# single speed gearing, dirt jump/urban



## Fulton (Feb 6, 2004)

When you guys (and gals) set up your hard tails single speed, for urban, dirt jumping, etc, what gear combo do you usually run? Also, this is for 26" wheels. Thanks


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## Da Bikoholic (Mar 18, 2004)

Fulton said:


> When you guys (and gals) set up your hard tails single speed, for urban, dirt jumping, etc, what gear combo do you usually run? Also, this is for 26" wheels. Thanks


Try running close to 2:1 ratio
im curently riding a 32 ring and a 17cog and its perfect for street and dirt jumping wich is a ratio of 1,88 : 1


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## rpl3000 (Feb 24, 2004)

i second that, i run 32-17 also.


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## Salami (Jan 13, 2004)

I ran a 32/16 on my rigid 26" and found it was too small of a gear for some DJ's. 

In areas I don't have to pedal it wasn't a big deal but there werre some jumps when an extra crank was reguired to gain speed and the 32/26 didn't cut it for me. Unfornately my frame wouldn't allow me to change the gear ratio without a tensioner as I am pretty confident a 34/16 would have been spot on. 

A 34/16 with a 26" is the same overall gearing just about every BMXer on the planet runs (44/16, 36/13, 33/12, etc).


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## Shibby (Jan 13, 2004)

*Really stupid question....*

Just out of curiousity and boredom (watching the clock  ), why is a 2:1 ratio for single-speed gearing considered 'optimal'?


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

Shibby said:


> Just out of curiousity and boredom (watching the clock  ), why is a 2:1 ratio for single-speed gearing considered 'optimal'?


typically something smaller will be to hard to climb and accellerate comfortably, while a higher one and you will be at the mercy of gravity while on a slight decline as you will not be able to pedal fast enough to accellerate any more....

(think bmx)


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## Shibby (Jan 13, 2004)

K...maybe I'm reading this wrong. I understand the difference between a bit gear in the back and a small gear in the back (or front), obviously. It's the 2:1 ratio thing. Like if you have a very big gear in the front with very small one in the back, you will get a certain number of wheel revolutions per pedal stroke. But, you can get the same # of revolutions/stroke with a mid-sized gear in the front and back, no? (I'm not smart enough to give specific examples, but isn't along the same lines as the gearing redundancies you see in a standard 27 gear setup...different gear combos will result in the same 'difficulty' pedalling).

I'm stupid, sorry.


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

Shibby said:


> ................. if you have a very big gear in the front with very small one in the back, you will get a certain number of wheel revolutions per pedal stroke. But, you can get the same # of revolutions/stroke with a mid-sized gear in the front and back, no? .................


simple answer....
pedal a bike with a massive front sprocket and a small rear. then switch to same size (approx) front and rear and you will see a MONSTER difference....

hint: 1st gear on a traditional 27 speed has approxamately the same size gears front and back....
while 27th gear is the large front and small rear....


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## Shibby (Jan 13, 2004)

.WestCoastHucker. said:


> simple answer....
> pedal a bike with a massive front sprocket and a small rear. then switch to same size (approx) front and rear and you will see a MONSTER difference....
> 
> hint: 1st gear on a traditional 27 speed has approxamately the same size gears front and back....
> while 27th gear is the large front and small rear....


 Holy sh!t, I just thought about what I typed up there. I don't know why, but I had things completely a$$-backwards in my head. I'm going to go sit in the corner and think about what I've done.


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

Shibby said:


> Holy sh!t, I just thought about what I typed up there. I don't know why, but I had things completely a$$-backwards in my head. I'm going to go sit in the corner and think about what I've done.


yeah, i figured you just had a spaced-out moment......


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## Shibby (Jan 13, 2004)

thank you for understanding


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