Help with Fixed or SS crankset teeth/rear cog

[BigDaddySmooth]

So,
Unexpectedly, I won a Nagasawa NJS track bike on eBay. It comes with Hatta R9400 square taper bottom bracket. What I don't know is the crankset teeth and cog I need to order. I don't plan to ride in a velodrome but on the road for simplicity. I haven't decided fixed or SS yet. I typically ride my roadie 16-22 mph. Thanks.

[Peter B]

Umm... do you live in Florida or the Swiss Alps?

Masher or spinner?

Hoping to use existing bits?

[vertebraille]

So,
Unexpectedly, I won a Nagasawa NJS track bike on eBay. It comes with Hatta R9400 square taper bottom bracket. What I don't know is the crankset teeth and cog I need to order. I don't plan to ride in a velodrome but on the road for simplicity. I haven't decided fixed or SS yet. I typically ride my roadie 16-22 mph. Thanks.

48T chainring and 16T cog is a good place to start in my experience. You'll definitely spin out around 30mph downhill but you can still climb moderate hills with it.

[AngryScientist]

yea, good questions by Peter above.

To start with, i would figure out which gear combo you spend the most time in on your road bike, and then imagine using JUST that gear all the time.

next plug that gear combo into one of the many "gear inch calculators" available online.

next, select a single speed/fixed crankset you wish to use, and determine which gear ratio you want based on the gear inches you figured out above.

most track cranksets have between 46 and 50 teeth, adjust rear cog based on that.

also - since it's a track frame, it may or may not have provisions for front and rear brakes. since you sound like you have very little experience riding either SS/fixed, and are going to ride on the road, a front brake is a must if riding fixed and front and rear brakes are a must if riding SS - so you will need to determine the frame's capability to use those.

that should be a good start...

[ultraman6970]

IN chainrings you will be ok with like 44 all the way to 48.... in cogs... 16/17/18/19 and maybe the 15.

If the frame doesnt have holes for brakes please do not drill the fork, there are other solutions, drill it would be a crime IMO.

You can put a brake caliper in the back for example.

Enjoy your new bike :)

[regularguy412]

48 x 17 @ 90 rpm is approx. 20 mph.

Maybe more important at this juncture is 'What length crank you wanna ride?'

I highly recommend a front brake--- especially if you are riding in a more urban environment.

Mike in AR:beer:

More info here:

http://www.bikecalc.com/gear_inches

[p nut]

I always say 70 gear inches is an ideal starting point. (~48x18). I typically switch between that gearing and 47x17.

[Gummee]

I live in a flat to rolly area and end up riding 48/18 on my fixie on the road.

I'm on a 34/X (don't remember right now) on the SS mtn bike

Riding fixed on the road means you CAN NOT stop pedaling. If you have a small amount of time to train, not being able to coast is a great thing.

M

[m_sasso]

You received some good advice on gear selection so no need to repeat what has already been posted. Nice frame hope it works out for you!

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/HL8AAOSwImRYaUuq/s-l1600.jpg

[dustyrider]

48T chainring and 16T cog is a good place to start in my experience. You'll definitely spin out around 30mph downhill but you can still climb moderate hills with it.

I've run a few road bikes in ss mode. My vote is the same 48/16 or 18 if you just have to ride the steep stuff.

Wow nice bike!

[11.4]

Go back to Peter's post and start there.

Some people like to have gearing on fixies that is like mid-range road gearing. Others want to take advantage of spinning and work higher cadences. So nothing that anyone tells you here is going to give you a clear direction. I rode for years in a winter fixie group and we generally suggested a 63 inch gear (42x18), ridden at high cadence to keep us at about 23 mph or so. We'd often have one or two riders on a 48x18 or 48x16 or whatever they felt like, and we'd whip their asses pretty quickly because we could accelerate and could manage higher cadences they couldn't match. But it always comes down to your own fitness and how you can position yourself on a bike in midwinter when you're cold and perhaps a little overweight and not as flexible. If you're geared even slightly too high on a fixie in the winter, your ride will be absolutely miserable and you'll come home with sore knees just like when you go out and try to grind too big a gear on a long winter ride. But what the right gear will be is something only you can decide.

[oldpotatoe]

So,
Unexpectedly, I won a Nagasawa NJS track bike on eBay. It comes with Hatta R9400 square taper bottom bracket. What I don't know is the crankset teeth and cog I need to order. I don't plan to ride in a velodrome but on the road for simplicity. I haven't decided fixed or SS yet. I typically ride my roadie 16-22 mph. Thanks.

Have a geared bike? Ride where you are going to ride in the 'best' ratio..see what that is on a ratio chart and order accordingly..For instance..you ride this route in a 50-15..90 gear inches... Order accordingly.

[tigoat]

Wow, some of you guys ride a fixie with such a high gear, that is very impressive for sure. You guys really ride 30mph on flats with a fixie? Man I would like to see some of you guys come ride in my neck of woods so I can see if I can keep up. We do not have mountains here but we do have a lot of rollers and short and steep climbs out of the river.

I ride a single speed bike exclusively nowadays. I clocked 11,300 miles with around 350,000 feet of elevation gain (web corrected not inflated from some bogus Garmin sensors) last year just with one gear. There is nothing to brag about that, just a point of reference. My favorite gearing is 44x17 or 46x18, which is awfully low compared to some of yours. Mind you I only weigh around 135 lb with chicken legs. I do not have a problem hanging with our local race boys riding around 23mph with their training rides. I also climb 10-15% grade hills regularly without a problem. Anyhow, this is just my gearing, perhaps yours should be higher or whatever.

[BigDaddySmooth]

Okay, you guys have been very helpful but of course I have a few more questions. I live in MD so hills are short and steep but most riding will be on manageable terrain. I'm more of a spinner than a masher. Heck, I only weigh 140#. More questions.
1) road has 170cm crank, do I use the same on a fixie?
2) no drilling for brakes but I know there is an adapter for a front brake that I believes houses at the head tube-fork junction. Any brand names I should look for?
3) Any rear brakes with an adapter?

Thanks,

[oldpotatoe]

Okay, you guys have been very helpful but of course I have a few more questions. I live in MD so hills are short and steep but most riding will be on manageable terrain. I'm more of a spinner than a masher. Heck, I only weigh 140#. More questions.
1) road has 170cm crank, do I use the same on a fixie?
2) no drilling for brakes but I know there is an adapter for a front brake that I believes houses at the head tube-fork junction. Any brand names I should look for?
3) Any rear brakes with an adapter?

Thanks,

1) yes
2) drill a recessed hole in the fork
3) probably but if fixie, front brake is probably OK. Single speed and single front brake? Plan ahead.

[David Tollefson]

Please, PLEASE, don't drill that fork crown for a brake. Just don't. Not only do I not think it's a good idea structurally, it'll affect resale. Get another fork already drilled (Pake, maybe). If you ever resell this frame, you'll want the original Nagasawa fork in unmolested condition.

[Lewis Moon]

Please, PLEASE, don't drill that fork crown for a brake. Just don't. Not only do I not think it's a good idea structurally, it'll affect resale. Get another fork already drilled (Pake, maybe). If you ever resell this frame, you'll want the original Nagasawa fork in unmolested condition.

This. I'm not completely sold that there will be any structural compromise, but there sure as hell will be a compromise of the "spirit" of the bike. (yeah, yeah...pretty new agey). It would be like cutting the derailleur hanger off a Molteni Merckx.

[11.4]

Honestly, Nags don't have the best finish compared to something very basic like an All City Nature Boy or Big Block or the horde of other durable street or single speed cross bikes. Nags rust fairly easily, and remember that with a fixie your bar likes to swing around and put an ugly dent in your top tube. Your Nag isn't set up for brakes or for water bottles. So I'd actually suggest getting something inexpensive for winter fixie riding like one of the aforementioned All City frames, and then don't worry about rain or falls or meticulous maintenance. Take the Nag to a track or hang it on the wall or take it out in the summer on some closed roads and do sprint training with it. But winter miles will trash a bike and that's a lot of money to trash, especially when the bike doesn't have the geometry, brake compatibility, or bottle cage bosses to make it comfortable to use.

[oldpotatoe]

This. I'm not completely sold that there will be any structural compromise, but there sure as hell will be a compromise of the "spirit" of the bike. (yeah, yeah...pretty new agey). It would be like cutting the derailleur hanger off a Molteni Merckx.

I get the asthetics of that fork but I've done it more than once and nothing failed. Very first one I did was for Christian VandeVelde in about 1994 while in Morgul-Bismark.

[p nut]

Wow, some of you guys ride a fixie with such a high gear, that is very impressive for sure. You guys really ride 30mph on flats with a fixie? Man I would like to see some of you guys come ride in my neck of woods so I can see if I can keep up. We do not have mountains here but we do have a lot of rollers and short and steep climbs out of the river.

I ride a single speed bike exclusively nowadays. I clocked 11,300 miles with around 350,000 feet of elevation gain (web corrected not inflated from some bogus Garmin sensors) last year just with one gear. There is nothing to brag about that, just a point of reference. My favorite gearing is 44x17 or 46x18, which is awfully low compared to some of yours. Mind you I only weigh around 135 lb with chicken legs. I do not have a problem hanging with our local race boys riding around 23mph with their training rides. I also climb 10-15% grade hills regularly without a problem. Anyhow, this is just my gearing, perhaps yours should be higher or whatever.

Are you riding on a freewheel or fixed? That is pretty important, as you can gear much lower on a freewheel and be ok. On a fixed gear, you've got to not only worry about the uphills, but down. Sometimes, even 47x17 isn't tall enough for some of these descents and my brakes pay for it.

That's impressive mileage, though. :cool:

[Cameron]

My favorite gearing is 44x17 or 46x18, which is awfully low compared to some of yours.

That's exactly the same ratios I ride for single speed commuting/around town. Great compromise for single speed around here in the Portland area. Fixed I might go a bit higher though for the downhills to make sure my legs can keep up!

As for brakes, if you're running single speed/freewheel it's nice having front and rear brakes. I've ridden a lot of single speed/freewheel miles with just a front brake though. It's fine but as mentioned above you definitely need to plan a little further in advance.

Another note on brakes -- if you're thinking about adding a rear brake I always thought this was a cool solution for a track bike: http://tracksupermarket.com/brakes-105/tempra-hidden-rear-brake-caliper-set.html

Only downside is you need to figure out how to cleanly route a brake cable down there. Their example is extra cool since the cable runs internally but I don't know that I'd ever recommend drilling a couple holes in your downtube... Easy enough to just zip tie the cable on though. Just not pretty is all.