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  • Check out Sheldons gear calculatorhttp://sheldonbrown.com/gears/
    Although I believe this has already been mentioned.
    If you have hills, a gear inch in the mid 60's using whatever combination you prefer to give you that, should be fine. But, having said that, it depends on steepness, length of said hills and strength of the rider. Personally, I don't like combinations that use really big front chainrings, but given you will need a lowish gear that wouldn't be an issue. And it's an aesthetic issue, rather than a performance one.
    How hilly is it where you live? If it 's very hilly, is ss the best way to go? If you choose a gear that can cope with steep ups, that gear is going to have
    you spinning like crazy on the descents. My uncle, an old school club rider, always rode fixed in the winter. He had a few hills to deal with and used a flip flop fixed/fixed hub with a small sprocket on one side and a larger one on the other. On long, steep descents, he'd stop and flip the wheel to the smaller sprocket. Then flip it back when the going got too tough.
    I run 44/16. I can just about get up Gipsy Hill on that. But I wouldn't want to do it every day. Although, it might get easier if I did ( or completely knacker my ageing knees).

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