Gearing Help / Dahon Project

[gene hunt]

Made the decision to build the spare Dahon back up as a singlespeed, it has track ends so no issue with chain tension etc.

Looking for help with gearing ratio, anyone on here running a 20" wheel bike as a singlespeed if so what ratio are you running please.

It was a 3spd from new but was hopeless, I have a 48t chainset fitted at the moment.

Thanks

[Jonah]

48: 13 = 69"  with 20-inch 1.75mm tyres. Not a bad gear to start with?

[Nelson Longflap]

Depends what you want to use it for I guess ... for going to the pub or shops maybe 48 / 16 = 60" on the 20" wheels.  Smaller wheels have more rolling resistance so it's probably best to gear a bit lower than usual and enjoy the relaxed ride and easy hill climbing. Gear a bit higher if you might be embarrassed by going relatively slow.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I was happy with 56 x 13 on my 349-wheeled Moulton fixed during a Super Randonneur series. Smaller wheels didn't slow me down.

[greenmeansgo]

As Jonah said - somewhere around 70" sounds like a good starting point. I find this comfortable for flattish commuting and gentle hills (admittedly fixed, and on full size wheels, but nonetheless).

[zigzag]

i run 48x14 now with kojak 1.35 tyres. tried it with 12 and 13 sprockets, but found that 14 suits me best (good for quicker acceleration from traffic lights and better on steep hills)

[gene hunt]

i run 48x14 now with kojak 1.35 tyres. tried it with 12 and 13 sprockets, but found that 14 suits me best (good for quicker acceleration from traffic lights and better on steep hills)

Interesting I am going to running Kojak as well and have got a 12t sprocket, starting to wonder if that will be too big 

Thanks everyone for all the help.