[VaughnA]

I'm considering doing the Mountain Momma Century on my Singlespeed (Not Fixed). See this thread for the details. I woke up this morning very sore from riding the geared bike so I'm really serious about doing it Singlespeed.

I'm currently running a 44/18 but with all of the climbing I'm considering going to a 38/17(The Local LBS doesn't have a 39 in stock). My 18 freewheel is about toasted so I don't want to take a chance with it. I'll be going from around 64 to 58 gear inches with that setup. Will that make a big difference? I'm not too worried about the flats since this ride is either up or down. I'll have to shorten the chain but it's almost toasted so I figure it's a good time to do it. I can actually climb well in the 44/18 but I'm worried about the amount of climbing on this ride. What say ye? Is it a good idea?

 

[GearsSchmeers]

If you are sore on your geared, you are going to explode on a fixed.

 

[VaughnA]

Read the other posting. I've got 2000+ miles and numerous centuries and metrics on the singlespeed (Read again, I said singlespeed, not fixed )this year without a problem. I can do 100 miles and 8-10k climbing without a problem on the SS. It's the style of riding that is getting to me on the geared bike. I'm not used to sitting and if I'm going to stand anyway why not take the bike I'm more comfortable on.

 

[PdxMark]

How much climbing? What are the grades? I've done climbing centuries fixed with about 70 inches. 64 would be OK, maybe. 58 would be quite hard, I think. The issues are what speed can you sustain on fast flats in each gear, and how much climbing can you handle in the higher gears. I used to ride about 65 inches, but I'd spin out on a fast flat below the speed I wanted to go.

 

[VaughnA]

There is about 13k of climbing with 9 climbs of 1.8-5 miles at around 6-8 percent with a few steeper pitches. There isn't that much flat, it's either up or down.

 

[FatTireFred]

I hope that ain't a shimano fw

 

[Dave Hickey]

I'm with pdxMark... I'd be concerned with spinning out in 58 gear inches( or riding along at 12mph on flats)...I'm not saying that is the wrong gear but I'd try it before attempting this ride.....If it truely is an up and down course with no flats, you might be OK..

 

[VaughnA]

I hope that ain't a shimano fw

The 18 that I'm scared of using is one of course. Junk... The 17 is a bmx freewheel but it seems better than the shimano. I can't afford a good one right now.

 

[VaughnA]

Thanks Dave, I'm really letting this psych me out. 60 miles on the geared bike and I can't walk. I've done climbs like those on this ride, just not so many of them. I'm hoping that if I take my time I can survive. One way to find out.

 

[roadfix]

Why change both the ring and freecog? How about keeping your 18 cog and just stepping down on the ring or do you already have these extra components on hand?

 

[VaughnA]

Why change both the ring and freecog? How about keeping your 18 cog and just stepping down on the ring or do you already have these extra components on hand?

I have an 18,17 & 15 on hand. The 18 is a toasted Shimano. I just talked to a friend, he has an 18 ACS claw that I can borrow. I'm starting to think I'll just go with my normal 44/18 and just deal with it. I'm stressing more about the ride than I will on the ride.

 

[ChuckUni]

Test the smaller gear on some flats and see how you feel.

I run a pretty small gear on my mtb for mostly up and down terrain (46inch). For flats I use the spin-coast-spin-coast method and can go pretty fast with it. Could get really old, but going up is nice.

I wouldn't think about doing that fixed gear, but with the freewheel it's ok with me. One thing that could suck is if it has a bunch of long slightly downhill sections or tailwinds. Or if you want to try and pace anyone.

 

[VaughnA]

I've decided on sticking with my 44/18 and taking it easy. My body knows that gear and I haven't found anything I can't climb with it yet.

I"m going with a guy who is doing his first century so we're going to take it slow to pace ourselves. I've been riding with my wife a lot lately and I've learned that if I do an easy pace I can climb just about anything without too much pain. The pace should be pretty easy and I'll just take my time and a lot of vitamin I.

 

[Dave Hickey]

cool....That's probably the best option....Don't forget a ride report.....

 

[CleavesF]

You can do it!

 

[treebound]

....vitamin I.

What is this vitamin? Lower case L, upper case i, flagless #1?

And I'll do a +1 on running what you know you're comfortable with.

Can you run a flipflop and have a bailout gear freewheel on the flip side? Maybe a 20 or something. Looks like Harris has up to 23 tooth freewheels.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/singlespeed.html#freewheels

A short chunk of chain and some quicklinks if you've had success with those on your SS.

The double-freewheels they sell look interesting as another option, not sure if this would be a good time to experiment with new components though:
https://sheldonbrown.com/harris/white-freewheels.html

 

[treebound]

Thread drift alert:
Apparently I'm not to know about this vitamin l stuff:
http://www.vitaminl.org/

This site is not currently compatible with Internet Explorer 6.
We apologize for the inconvenience.

Bummer. Maybe I'll stop at Walgreens drug store on the way home and ask them if they have any. :idea:

 

[VaughnA]

Vitamin I (Eye).....Ibuprofen, dope for the masses of over 40 riders..

 

[Dave Hickey]

Vitamin I (Eye).....Ibuprofen, dope for the masses of over 40 riders..

......commuting 5 days a week and riding an additional 120+ miles on weekends, I'm doing 250-300 miles a week....this 50 year old body is starting to feel it......Vitamin I is my new best friend....:thumbsup:

 

[treebound]

Ahhh, ibu, understood now. This is nowhere close to what googling was coming up with. Thanks.