Gear ratios for a newbie

I made a post earlier today about a chainset upgrade:
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/288258/

Thanks to the guys that replied, I was going about this all wrong. So I want to upgrade my chainring from 44t to 48t so I have a bit more power there but maybe a smaller back sprocket is better. It's defiantly cheaper, and easier to change.

Is this a stupid question, is there any difference in the power/drive weather I change the chainset in the front or the back?

Feels like a smaller cog on the back is harder to turn, but I guess technically the physics are the same. I know nothing about gear ratios, but the math is interesting.

44/16 = 2.75
48/16 = 3.00

my current setup is 44 & 16, if I put 48 on the front, seems like 9% increase.

44/14 = 3.14 ( 15% increase )
44/12 = 3.66 ( 33% increase )

Seems like changing the back cog is way more effective...

What if I change both
48/14 = 3.43 (25% increase )
48/12 = 4.00 (45% increase )

Looks like If I just swap the 16t on the back to a 12, I will get a pretty good increase in power. Putting the 48 on front makes a difference of 9% which does not seem like allot.

Again, I am no expert on gear ratios, and I expect some people on here are. If I increased this by 25% for example would that be too much to manage? What I ride at them moment is just slow as hell. Should I be happy with a 10% increase?

Thanks.

48/14 is a track ratio and is way too big for the streets. 48/12 is not an option for anything.
Its better to spin on the roads, I use 46 18.
I say leave it as 44/16

I'm concerned by all this talk of "increases in power". Putting on a smaller back sprocket to get a longer gear doesn't give you a bigger engine (stronger legs) it just means that you get more speed for your legs doing the same rpm, but it's a harder gear to push uphill and from a standstill (also harder to skid if you're into that kind of thing). Some people like to spin, some people like slower legs and to put in a bit more effort. Go with whatever works for you and gear up if your legs can't keep up with the speed you want to go and you think you can handle slower starts and harder hills.

It makes effectively no difference whether you go for a bigger chainring or a smaller sprocket. Put your options in here to see the ratios and differences between them. Also look at the forum thread here for many comments on what's ideal (YMMV obviously).

My two penn'orth: round London 44/16 (72.5 gear inches) is fine unless you're in a terrible rush or hate spinning. I happily run 42/17 (65.2 gear inches).

Learn to ride your bike then fuck about with ratios.

Regardless of what you think, you are not 'spinning out at 72GI' - You just don't know nothing but grinding and can't sustain a decent cadence.

Changing your gear ratio will not give you more power: the engine (you) remains the same.

Looking at your gearing in terms of ratios, is disguising the extent of the changes you're considering, better to use gear inches (GI).

72" (44x16) is already quite a tall gear for use in town, better suited for fast rides on the open road.

90" and 105" (48x14/12) are just ridiculous outside of time trialling or the track.

Have a look at the last couple of pages of the What's Your Favourite Gear Ratio thread (that FFM linked to above) and read Skidlidsid's recent experience.

Can anyone give me a little advice? I recently bought a new rear cog and chainring, crank and chain. I've only NOW after riding bike have noticed that I'm running a 44/14 ratio. No wonder it felt a little odd, harder to pedal even. Does anyone know if I'm going to suffer long term damage as I checked the old cog and it was a 16 tooth jobbie, I ride 6 days a week between 15-20 miles a day.
Some advice would be appreciated and apologies if I've hijacked this thread

TLDNR 47/17 for the win

General rule I've seen bandied about is if you can't push it from a sitting start, it's too high.

I've got some minor hills round here (Suffolk) and 44x19 does me fine