What is your favorite all-round "just ride" cruising gear?

[Patrick Moore]

Idle thoughts while waiting for a client call in 9 minutes. 

Snow here this morning, tho' it won't stick; still, one hopes to get enough to stay around long enough so one can ride in it.

Which raiseth the question: for a single speed mtb used for casual dirt road and flat dirt track riding, sand and (again, one hopes) snow, as well as casual pavement and firm dirt riding, what gear would you choose? Mine is presently 65" (180 mm cranks) which is low and easy for dry land riding, but I am thinking about swapping the 15 for a 16 for 61", but wonder if that would be too low for pavement. OEM gearing (as I got it) was 50", which is far too low for anything I do.

I could always just try it, but that wouldn't solve the question about what to do in the remaining minutes before this call.

Seriously, I'm curious what y'all use for just puttering around.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[j glenn]

My single speed is either  59 or 63 gear inches.  Its a little low in that I can spend 90% of my time sitting when ride  flatlands locally, but more like 50% of the time hauling a kid trailer.  Its worked out pretty good for studded tires in the snow, some times with the trailer. My kids realy to big for the trailer at 50+ pounds so we may have to start  bikejoring.

[Chris L]

When I ride a multi-gear bike, I tend to ride it as a single-speed, only changing gears when I really have to.  I don't remember the exact gear inches but err on the lower side, probably around the 60'ish gear-inch range.  

On the rare occasions when I get out on a long stretch, even a very modest downslope ends up in my spinning out my 90'ish gear-inch top end.  Straight and level riding bores me, so I rarely do that and mainly stick to slower riding with lots of twists and turns around the neighborhood's streets and greenbelt sidewalks.  

[Ben Mihovk]

Omaha is not mountainous, but it's way too hilly for a single speed (for my weak legs, anyway!).  But...my favorite gear on my bike (42/26 ring with 11/32 cassette, 175mm crank, 700c wheels) is 66.7 gear inches. If I lived in a flatter town or was a stronger rider and was looking for a single speed, that's what I'd shoot for. 

Ben "Probably Shouldn't Respond To Threads About Single Speeds" Mihovk 

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[lconley]

My single speeds tend to be in the mid to upper 60s, but what I ride on multi-gear bikes tend to be in the mid to low 60s.

I think I read somewhere that the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps rode fixed 60" gears.

Laing

On Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 11:55:41 AM UTC-5 Patrick Moore wrote:

[Kainalu V. -Brooklyn NY]

69.6" is my fave, but it killed both my single speeders. Maybe not the gearing's fault, but I wonder if I had run less torque (75"?) they might not have given up.

-Kai

On Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 11:55:41 AM UTC-5 Patrick Moore wrote:

[George Schick]

My SS MTB is set up with a 60" gear and 165mm crank arms.  Seems to be just fine most of the time though there are instances where a bit larger gear would be preferred (downhill slopes, tail winds, etc.).  I've thought about bumping it up a notch, but I don't want to do that in favor of the 60" for hill climbing and riding into headwinds.

On Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 10:55:41 AM UTC-6 Patrick Moore wrote:

[Patrick Moore]

Well, the snow melted by the time I got out after noon, and just as well as I had to drop something off downtown for my daughter, so rode the new Matthews road bike. 

But interesting to hear that others' favored puttering/cruising gears are much like my own; again, 65"/15 t now, but probably will want 61"/16 t if I ever do get to ride in some snow. I do like 72 to 76" for pavement, though, at least on a "planey" bike, though I am not endorsing any theory of "planing."