I’m running a 42/15 front rear (2.8 ratio) on my commuter fixie. Can be tough on v. windy days, but basically no hills where I ride so its not bad all around ratio. Thinking about increasing to ~3 for more strength workout; could do 52/17 or 42/14, either way have to buy a new rear cog. Any reason anyone is aware of for a preference for larger or smaller front or rear cogs on fixies?
What kind of gearing are you using and why?
I ride 48/16, just because it’s the stock gearing. I occasionally want easier gearing, especially when the day after a big training day is very windy.
Mine is a 42/16, but am looking to change it up, and go with a 12/13 instead. It’s a new bike, and this is the default gear ratio, but don’t really find that it’s a good one as I run out of “pedal” pretty quickly on flats, and the hills aren’t that bad. All of that being said I LOVE my new ride, and really enjoy hardly using the breaks at all! I also have to confess that in some ways I find the constant pedaling has shown me some weak parts in my stroke, which I know aim to fix (off topic, but i really love the ride!).
Another 42/16 here. No plans to change. I have a few hills and when I want to go faster on the flats I just pedal faster.
All of that being said I LOVE my new ride, and really enjoy hardly using the breaks at all!
I think I’d grow bored with bike commuting pretty quick if not for my Old Betsy. I just bought her a new pair of fenders. I do use the brake all the time, hard to break that habit.
Another 42/16 here. No plans to change. I have a few hills and when I want to go faster on the flats I just pedal faster.
You stand up over bumps? I find it challenging to stand up while pedaling really fast and the fixie is unforgiving for even minor lapses in memory! For this reason alone I like a little bigger gearing on the fixed bike.
I ride 48/16 because that came stock. Of course, the rear cog is going to be much cheaper than a new chain ring up front. The really small cogs (12 and 11) is where your run into problems, I’ve heard, but don’t really know from experience. You should be fine with either of the setups you mentioned.
42/16. I can get up the hills around here (Portland). In fact I’m planning on doing hill repeats on it after work, and since I don’t mind spinning a high cadence I don’t have any issues on the flats.
scott
Sort of depends on what you want to do with it. I have a bike set up with 54/14 that I use for TT practice. (Very flat)
I generally ride 46/16 or 17. I can do shorter hills and like that ratio as a comfortable gear. But then if you group ride you better be in a gear the others are in or your day can be hard. Most of my buddies ride in 47/15 or 16 ish on the Sunday fixie ride. I am in deep kim chee when they wind it up and I am only in a 46/17 and some clown is leading out in a 48/14. My old legs have a hard time sustaining 120 rpm plus for very long.
wow…you kids use some massive gears! I typically use a 60-62 inch gear (46x20 or so) in hilly terrain, and it seems just fine on a flat (solo) ride. My knees hurt just reading these responses.
42x16 biopace right now
yep I am old
the snow is melting
I love spring
Thom
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56x16 during the winter, but I will make my way to 56x14 over the next few weeks as I work through the next 1,000 miles or so and get stronger. It is pretty much flat here, so wouldn’t want to do many long climbs on that 
When I switch over to a bike with a freewheel it is really amazing to see how much this helps improve my power and efficiency. Now that I have been using a PowerTap on my TT bike and road bike for the past few months I can actuallyto quantify just how much working with the fixie helps improve my power, and it really does help a lot.
I actually did my first triathlon on my fixie at 56x14 a couple of years ago and had the second fastest bike split overall - only a few seconds off of the fastest time. I believe that Frey’s U.S. 40 km TT record was set on a fixie with similar gearing, so as long as you have a flat course with little wind, it’s reasonable gearing… I plan to do at least one triathlon or TT this summer on my fixie and see if I can actually beat all of those folks with the derailleurs.
48/17 - my Langster came with 48/16 freewheel and I elected for a little faster cadence when I got the fixed cog. I can ride with geared bikes most of the time unless it’s a hammer ride and can still make it up small hills without breaking my knees off. 48/16 was a wee bit too much umph for me when I used the freehub last but that was 2 years ago…
i ride 48/16 in cincy which has shortish but moderately steep climbs. i am pretty decent at climbing by way of low body weight not massive power, and need to increase leg strength, so the big gear seems right.
How are you running biopace on a fixed gear? Your chain tension must be all over the place.
I’m in a similar situation, I use several different combinations depending on what I’m doing.
I’ll ride a 39t x 16t for commuting, and I spec that gear on Felt’s Urban Single Speed models. I find the ~65" gear well suited to rolling terrain and individual riding.
For fixed gear training in a group ride setting, I put a 48t on. I’ve done a few of the local rides here (Coffee Crew, Food Park, Como St., and the Thursday night hammerfest out of Rock 'n Road Mission Viejo for you SoCal types) with that 48t x 15t and found it tough going, both with the high speed at times, as well as the start and stop in such a large gear.
For fixed gear ROAD TT use, I usually run a 51, 52, or 53t x 15t depending on the terrain.
On the track, it depends on the event, but usually a chainring tooth +/- away from 50t x 15t except National Championships, where even a 49t x 14t can feel small.
I’ve got an old chart somewhere that shows cogs under 16t have significantly more drag as a proportion to the reduction in the number of teeth. There is a pretty linear relationship with roller chain devices with a decrease in tooth size and a linear increase in friction, that is, until you hit a 15t cog. The friction increase goes up exponentially with each tooth reduction, and a 13 and 12t cog has astoromical drag, once you get down to 10, 9 and even 8 teeth, the chain no longer rolls in a circle, rather it “pulses” over the cog and the friction is audible.
If you are running a 42t ring up front, a new cog is likely a cheaper way to go if your chain is long enough.
Regards,
-SD
I actually did my first triathlon on my fixie at 56x14 a couple of years ago and had the second fastest bike split overall - only a few seconds off of the fastest time. I believe that Frey’s U.S. 40 km TT record was set on a fixie with similar gearing, so as long as you have a flat course with little wind, it’s reasonable gearing… I plan to do at least one triathlon or TT this summer on my fixie and see if I can actually beat all of those folks with the derailleurs.
Fixie TT’s are fun I need to break mine out again. The British 40Km record is on a fixed, and is under 46 minutes.
I run a 42*17 - thats fine for the area I live - its close to North Wales, and that has some hills. I cant spin fast enough on the downhills, but at least the gear is low enough to let me get up all the hills, and usually faster than my pals on their compact/triples.
Yeah - biopace on fixed ? Is that safe ?
I can actuallyto quantify just how much working with the fixie helps improve my power, and it really does help a lot.
It would be great if you can post some of your results and interpretation here, thats basically why I turned to fixed riding and my impression is that it does help with power, but really no way for me to really know since I simultaneously ~doubled my weekly mileage and that undoubtedly also added to power output.
56x14
Ouch.
For fixed gear ROAD TT use, I usually run a 51, 52, or 53t x 15t depending on the terrain.
I’ve got an old chart somewhere that shows cogs under 16t have significantly more drag as a proportion to the reduction in the number of teeth.
! 53x15, I agree, you are Super! Can you swim with those monster legs?
That drag info is really helpful, thanks alot. So I guess I should move to 52 in front and buy a bigger rear cog instead of moving to 14 in back. I’ve got the 52T lying around, but I presume I’d have to also buy a new chain, not much axel adjustment window with my 1985 road bike converted to fixie.