Alex is on a mission to create the world’s slowest bike. A bike modified in a way that quite literally, is impossible to ride fast. The thing is, this bike could land Alex a world record! Can he break the record for the slowest hour of cycling? ⏳
⏱️ Timestamps: ⏱️
00:00 Can Alex make the slowest bike in the world?
00:26 How will he achieve this?
01:11 How to figure out gear ratios
02:45 Fitting the components to the bike
03:34 The route
04:06 Time for the ride!
05:30 Results
05:58 Takeaways
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Would you have ever expected Alex to make a video about making a bike SLOWER? 🤣 Let us know in the comments down below. What else would you like to see Alex try? 🤔
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38 Comments
Would you have ever expected Alex to make a video about making a bike SLOWER? 🤣 Let us know in the comments down below. What else would you like to see Alex try? 🤔
Slow on the flat….fast on the climb. Small singles rule!
I just read about an out of production product called the Mountain Tamer Quad wich allows you to run a front chainring with a 16t diameter (smaller than the bolt circle on a 5 arm MTB compact). You could also switch out to a flatland BMX crankset and could probably have something in the 10-12 tooth count made up. No rules in this.
you guys clearly have never seen berm peak. he mad a custom sprocket for the back, that was so large it was borderline impossible to ride the bike because it was so slow
I use extreme drivertrain combos, with 180mm cranks, that get me down around 10-12 gear inches. Tried 13×50 with my 36er using a cassette cog to granny ring adapter I made. Now on my 36 inch wheel mountain bike the lowest gear is 19x54t with a very straight chainline. The 19t 58mm granny ring and the 54t cog are custom. The 9 speed gears run 13-15-18-22-28-34-40-46-54. The 29×13 high gear will get me there. On my vintage 26er, a Bridgestone MB-1, I have a 17×42 combo that's about 10.3 gear inches, which is right at the physical limit of low gearing, as discovered by the people who made the Mtn Tamer Triple, Mtn Tamer Quad and Mtn Tamer Quad Plus Adapters and the White Industries Limbo Spider, in the 1980's. The Mtn Tamer company put out a gear chart with one of their adapters that showed a 16×38. Must have used a threaded 16t cog with a 38t Suntour freewheel. The last ride I did on the vintage 26er,, I used my 17×42 to go 1.4 to 1.6 mph up a 9% grade at a breath-saving rpm rate. I use close range triples with a small granny ring to get the advantages of a 1x drivetrain but I still keep the granny and big ring for the range. One 3×9 goes 17/28/39×12-14-16-17-18-21-25-32-39. The 1 tooth gaps are for road commuting and the other gears are for off road riding.
You need an old triple crankset that has a 64BCD inner granny ring, because there are aftermarket 20T chainrings out there in 64BCD. I think I've even seen 18T rings for Dub/GXP cranks (intended for like cargo bikes and such).
Trying to build "the world’s slowest bike" is like holding a competition for the world’s tallest midget.
Well, nothing out of the ordinary here. 22-30-40 in the front and 11-40 in the back was normal MTB territory before everything went 1x, and is still often used on touring bikes. i use said setup on my gravelbike and its just perfect. you basically ride it like a 1x 95% of the time, but can downshift to the middle ring in the front on long climbs and still got the 22 granny gear left for really steep stuff or if you have a fully loaded bike and just want to get up the last hill of the day without making a competition out of it. plus, you dont need to go up a long steep hill with a completely ruined chain line. 22 in the front and 19/21/24 in the rear is a perfectly straight chain line. much nicer than 40-40 on a 1x.
Check back in once you discover the Schlumpf drive…
Half my bikes are geared about as low as this. I’ve got a 28/51, a couple 30/51’s, a 24/42, a 22/36 with 26” tires, and a 36/51 with 26” tires.
Alex, if you want to trade one of your countless Dura Ace chainsets for the 20T chainring in my parts box, drop me a message. 😅
Take a „normal“ non ex-pro from the office and find out what‘s the steepest gradient this person can go up in zone 2. This is something we normal people struggle with.
That's a similar ratio I have on my trek 800. That bike is for towing
I would love to see the slowest gear ratio. Just the idea of pedaling as fast as you can while barely moving is hilarious.
The old men here in my area in PH have those speeds but can cycle for a whole day.
Drop your wheel diameter to 20" with that gear ratio.
I want to see you climb the steepest gradient. That would be well worth a watch 😂
Off to Punta Veleno!
Please remove this video. It’s going to give the UCI some stupid ideas about how to ‘improve’ road racing
Alex incoming for some Zone -2 training.
Keep it up, lad..! 😉
smaller back wheel will help
😂😂😂😂😂 Brilliant!
What about really long cranks too?
Seth is the record holder
It's MATHS FFS!
Wahahahaha 🤣🤣
Yes, please cycle up Baldwin St in Dunedin, NZ.
My old mechanic had a multi stage reduction on a bike. I think it was somewhere in the 1:10 or 1:20 range. Next time I see him I'll have to ask if he still has it.
You missed an important advantage. Security! You can leave your bike unlocked, have a coffee and then catch up with the thief at a slow walking pace.
Just [casually] ride it up some 15%+ gradients and thank yourself for installing PROPER gearing for someone at 3-4 W/kg FTP, and not 6-7 W/kg.
It would be much more interesting to see which crazy steep hills an average climber can climb with these…
Those ratios look perfect for me and where I ride 🙂
20t front 52t back maybe? 😂😂
fast bike pls 100 km per hour
I will toss this question out to the crowd. I want a slower bike! I bought and rehabbed a Bianchi city bike with a 1x 8 Altus groupset. The chainring is 42 with an 11-34 cassette. First of all, who thought this was a good idea? I don’t need a gear ratio of 3.8 to haul groceries (although I got her up to 25 mph and used the 11 ONCE). What I need is a gear ratio for hills. What modification would you make? I think changing the chainring to 38 would be the least expensive option, but I’m having trouble finding one that I’m certain would be compatible. Changing the cassette would require an extension of the rear derailleur from what I see. Thoughts?
My dream 🙂
0.5 gear ratio 🥰
Ha ha, walk or ride. Industry fall down below 5x range but convince to use road and trails with the same frame, which is good. But where is the 6-7x range instead of pizza plates.
I'm buying that same Canyon bike, but I'm not going to put that gearing on it.😂