Quantcast

Good SingleSpeed ratio?

crashwins

Monkey
Nov 4, 2009
131
0
What's a good all-around ratio? I'm a strong rider; I ride a 1x9 (32t in front) on my Transition Bandit. Am I a beast? No, but I ride pretty hard and Vermont is a lot of up/down on pretty technical stuff. I bought an Atomlab Pimp rear wheel (dedicated singlespeed) and this frame is a steel hardtail (Transition TransAm). Also wondering if anyone can recommend a good SS cog for it. Thanks folks!
 
Jun 2, 2009
3
0
Where I live we have some pretty steep hills, so I run 32X18 but I do tend to spin out a bit on the descents. I would buy 2 or 3 cheap steel cogs for a couple bucks each until you find a ratio that works and then buy a nice cog from there.
 

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
Even though you gave some good info, it's hard to say. You really might want to try just using the 1x9 and not shifting to zero in on what will work for you, if you haven't done that already. When I lived in Connecticut (similar terrain to parts of Vermont), I think I ran a 32x17 for general XC riding. 17 or 18 is a good place to start.
 

crashwins

Monkey
Nov 4, 2009
131
0
Great, that's what I was thinking. I used to ride a 32x16 on my old crappy Bianchi. I handled that no problem..I'm a stronger rider now. I was thinking 16 or 18 in the rear for the climbs out here, which definitely have more roots to negotiate. Chris King make good cogs?
 

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
Sounds good. You just gotta go with what seems good and then adjust. I think I started with a 16T and found it to be slightly too tall with 17 being good enough. King Cogs are great, just expensive. I used a Surly Cog and it worked just fine. Maybe not as light as the King, but not a big deal and $30 instead of $55. Just make sure whatever you settle on has a wide base so it won't dig into your freehub body (mostly an issue if it is an aluminum one). Most decent cogs are fine in that department; it's really just the cheapo ones that are really narrow.
 

skg6

Chimp
May 28, 2008
5
0
I run 32 x 18t on my hardtail and the trails here in Malaysia is quite tight. Full of sudden climbs but when its too steep i just push my bike. Im happy with this setup but sometimes i wish have a bigger cog at the rear for climbs.