What's your favourite gear ratio?

Bit late in the year to take up time trialling.

@ Edscoble

Yes a front brake... no chance id ride it without.

Serious note - why is it ineffective?

Bit late in life more like

Completely impractical. Lern 2 spun.

Suitable only for 25mph+, beware of steep molehills!

Beware of knees imploding, being unable to start pedalling on the slightest gradient, and having all the slow people swarm you as the lights turn green.

Serious note - why is it ineffective?

Starting and stopping take a lots more effort, only useful if you have a very long flat rural commute with minimal traffic lights and wind.

Actually let put it this way, if you have to stand up every time you start off, the gearing is way too high.

Disagree. I'd stand up to start on 66".

+25 is fine, I like to just keep up with traffic, stops hassle, I can get up all the hills in Edinburgh without having to get out of the saddle, if I'm stood up and peddling I might as well be running.

+25 is fine.

Strava or it didn't happen.

ha, as for the standing up thing..

I have to stand up every time I start off... so I'm stopped, one foot in the spd, when I start I push down on the engaged pedal, push myself onto my seat, clip the other foot in and move off... if that what you meant?

have I been doing cycle biek riding all wrong?

Nope - you are doing it right

56/14 for reeelz?

That is all sorts of crazy.

Wow.

That is 105 gear inches. Unless...

Are you riding a brompton or some other small wheeled bike? Are your cranks over two feet long?

Are you Chris Hoy? Maybe you are. Although he's Glaswegian isn't he, not from Edinburgh?

Steve Abraham (currently doing the round the year distance record) used to ride 105" fixed for most Audaxes.

For the hilly ones (Elenith, Bryan Chapman, etc) he used to gear down to something like 85"

I've got a 60t in the post, won't be run with lower than 15t.

Yeahbaby

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u mad bro?

Only one skid patch! :O

Only 120 odd inch, good gear for 30mph+ riding.

Climbing gear.

So I've been riding riding my first fixed gear for the past day or so. The bike has a 48/17 ratio which I am finding comfortable, rode up some short hills without a problem. However I am finding it hard to slow down/skid. I have a front brake but would like to master slowing down using my legs. Would a lower gear ratio help this? For example 48/19 or 46/17?

48/19 is a skidders favourite. 46/17 is somewhere inbetween.