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I'm going to bodge together a singlespeed for my winter commute (well that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it). Never tried this before, but as [s]i have thighs of mighty oak[/s] my route is pretty flat I'm probably looking at a relatively high ratio, aiming at something like 42/16ish to start with. The numpty Q is whether it'd be better to use a 32t up front and drop the sprocket down to a 12 or so, or will it be better with the 42?
better with the bigger option.
is this off road?
Ta. Mainly roads, but with some unmade stuff that shakes my fillings out on the vintage road bike I've been using so far.
Is it a road bike you are hacking up or mtb thepurist?
For road, I would start round 48:18 or 48:16, on a MTB, 42:16 a good place to start.
42/16 would probably last longer - I've heard it's bad mojo to drop below 16t at the back due to wear.
It'll be a 26" MTB - 42:16 it is then!
As above, bigger is better as long as the chainrings fit on. Presumably if it is an MTB frame, you would just need to use the outer ring position rather than the middle.
I used to run 36:12 on my old hardtail with slick tyres on it for getting to work. The Edinburgh New Town hills were tough work, but manageable. If I was buying bits to set it up, I'd go bigger than 36/12 to ensure a decent amount of chain wrap.
44:16 here 1.6 slicks - just about okay climbing the Somerset hills 😀
bigger rear cogs are cheaper and easier to source.
but as above more reasons to go bigger,
agreed go with bigger rings if you can, but much depends on your rear hub - if you're adapting a cassette body rear hub you have loads of options for chainline, but if it's a ss rear hub you may not have clearance for a 36T + ring to be in the right position to match the chainline at the rear.
I'm running 40 X 16 on my summer Overbury and Winter Surly commuters, fairly flat apart from 1 hill and I've used them off road non technical trails and paths and it works well then as well
Some big ratios there. Are these strictly for road / commute / hybrids?
AndrewBF - don't worry, I'm not riding vertical offroad trails on 36:12. That was strictly for commuting.
I run a more sensible 32:13 at the moment as I'm using my Inbred for CX, and it will revert to trail centre friendly 32:15 or 34:16 in a few weeks.