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Low sixties in heavy traffic; high sixties Winter training; low seventies Summer fun: anything over 72" is for track, TT and silly-billies.
If flipping & flopping, a lower ratio for the freewheel is a good call: spin up the hills and coast down them.
Shimano freewheels (and chains) are the only "Big S" components I read varied reports of: there are enough well-rated alternatives that I don't feel the need to find out for myself. WI are superb (serviceable for one thing), but if the price is too strong then the Halo Clickster is the mid-price choice, or just get a <£10 Dicta or similar knowing it'll only be good for a year tops.
Stamped steel sprockets are more likely to give you jip with more chains, than something CNC (noisy, poor engagement/disengagement). Phil Wood are worth every penny and EAI a close runner-up: compare the profile of the teeth with what £6 gets you.
Quicklinks are as strong as the rest of the links and a bushed chain is preferable to a bushless one, but the cost of something like Izumi V Super Toughness is better spent elsewhere: better two cheap chains, than one expensive one (which you'll be reluctant to replace in time, in order to get your money's worth).
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Scilly.Suffolk
Not a neophyte cyclist - lots of bikes, lots of kms - and I've done some track riding with my club (say 4 hrs). But I've just succumbed to the shiny lure of a Bianchi Pista. Mostly planning to use it for commuting (Muswell Hill to Shoreditch and back) and general getting about town. It comes with 48x16 flip-flop (79"). I can turn that over well enough, but it seems like a big gear to head home with at the end of a long day. So, questions:
What do others use for general riding in not-flat places? 48x18 (70") sounds more sensible to me, but what do I know? That would spin out at 44kph - irrelevant on ss, but presumably fairly knee-taxing on fixed. Is there a religious rule about chainring and cog combinations that I should know, or is it just maths?
Assuming I wanted the same ratio on both sides, is there a huge difference in quality/longevity between Shimano freewheels at £30 and White Industries ones at £90? I'm not going to be doing mega-miles (have far too many bikes to choose from, in all honesty) but will ride in all weathers.
Same question WRT fixed - is it worth spending more than the £6 Wiggle want for a cog, and does the chain brand matter? I did a search and people on here seemed happy with quicklinks in 2008 - is this still true? Not planning to use this actual bike on a track any time soon, and I won't be riding brakeless.
Apols for length and cluelessness.