whiskey88

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone can help me out on this.

What is the difference between a Lasco 170mm 48T and a Protek 44T 165mm crankset?
Which one would be better for use on a singlespeed/fixie type bike?


Also, would a 40mm high rim work on a singlespeed/fixie with 700x23c tires? or would a 35mm deepdish type work better?



Thanks in advance for the answers!! I'm a newbie and wanted to get some feedback from the biking community.

Stan

AdelaaR

If you are going to make a fixed gear bike ... I think it would be advisable to figure out what gear you like best.
You wouldn't want just one gear which you don't like, right?
Whether you are going to use a 44T or 48T chainring to accomplish this is hardly important unless you want your gear ratio to be very big and need the 48T.

For instance: If you take a 44 in front and a 12 in the back you have a 3.66 ratio ... if you take a 48 in front and a 13 in the back you get 3.69 ... the difference is negligible.
So basicly there is no answer to your question "which one would be better" ... it depends on your taste, riding style and physical ability.

The same goes for your rims and tyres ... it all depends on your style.
If you are going to be riding hard and hitting speeds over 20 mph on a regular basis ... you'd probably best pick some lightweight high profile rims with 23c tyres.
If you are going to be riding casualy it would be more advisable to get some 32's or 35's as tyres as they will be faster, more comfortable and more suited to go offroad.

whiskey88

Oh I see.
I have ridden my buddys Trek Earl with a 44T crank case and a 17T free/fixed in the back so that gives me a ratio of 2.58 and I thought it was alright, I have not tried any other ratios yet but will do so.

I was wondering if a 40mm high rim would work with 700x23C tires?
I googled "high profile" and I couldn't really find what that means, are high profile rims just regular bicycle rims?


When you talk about the 32 or 35s, you mean the height of the tires right? the Earl has 700x28c tires.


Thanks for your help,

Talldog

Longer crank arms help with pushing a bigger chainring in the front. Shorter crankarms are better for spinning or higher cadence pedalling. Longer crankarms are also better suited to those with longer femurs but there is no hard and fast rule. The height of your bottom bracket also has some input into whether you should use a short or long crankarm. Generally speaking, single speeds and fixed gear bikes usually make do with the longer crank arms. As far as front ring size, you can get the ratio you want by changing out the rear freewheel/fixed gear. Freewheels are more readily available in 18T and down so that would maybe have a bearing on your decision. You can get much more input over on the single speed forum.

The single/fixed speeds are great fun by the way. They are especially great in an urban environment when one must move quickly and deftly.

whiskey88

Thanks for the reply,

oops I didn't see the singlespeed, was looking for "fixie" in the "f"s.