I have a 48T crank and looking to for what cog size to put on the rear of my flip flop hub. This is going to be my only bike for a while. I live in San Diego, so there are some hills but nothing really major.
So
48/16
48/15
48/14
48/13
thoughts?
16t
.
You’ve done a half on a fixie before right?
Thanks
Ben
Yes. I’ve also ridden the PCH between Carlsbad and La Jolla fixed, in a 49x16. It’s a little tall for the climb through Torrey Pines, but otherwise works quite well for that sort of gently rolling terrain. This early in the season I’d definitely start out with the 16 - you can always swap it out in 5min if you feel you’re undergeared.
I got a 48/18 that came with my bike…Schwinn Madison. 72 gear inches. Works well out here around Lake Mead. I limit the grades to
12%.
I run a 48 X 18 on the fixie. When I do elephant rock century, I flip it and do 48 X 18 free (I tried it one year as 48X16 fixed and it was just too hard). I commute about 30 miles every week (+/- 20 miles)
http://www.elephantrockride.com/course_profiles/100.jpg
How far did you make it with the 48/16? That course looks brutal!
I agree a 48 /17 or 18 would make for happier legs than a 13,14,15,16 if you have hills.
How long does it take to get used to the gearing? Or a better question is how often do you switch down in teeth? This isn’t really about happy legs this about getting stronger. =] Suffering is expected/welcomed I prefer it that way.
48x16 is a nice gear but only gives you one skid patch per foot. If you are going to do skids you will go through a rear tyre every week with that gearing combo. 48x17 solves this problem.
This is on my 2008 spec transition that i ripped the RD out of, so I have both brakes, I saw no reason to take the rear off since it was already there. I will post pics as soon as the planet x 101’s have been finished for it. =]
I have a 48T crank and looking to for what cog size to put on the rear of my flip flop hub. This is going to be my only bike for a while. I live in San Diego, so there are some hills but nothing really major.
So
48/16
48/15
48/14
48/13
thoughts?
What kind of riding? 48x16 is just under 80 gear inches. That’d put your cadence at 85 for 20mph. Maybe a bit tall for everyday riding. Maybe a 17 on one side of the flip/flop and 16 on the other.
I had no idea that riding a fixie was so mathematically complicated. My cadence floats between 80-85. What kind of riding, I am looking to get stronger, i will probably start out with 20-30 mile rides 5 times a week and get up to 100 mile rides by the end of the summer, that’s what my plan is. To start out, the 20-30 mile rides are going to be on fiesta island, its DEAD flat with a total of 10 ft of elevation over 4 miles, after a couple weeks of that, i was planning on riding up and down the coast in san diego.
Math can’t be too hard if the hipsters can do it. 
I use a 2.8 ratio (42/15) that works very well for my fixie commuting on flat roads, ~40mi/day. For you to have 2.8 that would be 48/17. Problem in Houston is wind, and with a stiff headwind I’m working fairly hard with that ratio. Really depends on if you want to spin or mash, also what kind of power you put out and the road conditions. My commute covers some nasty bike paths where I don’t want to go much over ~18 mph for safety reasons anyway.
As you gain experience on your fixed gear bike you will better understand some of the finer points of different gears. I have three fixed gear bikes set up with a 53/14, 48/15, and 46/17. Happy legs to me means I can not get the 53/14 bike up the hill to my house. You can get just as good of a workout on any of the bikes, just different gears for different rides. The 48/15 does pretty good intervals and if you are on a flat flat course your 48/15 or 16 may be ok. I like the 46/17 for mixed hilly rolling courses.
A century on a fixed gear bike is hard on any course any gear. The legs go roundy round and don’t get to rest. So your but doesn’t get to stop and stretch in the saddle either.
One other thing to bear in mind is that a gear friendly for getting you up hills won’t be friendly for getting you *down *those hills.
Going down is the hard part. 
yeah thats the part that sort of worries me, I have a pretty big hill to go down on about 90% of my rides, i guess this is going to be a pretty sharp learning curve.
46t with a fixed/fixed hub I run 16t and a 19t for the days I’m just lazy. I did do a 30 mile out and back with a tailwind using the 16t then flipped it to the 19t for the ride back.
just carry a 1/2 in box wrench with you?
mine is fixed/free, i guess i could do something like that.
thanks for the tip. i am learning a lot from this thread.