dcrowell

My single-speed is about 65 gear-inches. My LHT and my 'bent both have really wide range 3x9 gearing... I don't feel like looking up the actual range.

AltheCyclist

Those looks like good ranges, my round-town bike tops at around 104, I'd like to have higher for when need some burst through traffic.

fietsbob

I downshift to do that, first, then only when spinning that lower gear do I upshift, again.

note : the automatic transmission in your typical car does that too..

Drew Eckhardt 

39-101, but have only used my 94" gear once while commuting (the killer tail wind let me cruise at 27 MPH) and may or may not use the 88" gear (26 MPH down the one highway over-pass, 30 MPH sprinting on flat ground).

AlphaDogg

Hybrid: 26.8-98.8

digger

28.4 - 107

34-48T front
12-32T rear cassette

silent_chief

Single chain ring up front is the way to go IMHO. I found FD to be too tempermental, and I always stuck on the middle ring anyways. I'm rocking a 42 x 9 speed cassette. Gives me 43 to 94 gear inches. I never feel like I'm out of gears.

How often do you guys ever use gear inches past the mid 90's? That seems like only a few pedal strokes on a downhill to me. And those people boasting a low in the 20's?

Praxis

When my highest gear was 100, I'd use it on shallow and steeper downhills. Now I have one higher, so longer more gradual downhills get the 100, and the high gear is used on the steeper one.

I use my lower gears when I'm towing kids usually. If I have a long ride or am exhausted, then I'll drop down that low without a trailer--but not on my commute unless I got sick or something.

alan s 

At the end my commute there are some very steep switchbacks, so when I'm tired, the 22x34 (17 gi) combo comes in handy. Other places, I'm riding downhill at 30 mph, so the 44x11 (106 gi) keeps me from spinning out. Sure, I could coast on the downhill and grind or walk on the uphill but I'd rather keep pedaling at a comfortable pace.

Also, I use my commuter for more than just commuting, so weekend rides I use the full range most every ride. I don't think anyone here is "boasting" as you put it, but merely answering the OPs question.

CliftonGK1

70 inches. 44/17 singlespeed

DX-MAN

17.9-104 gear inches.

nashcommguy

Motobecane Fantom CX2 - 41.2-111.5 Commuter - Used for hauling clothes/food on Mondays and light grocery/errand/utility service.
Specialized Crossroads - 22.0-91.7 Utility - Used for heavy grocery trips w/a trailer. Equipped w/after market 14x34t freewheel.
Fuji FG conversion - 79.1 Commuter - Used w/seatpost rack-trunkbag combo for light/fast commute and hauling day's food containers and workclothes home.

tjspiel

Mid 90's is barely enough to get you to 30 mph without spinning like a mad man. On my commute I don't get ever get much above 30 anyway but on my recreational rides I like to take advantage of the downhills. If I were commuting somewhere with rollers I'd definitely want to put on some speed going down to make the next uphill a little quicker.

My winter bike currently maxes out at 90 gear inches. It's enough but I'd like it to be more, especially for summer mixed on road/offroad use. The 8 speed IGH has it's limitations.

silent_chief

Hmm. Good points. I guess I just view my bike as a commuter only machine. I've got an 8 mile commute through some pretty congested streets so 30 mph is probably my desired top end. Too many stop lights and stop signs. The ride includes a long sloping hill, but I usually stay somewhere in the middle anyways on the way up and coast on the way down.

BarracksSi

121.6 to 26.8, with a 50/34 and an 11-34 cassette. I wanted a lower bottom gear than the original 12-26, and had planned on maybe a 12-32 cassette - but when I went to the shop looking for parts, the 11-34 was maybe a quarter of the price of the other big-cogged 9sp cassettes they had. I'll live with the gaps.

BarracksSi

Regarding the bike I mentioned, I've topped out (at what I'd consider a reasonably safe cadence) my road bike's 50-11 and 50-12 combos on group ride downhills. On the commuter and its 11/34, even though I haven't hit the same top speeds yet, it's kinda nice to have the wider range while staying on the small ring.

And, while that 34-34 bottom gear of mine could be overkill, the reason I put it on was because I found myself pushing kinda hard in some areas with the bike's original 34-26 with no real cargo load. I wanted to carry more stuff and (hopefully) guarantee that I wouldn't have to walk, so on went the new cassette.

A triple would give me the range benefits and keep closer gear spacing, sure, but in this case, I figured that I could do my other mods (mainly the drop bars & brifter conversion) more simply and live with the ratio gaps.

Who knows what I'll do for my next commuter bike, though.

Scheherezade 

I never really use the high end. This past week riding to a really hilly town outside of Minneapolis, I got up to about 40mph downhill (for fun) on my 20"-109" gear bike without spinning out. I also went about 4-5mph up some 6-8% grades in my lowest gear. I regularly commute up a short 6% hill. I could push up it, but it's much more pleasant to simply spin up and keep my clothes nice and fresh smelling.

AltheCyclist

My bike is a stick What I should have written is, "I'd like having larger GI top-end for faster speed to beat traffic"

LesterOfPuppets

I commute most on my road bike. Mostly with the clincher wheels with an 11-28.

39.6 - 124.7

cyccommute 

I use them every morning and every night. I have downhill sections in both directions. I regularly hit 30+ within the first 0.5miles of work. Give me a tail wind (a regular occurrence) and I can easily be north of 40 in that same 0.5 miles.

I don't use the low 20s that often but I do occasionally ride my commuter in the mountains around here. The low 20's gears come in handy.

nkfrench 

I am a masher and spin out the 116 gear inches (53/12) before I make 25mph.
It would be nice to hold on to downhill momentum a little longer. Local downhills get me to 32mph + fairly frequently.

enigmaT120

If I put the numbers in the calculator right, my bike ranges from 16.7 gear inches to 87.2. Low gears 22 front, 34 rear, high gear 44 front, 12 rear. I just coast on the long downhill part of my commutes, or slowly turn the pedals around to keep my legs moving. But I use the lowest range in several places on my commute spinning up the hills. I was looking up the info on the Surly LHT and the Salsa Fargo (I'm shopping, yeah) and neither one of them are as low as my 16.7. They are both 20.9. I wonder if that's a big difference. I guess I would have to see if I can come close to that on my bike and see if I can make it up my hills with it. I doubt it or I wouldn't be using the lower gear range.

Here is one of my routes home. I couldn't make it up that first steep hill the first time I tried it but I did the second time.

thenomad

by spin out what rpm do you mean? 53/12 can go pretty fast at 90+rpm, typically in the 31mph range. Do you have 26" wheels or something?


I've got 70 GI. Will soon go to 1x8 though so I can max out speed no matter what terrain... I hate spinning out.

JiveTurkey

The masher must be "spinning out" at around 70 RPM.

david58

Just put an 11-28 on my bike (commuter/cyclocross/road/only). I will still spin out going downhill with only a 46 big ring. The 28 will make the hills headed home in the afternoon a bit easier when I want them to be.