Here's my question for riders who've ridden single-speed or fixed-gear winter commuter bikes... am I better in a higher ratio or a lower ratio for winter riding? At the moment I have a choice of 58 or 77 gear-inches. Is it better to be spinning fast or slow on slippery ground?
Gearing for winter fixie?
Submitted by ride on
spinning fast is better as
Submitted by critninja on
spinning fast is better as its easier to recover in a slippy situation - IMHO.
Slow and low, that is the tempo...
Submitted by pinkrobe on
I say go big and lower the torque. The bigger the gear, the lower the mechanical advantage at the wheel, which reduces your chances of breaking traction on slippery surfaces. It's the same idea as in cars - start in 2nd gear so you don't spin your tires. The only time a big gear sucks is on hills. You might feel like your patella is going to shoot off of your knee, but standing and pushing a big gear can work. It's all about balance - keep your weight back far enough to give your rear wheel maximum traction. A lower gear allows you to sit and spin, but comprimises your top speed.
I'm guessing your choice is a 53 or 39 x18? The difference in speed at 90 rpm cadence is a full 10 km/h [~35 vs. ~25]. You can figure out different gear ratios by using this: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
If you have to ride around cars at all, I'd recommend the higher gear and higher speed. Even for hills, it's easier to handle a bigger gear on the DH then to try and spin at 120 rpm. My $0.02...
HHCMF!!!
Depends on where you're riding
Submitted by djmitchella on
If you like to go with clearer roads but more traffic, then stick with whatever you're used to; I'm on 51x21, something like that, and on icy alleyways it works fine, I just take it careful.
On mornings after a big dump of snowy, though, I want a lower gear to let me plough through it; that said, on those mornings I'm on the dual suspension fixie rather than the skinny-tyred one so it's a different experience altogether.
(I took a skinny-tyred fixed-gear with studs out to Eagle Lake one winter and played around there -- it's neat to have so much room to play with just the right amount of traction between accelerating properly and losing it, and the freeze/thaw ridges made for a neat chance to try and get air (yes, and generally fall on the landing..)
Gearing for winter fixie
Submitted by Jerome G on
Personally, I like the lower gears. Typically you don't ride as fast in the winter on bad roads as you would on clear roads, so I change my gearing accordingly. Everyone has a different ratio that works well for them on good roads; some like to spin, some like to hammer. Studies are showing that even the pro's are getting their rpms up there and have had endurance benifits from this. But again, I think it's a matter of personal preference. In the summer I run 45/16, in the winter I like the 45/18. For deep snow, I have a S/S that I run with 38/17, but that won't get you anywhere fast. Nice thing is cogs are relatively cheep so you can play around with them a bit. I've been lucky enough to fit a large range of cogs and keep the same chain length. Love those old horizontal dropouts!. Cheers.
I rode fixed throughout the winter
Submitted by philosohpie on
I had huge, aggressive 700x45c tires and a gearing of 42x18. Hills felt fairly flat; snow didn't slow me down much; easy starts from stopping; I developed a smoother pedal stroke, and found riding on ice was just fine. Having the force advantage was/is nice as now, I've had this fantastic connection to my bike and its speed. I'm able to slow it down by resistance for most of my deceleration-related needs; brakes for the other 2% of times. I actually rode my geared bike the other day and was quite perturbed when I accidentally started coasting - for a second, I felt like I was on a runaway train; I didn't know what to do! My knees and I still enjoy a healthy relationship... now I've been riding 42x17, and thinking of going a little higher.
44x17
Submitted by ride on
I've been riding 44x17 for the past two years (well actually, 44/17 or 40/21 - see my ride on Velospace.org).
I find 44/17 high enough for my needs, without being too difficult on the uphills. Your 42/17 is already a bit higher than my gear. I can't imagine wanting to climb, say, the 10 St NW hill in anything higher. Pushing up hills by just mashing the pedals is hard on my knees, so I wear clipless pedals and practice pulling up as much as pushing down: that reduces the wear on the knees quite a bit.
I hear you about the feeling of total connection with the bike, and the road!
Fixie ratios for commuting
Submitted by seacloud on
I've been riding a fixed-gear for commuting for 2 years. I ride 700x28c tires and 42x15 all summer and didn't change it for my first winter of sporadic commuting or part of last winter. When I finally wised up that it was a pretty tough ratio for pushing in the snow, I switched to 42x16. I have to climb out of the river valley to get home and have a variety of choices: 10 St. N.W. (if I want to do the hill first, I may try this as the roads get snowy, if the new bike lane is cleared well enough); through Montgomery up 48 St. N.W. (I tend to abandon this route when the snow clogs up the residential roads too much); up Home Rd. N.W. (I can only do this in optimal conditions, in winter I often walk it)
For reference, here are a few gear combinations and their ratios based on some mentioned above (taken from sheldonbrown.com/gears):