Fixed gear size in London

[Mark]

Hi

Does anyone here commute in London (or anywhere else with a lot of
traffic) on a fixer with a gear taller than 69"? I currently run a
42x16 for the 10 mile commute between Morden and Shepherd's Bush which
is fine but as it's a fairly fast run (A219 most of the way) I'd like
to be able to push a bit harder. I find spinning very fast
unsustainable for more than a couple of minutes so I'm thinking of
going for a 42x15 -- around 73". Crossing Wimbledon/Putney hill might
be interesting on the bigger gear but I'm sure I'll cope. I'm more
worried about the stopping/starting -- is 73" awkward in the traffic?
Sprockets are cheap so I'll just give it a shot but I wondered if
anyone here runs a similar sized gear.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Roger Merriman]

Mark <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi
>
> Does anyone here commute in London (or anywhere else with a lot of
> traffic) on a fixer with a gear taller than 69"? I currently run a
> 42x16 for the 10 mile commute between Morden and Shepherd's Bush which
> is fine but as it's a fairly fast run (A219 most of the way) I'd like
> to be able to push a bit harder. I find spinning very fast
> unsustainable for more than a couple of minutes so I'm thinking of
> going for a 42x15 -- around 73". Crossing Wimbledon/Putney hill might
> be interesting on the bigger gear but I'm sure I'll cope. I'm more
> worried about the stopping/starting -- is 73" awkward in the traffic?
> Sprockets are cheap so I'll just give it a shot but I wondered if
> anyone here runs a similar sized gear.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Mark

about the same as top gear in the 2nd ratio on my road, well as road as
i've got.

even with my heavy bike and my rather screwed knee i can pull off okay
in that gear, in traffic. it might make you need to stand on the pedals
to get going from a standing start.

roger

 

[Alex]

On 13 Jun, 21:30, Mark <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi
>
> Does anyone here commute in London (or anywhere else with a lot of
> traffic) on a fixer with a gear taller than 69"?

46x17 here 71.4" for Putney -> Southbank.

I live half way up Putney Hill and it isn't a problem on that gear.
I also do laps of Richmond Park (anti-clockwise) and can get up
Sawyer's Hill and Dark Hill with no real problems (just a bit of
heave on the two ramps of Dark Hill).

Not a problem in traffic either, pulling away from lights is easy
(and I stop at the red ones).

After 1000km of this commute I'm considering upping the gear (to
46x16 to 74") for the commuting side but I think it may knock me
back too much on the hills (I sometimes do 100km Audaxes on this
bike, and also visit my sis over in Guildford), may just have to
try it and see.

Ta,

-Alex