What's your favourite gear ratio?

I've just set up my new bike with 48/19 I forgot how nice that is to ride.
I put risers on it yesterday though and it felt alot more slugish but the
ability to pop wheelies was fun.

After spending the winter playing around with different chain ring/cog combinations i've decided to settle on 42/14 which is about 80 gi. I've no problems skidding or accelerating and it gives me a comfortable cruising speed.

I've just set up my new bike with 48/19 I forgot how nice that is to ride.
I put risers on it yesterday though and it felt alot more slugish but the
ability to pop wheelies was fun.

Risers are WACK.

I have a 300m 10% hill to get anywhere from my house, it's great for doing geared hill repeats for training but I can only just get up it on 46x17 (72 ishGI)

After spending the winter playing around with different chain ring/cog combinations i've decided to settle on 42/14 which is about 80 gi. I've no problems skidding or accelerating and it gives me a comfortable cruising speed.

+1 to all said, its the way to go

After spending the winter playing around with different chain ring/cog combinations i've decided to settle on 42/14 which is about 80 gi. I've no problems skidding or accelerating and it gives me a comfortable cruising speed.

+1 (Well except i'm on 42/15) but I agree with you there.

Going from 48/18 to 49/18 I reckon. That's about 70 up to 71, and according to Rabbit that will give me loads more skid patches.

I'm all about the spinning.
65"ish is ideal for me.
currently running a 53/21 (66.3"), for funsies!

Risers are WACK.

yup but they are more practical in certain situations. voiding their wackness

Going from 48/18 to 49/18 I reckon. That's about 70 up to 71, and according to Rabbit that will give me loads more skid patches.

watch out though, according to Sheldon, with an odd number of tooth your chain will wear more quickly :)

http://sheldonbrown.com/chain-life.html

53/20. Oooh yeah.

Dag nammit!

53/20. Oooh yeah.

53/19 , oooh yeah too, big chainwheels accelerate like fire, loads of teeth to crank on.

The Big Red One died last night, chain caught and I bent the front cog. Guess that's the gods telling me it's time for that strip-down and send it off for powder-coating. But up until then, I was running 56/14 I believe. I may have miscounted the rear cog because I checked that whilst doing rear wheel bearings for the first time.

That was a bit high for hills though. What should I aim for, more like 52/18..?

Decision time...

I have nice new cranks with 51T and I have 18 on the rear as I am currently on 48/18. I either want 51/19 or 49/18. Do I get a new cog or new chainring?

btw - I want to be able to use it on the track too. Have 16 on the other side at the mo.

chainring is more expensive :)

Been offered one cheap. So money is not the deciding factor.

By the looks of it on Rabbit again, I can get a nice 70.5 with 51/19 and 83.8 with 51/16. That would do road and track. But I'd have to see if my dropouts would take both.

You know it's summer when i've flipped over to 53/19... Still don't trust this sun...

53/19 , oooh yeah too, big chainwheels accelerate like fire, loads of teeth to crank on.

I run 85.4 but then it is generally flat and any 'hills' on the commute tend to be short affairs than you can just get up and sprint up. Gotta run a front brake though - no stopping the bastard with the legs on any sort of downhill.

When its windy I cry when I get home and sit in the garage cuddling my road bike.

Running 48:16 at the mo, but am in the process of building a new bike. Looking to spin just a little bit more as I'm riding through central London. As I'm getting a new crank and cog, can change either side. 48:18 seems popular, but worried it's too spinny. Maybe 46:16 would be better. Anyone have any suggestions? Obviously the crank size I want to get right, as I can change the cogs. 48T or 46T?

48:18 is fine for me at present. An emergency swap from 48:15 after my knees complained about riding up from Whitechapel to Finsbury Park carrying a full Berghaus Vulcan.

46x16 its perfect for some climbing, fast on the flats and nearly big enough in the descents

49x18 i find is pretty good for london, i used to ride 42x16 but found it too spinny.

48 x 16.

Not very fast, but lets me get up hills.

38x22 spin for the win