best skid gear ratio?

flickerx · 11-10-2008 4:50pm #1

once i recover from my most recent 'incident', i'm probably going to get/build myself a very light track bike with the intention of trying to start learning how to do some tricks on it. maybe. yes i'm a tosser/hipster/trendy etc.

anyone here do this sort of thing? i was wondering what the best gear ratio is for it. i already know that the chainring and the sprocket have to be primes in order that the skid spots dont build up in the same spot on the back tyre, but would a 13 or 17 be better for the rear? i'm guessing a 17 because it'd be easier to take off from a dead stop. but i'm not sure about the chainring.

fish-head · 11-10-2008 5:28pm

Surely if you wanna be doing tricks and stuff a very light track bike isn't what you'd want to go for? You'd want something tough as fupp or else you'd end up bending it!

I find 69" is great for skids, I have total control and once you've stopped it's no trouble starting right off again. I've 47x18.

stuf · 11-10-2008 6:47pm

anything that involves prime numbers or multiples of primes on the front will be good

46, and 47 are good as they can't be divided much as is 17 on the back with anything that's not 34 on the front

The Rabbit calc is great for working it out:

http://software.bareknucklebrigade.com/rabbit.applet.html

I'm still not at a place where I'm contemplating skids but maybe next summer.

How's the recovery from the accident going?

blorg · 11-10-2008 6:50pm

Rabbit will tell you how many skid patches you get for a given gear ratio. I have 46-17 which gives me the maximum of 17 patches. 47-18 also gives you the maximum, 18.

You will never get more skid patches than the number of teeth on your sprocket, (you may get less, depending on the chainring) so more teeth is always better in that regard.

You can get up to the max skid patches with a non-prime sprocket, you just have a wider range of possible chainrings with a prime sprocket (and vice versa.) A 47T chainring will give you the most possible skid patches with _any_ rear sprocket, so it could be a very good choice.

flickerx · 12-10-2008 1:06am

thanks for the link (you both linked to the same thing!), 47/17 probably i'll go for.

incident (i dont like accident, it implies in my head that i was somehow at fault) recovery is slow and painful and frustrating. the steel plate in my neck/shoulder feels enormous, and i'm starting to be more conscious of it now that i've cut down on the painkillers, and the bruising around where they peeled back my skin from the incision is easing off. but enough, i'm sick of talking about it already...

flickerx · 12-10-2008 1:08am

fish-head wrote: »

Surely if you wanna be doing tricks and stuff a very light track bike isn't what you'd want to go for? You'd want something tough as fupp or else you'd end up bending it!

? yes perhaps. admittedly i know fúck all about this. i thought it would be easier for manoeuvering (sp.?) the bike if the frame was light. must do some more nerding

niceonetom · 12-10-2008 11:35am

i don't know much about these 'tricks' you plan on doing but i would guess that weight would be of less importance than resilience - then again many dedicated track bikes are built with the emphasis on stiffness rather than weight so they might be justt what you need. i think most complete **** fixed-gear-free-stylers favour smaller frames for manoeuvrability. you should probably get a 650 front wheel too (for mad-bar-spinz (which does not mean cycling to the pub, apparently)). the smaller the gear ratio, the easier it is to skid, but you do risk looking like a complete idiot as you spin like a bastard at 12mph on the way to the carpark to compare belt-buckles and fail to do backwards circles. does this bother you? all the advice above about prime numbers is correct.

have you thought of simply getting a bmx? really, the tricks thing brings shame upon us all.

:P

blorg · 12-10-2008 1:23pm

Can you skid stop Tom

Completely ineffective compared to a front brake but a hell of a lot of fun.

Thomas_S_Hunterson · 12-10-2008 1:39pm

niceonetom wrote: »

i don't know much about these 'tricks' you plan on doing but i would guess that weight would be of less importance than resilience - then again many dedicated track bikes are built with the emphasis on stiffness rather than weight so they might be justt what you need. i think most complete **** fixed-gear-free-stylers favour smaller frames for manoeuvrability. you should probably get a 650 front wheel too (for mad-bar-spinz (which does not mean cycling to the pub, apparently)). the smaller the gear ratio, the easier it is to skid, but you do risk looking like a complete idiot as you spin like a bastard at 12mph on the way to the carpark to compare belt-buckles and fail to do backwards circles. does this bother you? all the advice above about prime numbers is correct.

have you thought of simply getting a bmx? really, the tricks thing brings shame upon us all.

:P

Dont say you're not impressed

blorg · 12-10-2008 2:14pm

Sean_K wrote: »

Dont say you're not impressed

Significantly more impressive than most "fixie tricks" videos on YouTube! I note a distinct lack of skid stops

niceonetom · 12-10-2008 2:26pm

Sean_K wrote: »

Dont say you're not impressed

i'm impressed by anyone who can really pull off the kunstrad, the reality is much less impressive.

blorg wrote: »

Can you skid stop Tom

i skid stop like a god.

flickerx · 12-10-2008 2:34pm

niceonetom wrote: »

have you thought of simply getting a bmx? really, the tricks thing brings shame upon us all.

ah c'mon. i promise NOT to start wearing fashionista threads - i simply dont have the money for it. i like my knacky tracky trousers anyway, easy access for the lady friend's hand, and they absorb beer spills better than €200 cutoff jeans. anyway its only an idea so far, i'm just looking for new possible methods to injure myself perhaps... i still plan on keeping it reel etc by building and selling the fixies out of crappy/dumped parts i find, and i'll even buy a road bike with spd's before the trick bike, but after years of going forwards all the time on a bike, i thought it might be fun to try a different direction.

that video with the four lads is deadly.

flickerx · 12-10-2008 2:37pm

niceonetom wrote: »

i'm impressed by anyone who can really pull off the kunstrad, the reality is much less impressive.

your kunst link dont work

niceonetom · 12-10-2008 2:49pm

flickerx wrote: »

your kunst link dont work

i've fixed it. heh? heh?

oh, and any irishman who claims to be "keeping it real" has probably already lost that battle.

Caroline_ie · 12-10-2008 3:03pm

Sean_K wrote: »

Dont say you're not impressed

... that's a bit gay.

flickerx · 12-10-2008 3:11pm

niceonetom wrote: »

i've fixed it. heh? heh?

oh, and any irishman who claims to be "keeping it real" has probably already lost that battle.

still doesnt work for me.
you'll notice my subtle change in the original post. irish dancing reference it is.

niceonetom · 12-10-2008 3:22pm

flickerx wrote: »

still doesnt work for me.
you'll notice my subtle change in the original post. irish dancing reference it is.

works for me. ?
i can't change the link in your quote of me though. that is still broken.

Lumen · 12-10-2008 5:01pm

Caroline_ie wrote: »

... that's a bit gay.

You think?

Tight clothing....check.
Flouncy music....check.
Holding hands...check.

Next stop, Fixies on Ice.

FWIW, I don't own a fixie (yet) but that doesn't look any harder than unicycling, which isn't very hard.

It would be impressive on Grafton St, but somehow once you put it in a big arena it's a bit wrong.

My aching desire* to own a Langster Monaco has just taken a hit.

(yes, I'm aware that having an "aching desire" for a bike probably puts me "in the arena", so to speak)

best skid gear ratio?

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