SS/FG in London

Hi everyone,

Looking at getting my first SS. Does anyone use SS in the hillier parts of London? How do you get on with it? I kind of don’t want to go back to a road bike, because my budget would allow for much (if any) of an upgrade on the 90s Peugot road I used to have. So yeah, are most somewhat hilly places in London generally manageable?

Everywhere in London is fine fixed or ss. Just make sure you have a gearing that you’re comfortable peddling all day long. No sense being able to go warp speed on flat if you have to push up a slight slope.
47t chainring 18t cog always served me well for the hills in north London.

Now I’m just lazy and have gears again..

Thank you! Looking at a 44/16 so good to hear a 47/18 is fine, but you might be fitter than I am..

Unlikely lol.
Just try to replicate whatever gear you generally leave you road bike in when cruising around town etc

Ok yes thanks

Here we have an example of the weakness of expressing gears just by sprocket sizes rather than the actual gear they achieve ('development').

Because I'm old school English, I find the ancient system of expressing the gear in inches by far the easiest to understand - even though this number is, in a sense, arbitary.

I have a memory, from childhood, of sitting in a cafe and working out gears using pen, paper and long division. Now, with a calculator, it's easy - just divide the rear sprocket teeth into the front and multiply by the wheel size. So assuming a modest size 700 tyre to be about 26.5 inches:
44x16 gives 72.9 inches, but 47x18 gives 69.2.

Similar, but I know which I'd rather have to climb Highgate hill.

I'd say both are a bit on the high side for most - If we're talking single freewheel, I'd say it's probably desirable to be slightly lower than you would want for fixed: for every up there is a down!

Very helpful thank you.

I had a single speed (not fixed) that was geared to ride all over town including the hills of North London, and was set up so that it was rideable with panniers as well as unladen. Gearing that I settled on was 35/13 on 700, 25c tyre, giving a 71.17 gear inch.

Couldn't go too fast flat or downhill without spinning out, and was a bit of a slog at times on the hills with a load on, but was a good all rounder.

Anecdotal evidence from what people ride probably not super helpful since everyone has different riding abilities; probably best describing what sort of rider you are. Edmundro's advice seems pretty spot on - try leave your road bike in one gear for a week or ride around Richmond or up Highgate on a cruising/flat road gear - the largest gear ratio that you can cycle up those on will get you up anything in London.

Not someone with a lot of road cycling experience (I.e. long rides) despite having had a road bike. Yes this is a great idea, though I’m currently bikeless so can’t test.

Ah interesting thanks!

When you're no longer bikeless, test yourself on Swains Lane - that'll give you the answer.