hi everyone, i just needed your thoughts and suggestions about my decision here. i have an 49:17 ratio and after 4 months of riding this ratio, i am beginning to think that this ratio is too light for me now. i'm planning to adjust my ratio only from the cog, and i plan to change my 17t cog to a 16t or 15t. which is better? a 16t cog or 15t cog? i'm planning to keep my 17t cog since my hub is a fix/fix. the 17t cog for climbs and chill rides. i want a bigger ratio but im worried if it'll be much of a change. thoughts? 16t or 15t?
by livelovenjs
19 Comments
49/16 is pretty good
Personally I think anything over about 3.0 is too big for the city if your main goal is to just get places and enjoy rides/commutes on your bike
But it seems like you also take cycling more seriously as a sport too (which is great, I like training on my fixed gear too)
In your shoes I would go little steps for now, sooner or later you will have freedom of choice between gear ratios as you will have collected many cog and chainrigs
Though when starting out, changing cogs is a much more cost effective way of changing your gear ratio
49:15 and 49:16 are not very different. One less skid patch on the 15 and a barely different ratio overall.
Big ratios are great until you accidentally find a steep hill you need to climb.
15 on one side 16 on the other – with your steel bars your sprint will be noticeably more explosive – if you have trouble with hills you can always switch back
It’s not too light for you. Guaranteed.
Ride whatever you want, but if you’re not averaging 19-21 mph over extended distance or lengths of time you haven’t “outgrown” the ratio. Get proficient in spinning.
What frame size is that?
2 teeth make a giant difference, go for the 16t.
This build is nice bro… 16T if you have 17t already, should do it
Jesus Christ. What you’re looking for is a bike with gears. Learn how to spin. 49/17 is not too light for anyone outside of the Olympics. This is a fixed gear bike. One gear. There are going to be times when it feels tough and there are going to be times where your feet are flying. Learn how to ride your bike.
49×15 = 37.6 km/h @ 90rpm. You can’t do that for the duration of a ride, 100% guaranteed.
16T for now. The one tooth change makes a bigger difference than you might expect. I think 15/49 is gonna be too big of a jump.
49/15 is fine if you got actual good legs.
Otherwise you’ll just hurt your knees more than anything, and you’ll always be riding under 70rpm which is no good…
It’s a fixed gear not a road bike – your cadence is going to vary a lot – fixed riding is punchy – you may grind some on a reasonable uphill and fly on the downhill – none of this easy formula solutions apply – the op may be a skinny dude a body builder or a guy trying to loose more than a few pounds – he says he’s spinning out – maybe he is – I’m taking him at his word
keep the 17t and learn to spin. or build up a frame for speed. like other comments it’s only one gear so it needs to cover more bases than just top speed. acceleration, control, ability to stop esp on brakeless 49:17 will lend you more of that. if all else fails than a 16t but i feel like even 4 months of riding isn’t enough to appreciate your current gear ratio
I run a 49-16. I have a relatively flat city so it works great and i can manage an occasional hill.
I will admit on days im tired or my drive train is dirty it does feel like a grind to get it moving at every stop start red light
As you’ve got a 49, skid patches aren’t really an issue, I switch between 15 and 17 on a 48T chainring and it works but you need longish track-ends for it to work on the same chain, but it gives a wider range. A single tooth may not be as big a change as you’d like but is easier to setup in any bike.
If budget allows, get both and try them out.
I would recommend looking for a bigger chainring over a smaller cog – see if you can find a 51 or a 52 and pair that with your 17 tooth cog. If that’s not an option then 49:15 is a great ratio for going fast without spinning like crazy but you will find braking and standing starts to be much more demanding than 49:17 – go to 49:16 first and then see how it feels – too big a jump can be a bummer.
49/16