What gear ratios are you running?.....

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Whorty

Gets free watts from the Atom ;)
Location
Wiltshire
100 freakin' miles??? Holy smokes that's fantasy world for me. I avg 18mph w/ 48:16 and I'd guess-tomate my rpm is 65 on avg but no more than 75.
At 48/16 and cadence 65 you'll be at 15.5 mph
At 48/16 and cadence 75 you'll be at 17.9 mph

Good news is, on your new gearing of 52/12 and 65 cadence you'll be flying along at 22.35 mph :okay:
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
100 freakin' miles??? Holy smokes that's fantasy world for me. I avg 18mph w/ 48:16 and I'd guess-tomate my rpm is 65 on avg but no more than 75.

The link is to a Cycle Chat thread about a fixed wheel forum ride we did in 2014, we did a 108 mile day ride, I'm the grey haired grey bearded rider on the Pearson..

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/100-mile-fixed-gear-ride-spring-2014.136598/page-16
 

Emile Flournoy

Formerly known as Yellow-Road
Location
Covington
At 48/16 and cadence 65 you'll be at 15.5 mph
At 48/16 and cadence 75 you'll be at 17.9 mph

Good news is, on your new gearing of 52/12 and 65 cadence you'll be flying along at 22.35 mph :okay:
Ha ha ha...thanks for the vote of confidence. 23mph??? In my dreams.... Maybe for a couple of hundred yards.
 

Whorty

Gets free watts from the Atom ;)
Location
Wiltshire
Ha ha ha...thanks for the vote of confidence. 23mph??? In my dreams.... Maybe for a couple of hundred yards.
If you can't hold a 'medium' cadence like 80-85 for an hour or so, maybe train with this in mind. You will see bigger gains going this way than upping your gear ratio and (potentially) buggering up your knees. As a youth I was a sprinter (runner), and awful running long distances, but I've managed to train my legs muscles to go distance and not just 'quick twitch' sprints.
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
Cadences of 150 and above are utterly pointless as an example of leg power/capabilites. Using a fixed wheel and spinning up these high numbers is about hanging on for dear life not producing power. That's why I believe that a single speed with freewheel capability is a better and safer way to enjoy a simple way to cycle.

Aim to gear your bike for the terrain you live in or the event, have a cadence between 80-100rpm.
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Copy from the fixedwheel website

The first and most obvious record to mention is the medium gear 25 mile time trial record. For many years this was held by Tony Doyle with a time of 56-30, but on sunday the 4th of april 1999 Ray Hughes destroyed the record with a time of 55-03 in the Mid Oxon event on the H25/13B, what else can I say.

These will be on a 72" fixed gear
 

ChrisEyles

Guru
Location
Devon
72" sounds about right to me. I was running 69" on fixed (46 x 18 with 27" wheels) and found it great for climbing but scary spinning away down the Devon hills.

Enjoyed riding fixed a lot but don't think I'd go back to it while I'm living somewhere with so many steep descents.
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
Cadences of 150 and above are utterly pointless as an example of leg power/capabilites. Using a fixed wheel and spinning up these high numbers is about hanging on for dear life not producing power. That's why I believe that a single speed with freewheel capability is a better and safer way to enjoy a simple way to cycle.

Aim to gear your bike for the terrain you live in or the event, have a cadence between 80-100rpm.

Fixed gear gearing is usually a compromise, low enough to enable the rider to climb most of the local hills, but high enough not scare the rider crapless spinning down the other side. Even geared sensibly if you're on fixed you're going to be doing silly RPM on the descents, I haven't ridden single speed since I was in primary school, theres nothing wrong with a fixed, I use mine these days just as a winter bike, I used to use mine for commuting as well and found it an enjoyable way of getting around.
 

Emile Flournoy

Formerly known as Yellow-Road
Location
Covington
After reading all the great info here from cyclists who have a heckuva lot more experience than I decided to remain at my factory setting of 48:16 which seems fast enough. What ultimately made my mind up was Whorty's post about rpm. I went out and closely watched my rpm and I was clocking 18mph and there's no way I was exceeding 65rpm, in fact it was more like 60 at the most and thats fast enough for me. Whorty is right, I mean if I can't sustain 60rpms on flat ground at sea level for more than a mile I'm in pitiful condition and its me NOT the bicycle that needs to change. I'm really beginning to understand why the inventor of the TDF forbid derailleurs.

"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-- Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)
 

CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
After reading all the great info here from cyclists who have a heckuva lot more experience than I decided to remain at my factory setting of 48:16 which seems fast enough. What ultimately made my mind up was Whorty's post about rpm. I went out and closely watched my rpm and I was clocking 18mph and there's no way I was exceeding 65rpm, in fact it was more like 60 at the most and thats fast enough for me. Whorty is right, I mean if I can't sustain 60rpms on flat ground at sea level for more than a mile I'm in pitiful condition and its me NOT the bicycle that needs to change. I'm really beginning to understand why the inventor of the TDF forbid derailleurs.

"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-- Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)

79" gear inches is quite a tall gear for riding unless pan flat. 48*16@75rpm is 17.71 mph

Ideally you want to be around 80-85 or slightly higher

This table shows what speed with 3 different chainring sizes and various cogs will attain. Ive used this Bikecalc website many times. It has been very accurate in comparison to real world numbers. You would be better having a 48*17 to lift your cadence to 80 or 48*18@ 85rpm. The ratios I suggest all result in 17.7mph+/- a few points
Screenshot_20190618-132735_Chrome.jpg
 

Whorty

Gets free watts from the Atom ;)
Location
Wiltshire
79" gear inches is quite a tall gear for riding unless pan flat. 48*16@75rpm is 17.71 mph

Ideally you want to be around 80-85 or slightly higher

This table shows what speed with 3 different chainring sizes and various cogs will attain. Ive used this Bikecalc website many times. It has been very accurate in comparison to real world numbers. You would be better having a 48*17 to lift your cadence to 80 or 48*18@ 85rpm. The ratios I suggest all result in 17.7mph+/- a few points View attachment 471359
I use the same site Andy ... worked really well for me when planning the 100 miler and the gear to use. :okay:
 
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