What's your favourite gear ratio?

"Don't make the mistake of associating brakeless riding with skidding. No skidding* for me, and I ride brakeless."

*Needless to say skid patches is something I take into consideration.

"Where do you ride most of the time?"

Discarding beer and pub runs and some modest off road riding, I predominantly, but not exclusively, ride in semi rural areas in East Kent either secluded from traffic, or in areas where traffic/traffic lights and other urban obstacles isn't much of an issue.

I never skid for the sake of it, and I've only had to make one emergency stop in the last two months. Nevertheless I do consider the number of skid patches when choosing my setup. I use tubulars for most rides, and for obvious reasons I don't want to wear my tires out prematurely.

Discarding beer and pub runs and some modest off road riding, I predominantly, but not exclusively, ride in semi rural areas in East Kent either secluded from traffic, or in areas where traffic/traffic lights and other urban obstacles isn't much of an issue.

I never skid for the sake of it, and I've only had to make one emergency stop in the last two months. Nevertheless I do consider the number of skid patches when choosing my setup. I use tubulars for most rides, and for obvious reasons I don't want to wear my tires out prematurely.

I try not to make a habit of skidding for the sake of it and don't for probably 75% of my riding, It gets expensive and in all honesty if your aware of whats going on there isn't a real need. When I'm training in the new forest I never need to stop, so little traffic and the traffic there is has to stick to low limits due to loose horses/cattle.

i've run 53x16 for a while now

manimal

^^ it feels like i slow more slowly when I skid.

Sorry for my ignorance but I can't get my head around these gear ratios. I'm riding 48-16 at the moment.

What would happen if I changed my cog to 17? Would that mean i would lose speed on the flats but easier up hills?

I'm riding on a freewheel

Yup.

Lose speed on flats with tailwind, gain speed on flats with headwind. And gain speed up hills = 2 gains, 1 loss when selecting an easier gearing.

Unless you're able to up your cadence...

"I'm riding freewheel."

Not to worry, you can fix that.

Locktite?

Ok thanks. What would happen if I went to 46-16?

Same thing innit.

8mm further out in the dropouts.

http://software.bareknucklebrigade.com/rabbit.applet.html

Play with that, bigger gear inches are harder to push.

I'd always gear lower on a freewheel because you're not restricted by the cadence you can spin on downhills

Sorry for my ignorance but I can't get my head around these gear ratios. I'm riding 48-16 at the moment.

What would happen if I changed my cog to 17? Would that mean i would lose speed on the flats but easier up hills?

I'm riding on a freewheel

roughly.

i would say lose speed on the flats only if you can't spin that bit faster when the gearing is lighter. if you're legs are loose (in a good way) then it shouldn't be more effort to go at the old speed.

yes easier up hills

This is my favourite thread :-)

I like 70", but sometimes I use my easy 70", sometimes my hard 70", and other times I go for the standard 70". Depends how I'm feeling and what the weather's like. I don't like to limit myself to *just *70".

I guess 70" is a good starting point...

...for a girl.

...unless you spin like a boss.

I realised the other day I've been lying and have been running 48/19 all along.

Lightweight or spinning like a boss?

My polo bike is 28/17 (just over 40GI), so spinning ain't a problem.

Would love to see you downhill on that bike...