Ok, so I'm set on ss for my Christmas build, but what sort of ratios do I want (I live in Haworth so lots of hills)? And can you recommend me a cheap chain set aswell?
Sorry, lots of questions atm, I just don't know about ss at all
Thanks in advance
Ben

What wheel size and what's your fitness level?

Personally for a hilly route with 29er wheels I would run 32 x 20 or 32 x 19 if the route is more undulating

29" wheels and I'm quite fit, but never ridden ss and I'm light so struggle with putting weight on the pedals :)

Oh, and preferably square taper cranks :)

Just bought a ss karate monkey running a 33:17 in hilly Huddersfield area. Thinking of going 33:21. If anyone out here has a 21t freewheel going spare please let me know

Theres a cheap square taper chainset on chain reaction. Shimano 44-32-22 in black for £16. Got 1 for my ss!

I've been using 36/21 in the peak. That's doable. Don't think I'd go harder. Any easier and I'd be spinning out

In my 29er, I'm currently riding a 32x16 butt Cheshire is flat! Went to the local Welsh hills and saw my arse on that gear, so thinking of a ~20 tooth

My commuter has 48x 17, but I hate it and I would never ride it off road

32:19 here on the 29er.
Did BB200 on 32:18 and regretted it.
33:20 on the Puffin, which seems about right given the extra rolling resistance (and weight)

32:19 for me most of the time on 29" wheels. I've been know to run 2 cogs on the back and swap depending on conditions ... 18t + 20t.

Can you lot use Gear Inches so it's comparable please?

Explained quickly just in case:
Ratio x wheel diameter.
e.g. 32:32 on a 26 inch wheel = 1:1 ratio x 26 inches = 26 gear inches
so 32:32 on a 29er would be 29 gear inches
and 32:16 on 26inch wheels = 2:1 ratio = 54 gear inches
Whereas 32:16 on 29 inch wheels = 58 gear inches

(I know we could look at crank length too, but that's too much effort for me ) And yes I know different size tyres actually makes the wheel diameter slightly different that the above isn't quite true, but it gives a better idea of gears - irrespective of your wheel size.

I used to run 32:16 all the time on 26 inch wheel round lboro = 54 gear inches. Was a rigid mtb too.

A few conversions:

s8tannorm wrote:32:19 for me most of the time on 29" wheels.

= 48.8 gear inches

Ian wrote:32:19 here on the 29er.

= 48.8 gear inches

Ian wrote:Did BB200 on 32:18 and regretted it.

= 51.56 gear inches

Ian wrote:33:20 on the Puffin

= I haven't a chuffing clue

voodoo_simon wrote:In my 29er, I'm currently riding a 32x16 butt Cheshire is flat!

= 58 gear inches (BEAST!)

FLV wrote: 36/21 in the peak.

29er? = 49.7 gear inches

Keiracon wrote:Just bought a ss karate monkey running a 33:17 in hilly Huddersfield area.

= 56.3 gear inches

Keiracon wrote: Thinking of going 33:21

= 45.6 gear inches

Zippy that's the most helpful thing I've read all day :D
So could someone recomend me a chain set and rear cog (with spacers) that would equal about 48 gear inches? Does the front chainring have to be ss specific or could I go for something like a downhill chain set (shimano zee 1x10 springs to mind, 36t and about 60 Quid's)

Ben98 wrote:Zippy that's the most helpful thing I've read all day :D
So could someone recomend me a chain set and rear cog (with spacers) that would equal about 48 gear inches?

Ben98 wrote:Does the front chainring have to be ss specific or could I go for something like a downhill chain set (shimano zee 1x10 springs to mind, 36t and about 60 Quid's)

Any chainset should work, just remember to buy some singlespeed chainring bolts as most stock triples have the outer and middle ring bolted together, so these will allow you to run just the middle chain ring. Apart from my road bike, all my singlespeed chainsets are standard shimano jobbies :)

Ben98 wrote:Zippy that's the most helpful thing I've read all day :D
So could someone recomend me a chain set and rear cog (with spacers) that would equal about 48 gear inches? Does the front chainring have to be ss specific or could I go for something like a downhill chain set (shimano zee 1x10 springs to mind, 36t and about 60 Quid's)

Depending on your budget it might be better to see what your chainset comes with and work from there.

Feed your figures into this an et volia! :http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

I use superstar cogs/spacers and they are only a few quid each if your chosen gear turns out to be less than ideal. As mentioned above, what's right for one application (29er racing in Thetford) might not be right for your next ride out (hauling bikepacking gear up a cliff in Wales*).

*Or in the case of the BB200 gearing doesn't matter as it a push/drag/carry

Puffin = 47.9 gear inches.

Head over to velosolo.co.uk for all your single speeding needs :)

Ben98 wrote:Zippy that's the most helpful thing I've read all day :D

Thankyou kindly :D

Ben98 wrote: So could someone recomend me a chain set and rear cog (with spacers) that would equal about 48 gear inches?

Whatever floats your boat. I got 1/8" track chain setup working with matching sprocket (with a DMR tension seeker) and it lasts forever (like actually forever!). [velosolo 4 bolt (104BCD) 1/8" front sprocket, KMC 1/8" track chain and WTB rear sprocket on a shimano freehub spline after a bit of dremel action] would have been a near on perfect setup if I had an eccentric bottom bracket or sliding dropouts ;

Some gears roughly around 48 gear inches* (not 100% sure on the availability of these parts):

22:13 = 49 gear inches
23:14 = 47.64 gear inches
25:15 = 48.33 gear inches
26:16 = 47.125 gear inches
28:17 = 47.76 gear inches
30:18 = 48.3 gear inches
32:19 = 48.8 gear inches
33:20 = 47.85 gear inches
34:21 = 46.95 gear inches
36:22 = 47.45 gear inches
38:23 = 47.9 gear inches

I also used a chain length calculator to make sure my chosen front and rear rings would not leave me with a silly half link situation

im on 29+ krampus on 34.20, at the moment, may knock it down a soon, but at the moment its ok for Cannock chase, not many long climbs but lots of short steep stuff

I also used a chain length calculator to make sure my chosen front and rear rings would not leave me with a silly half link situation

http://eehouse.org/fixin/formfmu.php

Like this one? Really useful if you want a shorter or longer chainstay as well as an approx ratio. I spent way too much time using bad maths to work it out before finding this.

http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/b ... hcalc.html

That one.

Also used a non bike related one that I liked best but I can't seem to find that.
I like yours too though

http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/chainlength.html

That one. You can tweek the chainstay dimension to get the right chain links, you need an even number.