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Single Speed Ratio for Road Route with hills


Afrozoolander

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Hello

 

I have recently purchased a single speed road bike. It needs a front and rear brake installed so I have not taken it for a spin yet. Furthermore, I have never actually tried riding a road bike as I have always used a mountain bike on the roads.

 

So I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the gearing ratio. I have a 20-34 on my mountain bike but I am not sure if things are very different when it comes to a road bike.

 

I mostly ride from Gordons Bay to Betty's Bay (see https://www.strava.com/routes/2128040) as well as up to Steebras Dam (see https://www.strava.com/segments/up-steenbras-8728665).

 

The road bike currently has a 20-46 ratio. I personally think that this ratio is too big. However, it is only speculation.

 

Please recommend a gear ratio that you think would work. I would like to maintain cadence between 65 and 115 rpm. I prefer higher cadence over slower (I think that is a general consensus though). 

 

I will have to change the chain-ring as rear free-hubs seem to only go up to 20 teeth. The road bike uses a 110 bcd five bolt crank. I have seen these on Amazon (see https://www.amazon.com/Origin8-BMX-Singlespeed-Fixie-Chainring/dp/B003J7ZP9W/ref=pd_ybh_a_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WXTHEMHNPHP9AW2GQ6X7). There is not perhaps chainrings that I can pruchase locally as Amazon shipping takes long with COVID etc.

 

Thank you for your time.

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On the road, say, for Argus, I would usually ride 3:1. 

 

So 39/13. or 53/18. With the 46 you could go with a 15 or 16.

 

That would be my recommendation.

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Argus 2020: Fixed gear, 48/16.....never had any issues on any climbs, descents are another story tho! Unclipped a few times to just let go but NOT recommended!

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Hello

 

I have recently purchased a single speed road bike. It needs a front and rear brake installed so I have not taken it for a spin yet. Furthermore, I have never actually tried riding a road bike as I have always used a mountain bike on the roads.

 

So I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the gearing ratio. I have a 20-34 on my mountain bike but I am not sure if things are very different when it comes to a road bike.

 

I mostly ride from Gordons Bay to Betty's Bay (see https://www.strava.com/routes/2128040) as well as up to Steebras Dam (see https://www.strava.com/segments/up-steenbras-8728665).

 

The road bike currently has a 20-46 ratio. I personally think that this ratio is too big. However, it is only speculation.

 

Please recommend a gear ratio that you think would work. I would like to maintain cadence between 65 and 115 rpm. I prefer higher cadence over slower (I think that is a general consensus though). 

 

I will have to change the chain-ring as rear free-hubs seem to only go up to 20 teeth. The road bike uses a 110 bcd five bolt crank. I have seen these on Amazon (see https://www.amazon.com/Origin8-BMX-Singlespeed-Fixie-Chainring/dp/B003J7ZP9W/ref=pd_ybh_a_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WXTHEMHNPHP9AW2GQ6X7). There is not perhaps chainrings that I can pruchase locally as Amazon shipping takes long with COVID etc.

 

Thank you for your time.

what bike or rather what hub if you can only find 20t cogs?

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Thank you very much for all the replies. It is much appreciated. I think the general consensus is that a 20-46 gear setup for a road bike should be adequate in dealing with road climbs.

 

So I am going to definitely try out the bike as is once the brakes get put on. Hopefully, I can provide feedback from there on and determine if a smaller gear is perhaps required.

 

It would seem like road bikes are very efficient compared to mountain bikes.

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what bike or rather what hub if you can only find 20t cogs?

 

Its one of those flip hubs where you can out a fixed track cog on the one side and a freewheel cog on the other. In very rare cases, I have seen 22 teeth be the largest.

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Its one of those flip hubs where you can out a fixed track cog on the one side and a freewheel cog on the other. In very rare cases, I have seen 22 teeth be the largest.

Got you .. I have the same with a 16T x 53T combo, but this is mostly for flat area riding.

post-5403-0-64202300-1605431294_thumb.jpg

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  • 6 months later...

Revisiting a previous thread. 

I am in the process of building a single speed (not fixed) commuter / fun bicycle. I have a double blade crank with a 42 / 52 combination. What ratio would you recommend for general playing around and short commutes. I stay in Centurion Pretoria. 

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37 minutes ago, Fork-it said:

Revisiting a previous thread. 

I am in the process of building a single speed (not fixed) commuter / fun bicycle. I have a double blade crank with a 42 / 52 combination. What ratio would you recommend for general playing around and short commutes. I stay in Centurion Pretoria. 

I'm not sure how steep the hills are around there but here round Joburg I manage ok with a 42x20 ... look you not gonna be doing 30k average speeds but you should get up the hills

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12 hours ago, NotSoBigBen said:

I'm not sure how steep the hills are around there but here round Joburg I manage ok with a 42x20 ... look you not gonna be doing 30k average speeds but you should get up the hills

Thank you, I would prefer a comfortable slower ride where I can manage the hills. At the moment I am not looking at high speeds.

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It depends on your fitness and strength to be honest. 2.5 to 1 would be a good place to start on a road bike.

so 42/17 is close. 

I rode CTCT 39/13 or 3/1 and my 'gravel' bike SS was 39/19 which got me round the Swartberg Gran Fondo route a couple of times.

Last year I rode CTCT 32/13 and it was a bit light with 20 inch wheels

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On 11/14/2020 at 2:14 PM, Afrozoolander said:

Hello

 

I have recently purchased a single speed road bike. It needs a front and rear brake installed so I have not taken it for a spin yet. Furthermore, I have never actually tried riding a road bike as I have always used a mountain bike on the roads.

 

So I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the gearing ratio. I have a 20-34 on my mountain bike but I am not sure if things are very different when it comes to a road bike.

 

I mostly ride from Gordons Bay to Betty's Bay (see https://www.strava.com/routes/2128040) as well as up to Steebras Dam (see https://www.strava.com/segments/up-steenbras-8728665).

 

The road bike currently has a 20-46 ratio. I personally think that this ratio is too big. However, it is only speculation.

 

Please recommend a gear ratio that you think would work. I would like to maintain cadence between 65 and 115 rpm. I prefer higher cadence over slower (I think that is a general consensus though). 

 

I will have to change the chain-ring as rear free-hubs seem to only go up to 20 teeth. The road bike uses a 110 bcd five bolt crank. I have seen these on Amazon (see https://www.amazon.com/Origin8-BMX-Singlespeed-Fixie-Chainring/dp/B003J7ZP9W/ref=pd_ybh_a_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WXTHEMHNPHP9AW2GQ6X7). There is not perhaps chainrings that I can pruchase locally as Amazon shipping takes long with COVID etc.

 

Thank you for your time.

See below, and go from there. If you can ride up a hill at 18.82kph, you can run a 20.

Having said that, I have set climbing PBs on my SS as one is just forced to dig deeper, and sometimes you find something extra there.

Screenshot_20210609-084720_Samsung Internet.jpg

Edited by eddy
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9 minutes ago, eddy said:

See below, and go from there. If you can ride up a hill at 18.82kph, you can run a 20.

Having said that, I have set climbing PBs on my SS as one is just forced to dig deeper, and sometimes you find something extra there.

Screenshot_20210609-084720_Samsung Internet.jpg

that does not specify what wheel and crank sizes were used in the calculations

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4 minutes ago, ouzo said:

that does not specify what wheel and crank sizes were used in the calculations

Only wheel size makes a difference. 

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1 hour ago, ouzo said:

that does not specify what wheel and crank sizes were used in the calculations

As I am not an idiot and he asked about a roadbike, I  obviously used  700c. 

Explain to me how crank "sizes" affect gear ratios.

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27 minutes ago, eddy said:

As I am not an idiot and he asked about a roadbike, I  obviously used  700c. 

 

but my statement still holds true, the image posted does not specify wheel size used.

 

Explain to me how crank "sizes" affect gear ratios.

my bad, I was thinking of something else.

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