loud
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby europa » Fri Sep 10, 2010 11:34 pm
Richard
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby .isaac. » Fri Oct 08, 2010 8:47 pm
Also could someone please tell me if 42/16 is the same 2:6 on a normal geared road/MTB?
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby munga » Sat Oct 09, 2010 12:54 pm
go from there
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby .isaac. » Sat Oct 09, 2010 1:07 pm
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby munga » Sat Oct 09, 2010 2:33 pm
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
as mr sheedy and the beerman said, consult the calulators
oh, and when you buy your sprocket, think about buying another one while youre at it, but one tooth smaller
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby .isaac. » Sat Oct 09, 2010 4:25 pm
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby HappyHumber » Sat Oct 09, 2010 4:28 pm
What WAS that all about?
Hit me up via the BNA dm; I'll get an alert. If y'know, you know.
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby Mulger bill » Sat Oct 09, 2010 7:37 pm
Of course, I could be wrong...
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Re: Fixie / SS Gear to choose
Postby ruscook » Sat Oct 09, 2010 8:18 pm
this is my first SS. I won't ride it fixed, but really liking the SS. It makes you work harder to keep a good average speed than on the normal roadie
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