Originally Posted by
acir71
awwwwww those cranks.... aren't they sweet......
Originally Posted by
3S1M
That's decent gearing. My daily ride is 63 and I'm wanting it to be a bit less. I have a different chainring I might try out on it and it will be closer to 55. I do this one ride where the grade is a just a bit too long of a gradual uphill and it kicks my butt when I do it with my cruiser. I do it with our other bikes with gears and it's a lot easier to do. LOL.
I'm thinking 55 is just about the perfect all around one gear gearing, but I need to test that theory. My first cheap BMX bike is like 46 and it's just way too short. I don't like riding it any amount of distance. It's just annoying.
A couple of the bikes I was considering were stuck with 32x16 as max. (52 gear inches) No space by the chainstays for a larger chainring, and the standard size freewheels they had are only available down to 16. That automatically eliminated them from my list.
Another factor when choosing gearing is the crank length. Longer cranks give extra torque, which would favor using a slightly higher gear. (but limit cadence a bit) On the other hand, shorter cranks would allow for slightly higher cadence, making a slightly lower gear just as fast. The Redline PL26 comes with extra long 180mm cranks.
Originally Posted by
bwilli88
I am 63 yo and in the process of building this for my BMX thrills. 700c wheels with Schwalbe Big Apple 700Cx50mm, need a better seat post, 25.4mm, and some BMX style bars. It has a Shimano coaster brake rear and debating about a front brake. Looking to keep it simple.
That is a cool frame for a large BMX bike, bwilli. Definitely keep us posted with your progress.
