What's your favourite gear ratio?

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  • Cheers

  • would that be an ok ratio for riding around town

    ~83"?

    Rather you than me.

    Around town and in traffic, I like something beginning with a 6.

  • Gotcha, thanks :)

  • 54/14 and buy new trousers.

  • ..but its shorts season ;)

  • Currently running 46x16. Great for cruising on my flat-as-a-pancake commute, and leaving people for dead once I (eventually) get up to speed. Bit of a grind in windy conditions/significant hills. Thinking upping the cog size to something spinnier.

    Anyone with a 46T chainring got any recommendations?

  • If you skid, 17 or 19 would give you far more skid patches. Maybe try 17 as I find my 48 x 19 about as spinny as I'd like to go.

  • It's a flip-flop hub, so potentially 17 on one side and 19 on the other.

  • 46/17 is 72", which is OK for racing but a bit long for relaxed rides. I've got 46/18 at the moment, and two brakes so I don't have to worry about "only" 9 skid patches. I'd probably drop down to 46/19 for urban use.

  • 46x16

    Nearly 76", a bit tall for me.

    72" is a medium gear for TT and 46x17 is over 71": I find it a good compromise in a (surprisingly) lumpy Suffolk.

  • 42/17 for me ~65in. I did 46/16 for a while but somedays you just want to take it easy.

  • I run 46/17 for everyday use as well as 50-100km Sunday rides, not too hilly though :)

  • I'm running 46/16 at the moment, it's pretty ideal for my commute from Dulwich - enough of a workout up Dulwich Hill over to Camberwell then a decent pace for the flats the rest of the way.

    I'm wary to change it...

  • OK, thanks everyone. All good stuff.

  • My daily is 46 18
    lots of fun and easy on the knees

  • Apologies for the noob question, but what's up with the price difference between cogs? What exactly do I pay for when I pay £23 for a cog as opposed to £8? Durability?

  • Not much, until you pay £45 for a Phil Wood.

  • Right then, £8 cog it is.

  • My current cog is Phil Wood and I honestly wouldn't know the difference between this and my last one (which was DA). Are they just more durable?

    It's certainly shinier I guess.

  • Phil tend to run quieter, but DA are circular too and are the first-choice budget sprocket.

  • velodrome shop had SS cogs cheap

  • I'm sure you recall the fiasco with Evans last year when I had my first ever fixed cog fitted. Don't want to go through any sizing malarkey again :P

  • Indeed Scilly.Suffolk remember that for anyone who does need a 12t 1/8 remember the following piece of advice I was given:

    "It is not possible to make a 12T sprocket as thick as the other sizes so it appears a lot smaller than traditional 1/8th sprocket which confuses some customers into thinking it is 3/32."

    Priceless info gem.

  • "Evans and Velodrome Shop: papering over the knowledge-gap with bullshit since time immemorial!"

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What's your favourite gear ratio?

Posted by Avatar for smurfbike @smurfbike

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