So i ride a steamroller, which with water and a handlebar bag is like 23lbs. I just moved to Colorado and used my road bike for a 60 mile, 6000ft of elevation ride. I would love to build a fixie for something like this with a lighter cog on one side and a heavier cog on the other. Is this a dumb idea?
by CrazyDingo5215
12 Comments
Hills are a state of mind
any bike can be a hillclimb bike if you Lock In
I live in a hilly area and am fat as fucking shit. I have a steel fixed gear that I have geared at 39×21 that I use as a mountain bike, its for climbing. Its slow. Its a good ratio for tricks.
Patrick Seabase in Switzerland climbs the Alps on a BMC fixed gear brakeless. 47/17 is his ratio.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Bikeporn/comments/8fb1c0/patrick_seabases_custom_bmc_track_bike/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bikeporn/comments/8fb1c0/patrick_seabases_custom_bmc_track_bike/)
That max speed had to have been crazy as hell bro, guessing that was a scary downhill
Join the [19T](https://19teeth.org/) gang and change your chainring based on the ride. I run 42/19 on my tracklocross bike and 49/19 on my street/road build. Honestly I gotta try TPU tubes and see if the hype is true since ik they shave off a lot of weight
36×17 , spin it to win it !!!!
https://tracklocross.bike/2025/01/23/what-does-gear-ratio-gear-inches-and-gain-ratio-mean-for-fixies/
This lead to a Steamroller 650b 42/17 for tracklocross.
But I have to admit that I came across climbs that I couldn’t handle.
And I‘m only a little fat.😂
Not a dumb idea 👍🏼, 48/17 is a ratio I’ve used to climb a lot of hills.
You can set up with two cogs, but swapping the wheel around regularly is going to get old FAST.
Fixed gear is always going to be my favorite, but hills are a major reason I’m currently building a multi-speed road bike to complement my fixed bike.
You really couldn’t have found 4 more feet to climb!?!?!?
It’s a great idea.
With normal track ends you can accommodate a difference of about 4 cog teeth, because the wheel will sit at the back of the dropouts in the high gear and the front of the dropouts in the low gear. Think 47/17 and 47/21.
You also need you make sure that your hub has stepped threads on both sides. Don’t do any of the goofy things people do to fake it.
Lastly for a bigger difference in gearing you can make a “double dingle” drivetrain. That uses a rear cog like the Surly Dingle and a double crank set with chainrings also a few teeth different. Think 47/17 and 43/21. The hardest part of this is finding a dingle cog and chainrings the right size.
Whatever combination you choose make sure the chain length and skid patches will work with the different combinations.