Fixed wheel or SS touring & Andalucia

Wizi
Wizi Posts: 2
edited May 2011 in Tour & expedition
Hello :D

I'm after some advice from anyone who has done some trips on a fixed wheel or on a SS drive train? i can run either on my bike so really need to know what ratio would be good, i'm currently on 76.2" fixed but know this'll have to be reduced!

Also wanted is advice and info on Andalucia. i'm going for a few weeks in August so would like to plan a route.

many thanks

Comments

  • andymiller
    andymiller Posts: 2,856
    Sorry this isn't meant to sound grumpy but is this a serious question? Most of Andalucía is pretty mountainous - some of Europe's highest mountains are there. What route are you thinking of doing?
    Italy Cycling Guide
  • mz__jo
    mz__jo Posts: 398
    I used to to tour on 49:20 or 49/19 fixed wheel (65 or 70" gears) in my youth but that was in mid-Wales and the Cotswolds. It was fine but I was young. I think anything higher is just looking for speed. For the disbelievers, touring on a fixed wheel in the right conditions is pretty close to perfection because you have no mechanical interference between you and the countryside, no gears to change, next to no braking, close to perfect silence - but only in the right conditions.
    Now I am a lot older, heavier and weaker and have been using 42/17 on fixed wheel in Limousin (this Rabbit tells me is the same as my 49/20 but my 700x23 tyres are a bit smaller than the 27" or fat tubular that I used to use) but it is hard work on the descents and I wouldn't tour with it in a hilly part of the world even though going uphill doesn't present that many problems. So I would recommend the single speed. I use 42/18 on a freewheel for these situations (61") which is about as low as you want to go and still get anywhere. (Except that at present I am hors service with a knee problem so I have fitted a Sturmey AW hub to have a choice of gears, with a 42/18 middle gear).

    All that to say single-speed and around 61" gear but I can't help with Andalusia
    http://rctl.ffct.org/
  • Todd Sweeney
    Todd Sweeney Posts: 117
    A guy on the following thread toured Spain and the the Pyrenees on a single speed, so it can be done! http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/t ... s-any-good[/url]
  • mz__jo
    mz__jo Posts: 398
    Another possibility if you have a double-sided hub and a frame with long drop-outs is to fit an 18t freewheel on one side and a 16t or 15t fixed sprocket the other side. But it depends on what you can fit and whether you want to be bothered turning the wheel for the flatter stuff. (With this set-up you could use a 38t ring without being too hindered on the flat)
    http://rctl.ffct.org/

Categories