The Importance of Gear Inches

If you never think about gear inches, you probably don’t ride a fixed gear bike. With a geared road bike you have a range of gears, and you select whatever feels good for the moment. You might discuss with your mechanic changing the gearing if you are going to be racing flat crits, or climbing mountains in Spain, but otherwise you stick with the gearing options that came with the bike (maybe a 53/39x12/25 or a 50/32x11/23), which typically give you enough range to cover most of your riding.

But with a fixie there are no options. Whatever gear you have on the bike is what you are using on the flats, on the descents, on the climbs, sprinting for the yellow sign, etc. And if that gearing isn’t right, you will quickly be wishing you could change gears. Sometimes you forget and you start to push sideways on the brake lever, and then you remember …

The gearing that comes with a fixed gear varies. A true track bike would come with tall (high) gearing appropriate for the track but which would not get you up anything that resembled a hill. A single speed/fixie from your LBS might come with 48x17 gearing, and probably has a flip flop rear wheel with a freewheel on it as delivered. You buy the fixed cog and mount it on the other side of the wheel and remount the rear wheel to use the fixed cog. The 48x17 or 48x16 gear will work for normal riding on the road, but won’t be of much use if you try climbing hills like in Ellicott City.

And Ellicott City was the ride last Sunday. Coach Birner invited the wheelsucker to join, and the wheelsucker promptly asked "what gearing should I use, coach?" Coach Birner replied "39x16". This presented the wheelsucker with a problem. While his collection of fixed gear parts has been growing rapidly it does not yet include either a 39 tooth chain ring or a 16 tooth cog. A spare 39 tooth chain ring from a road bike would work – the wheelsucker’s road bikes and his fixed gear all use 130mm chainring bolt spacing – but both the 17 cog and the 15 cog in the wheelsucker’s collection would be too far off the 16. The nearest the wheelsucker could get to a 39x16 was a 42x17. By now you are probably wondering how to compare gears. The answer is: Gear Inches.

The formula for gear inches is number of teeth on the chain ring divided by number of teeth on the cog multiplied by wheel-and-tire diameter. The math-aware amongst you will immediately note that whoever dreamed this up forgot about Pi! Not only that, some people use actual wheel and tire diameter (say a wheel and 700x23c tire which converts to something over 27 inches), while others use the old 27 inch wheel diameter.

Here are the actual (not nominal) gear inches for some combinations (assuming a 700x23c tire):

50x14 93.9 gear inches
48x14 90.2 gear inches
47x14 88.3 gear inches
46x14 86.4 gear inches
48x16 77.3 gear inches
48x17 72.7 gear inches
38x15 66.6 gear inches
42x17 65.0 gear inches
39x16 64.1 gear inches

The 50x14 gear is appropriate for roller racing, and for pro level track monsters who push a monster gear. 47x14 is a mere mortal track gear. But it turns out that a difference of one gear inch is significant.

For example, coach Birner had suggested the 39x16 to the wheelsucker for the Ellicott City ride, but both coach Birner and Jay Murphy actually showed up with 38x15. A 39x16 is 64.1 gear inches, but fortunately for the wheelsucker he actually showed up with a 42x17, which is 65.0 gear inches. However he was still 1.6 gear inches short of what Mike and Jay were using.

Now it has been quite some time since the wheelsucker sat in a classroom studying mathematics, but by his calculations, one crank of the pedals with a 42x17 results in the bike rolling 5.178353 meters, while one crank of the pedals with a 38x15 results in the bike rolling 5.309867 meters. And this works out to the wheelsucker having to pedal at a faster cadence than Jay, just to stay with Jay. So if Jay is pedaling 160rpm down a hill, the wheelsucker has to be pedaling at about 164. And the sad truth is that the wheelsucker cannot pedal faster than Jay Murphy.

So the wheelsucker’s collection of fixie parts is being increased by the addition of a 38 tooth chain ring and a 16 tooth cog. And with any luck the wheelsucker will be riding the 38x15 combination at the Ellicott City ride next Sunday. Going with a slightly higher gear inches is tempting, but then the wheelsucker would have to push on the pedals harder than Jay, while chasing Jay up a long climb, and that does not sound like a winner, either.

If the math confuses you, simply download one of the iPhone gear inches apps and use that. But consider than any time you alter the number of total teeth (add the number of teeth on the chain ring to the number of teeth on the cog), you need to change chain length by adding or removing links.

Maybe you should stick to the geared bike after all.

The Wheelsucker at the Gym

After years of being somewhat of an endurance athlete, the wheelsucker’s inability to sprint, big ring climb, or jump have led to a serious effort to put some muscle on. This means weight lifting twice a week, doing Joe Friel’s Maximum Strength (MS) workouts. This is three sets, each of six exercises. The first exercise in each set is legs (leg press, squat or step up) done with high weight and low reps, as is the second (seated row) and sixth (standing row). The remaining exercises are lower weight and higher reps.

Joe Friel has load goals for Freebar squat, leg press, step-up, seated row and standing row that are a percentage of total body weight. The wheelsucker has been doing the MS workouts for awhile and the weights have increased somewhat, but he is nowhere near goal weights yet. Perhaps losing a lot of weight and maintaining current strength could work?

The wheelsucker warms up for ten minutes either on a treadmill or on a spin bicycle, and cools down at a high cadence on a spin bike. The idea is to not lose cadence while building muscle.

The MS workouts are supposed to be done in conjunction with plyometrics, but the wheelsucker’s calf is quite sore and he cannot do the plyometric workouts yet.

Structured Workouts or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Rollers

For you folks out it Facebook land  - Alex again (this blog automagically shows up in my notes). Just so you know, while I can suck wheels with the best of them, I'm not THE Wheelsucker. That nom de plume belongs to Ali Meller, who also contributes to this blog.

Now that we've had so much snow, the prospects for riding on the road are dim dispite Chris Harshman's planned ride in Washington Co. tomorrow (I thought he we joking). So I've had to start thinking about indoor (stationary) riding again. Sure, trainers and rollers are excellent for well structured workouts. There's only one problem, I HATE structured workouts because frankly I'm just not that disciplined. However, after no riding this weekend, I got the rollers out, shoveled a spot in the driveway and mounted up. I was having some real trouble keeping upright, weaving all over the place. I was thinking "WTF" my bike handling is not *that* bad. I was riding my CAAD 9, so I thought maybe I'd switch to the Roubaix which has a little more relaxed geometry. No better. I was puzzled. What was going on? I checked the level and looked under them to make sure that I was not hitting anything. I suddenly realized, DOH, I was on them backwards (with the double drums in the front. Not good. I guess it's been *that* long since I've ridden them. I got things turned around and voila, I was off and riding.

I was all decked out in winter gear as it was 30 degrees, but the sun was so bright and warm, I was quickly down to my summer gear. It felt really good and I actually worked on redefining my faded tan lines...

What the heck, if I'm going to spend time on the rollers, I might as well make the best of it. Since the whole structured workout thing is foreign to me, I'm groping in the dark as to what is both the best time spent on them and what is bearable. I warmed up and decided to do 2x20 intervals, which gave me about 1:15 with warmup/down.

I listened to Car Talk - one of my favorite podcasts, light and funny. When that was over, on to some music. One really nice thing about the iPhone 3GS is the voice dialing/control. "Play artist Edie Brickell" and it starts playing; excellent. I love The album "Picture Perfect Morning" especially because it reminds me of the first ABRT Spain trip in 2008. Perfect for getting through this. To me, these two images are synonymous:

 

When I got done, I felt great.; tired, but refreshed and upbeat. Almost like I was riding outside on a nice sunny day! So maybe that's the key, get the contraption outside in the sun instead of cooped up in a dark, damp garage. Maybe, I can actually learn to like, and maybe even love the rollers. We'll see.

Playing In the Snow

Does anyone know what the official snowfall was? Twelve inches? Fifteen inches? Twenty inches? Not that it matters, because whatever the number it was more than enough to shut down Washington DC and shut down Annapolis. The wheelsucker finished his Tour de Balcony ride (the wheelsucker rides the indoor trainer on his balcony because it is cooler than riding indoors) just about the time the snow started to fall on Friday. By Saturday morning everything was covered. The wheelsucker eventually checked on his car and decided digging it out was too much work, and decided to wait for the snow to melt. But sitting at home got old quickly, so eventually the wheelsucker decided to try the MTB in the snow. After taking a guess at what tire pressure would work, the wheelsucker and his hardtail hit the snow. The wheelsucker was a little concerned about being hit by a car, but only saw four between his home and downtown Annapolis. There were a couple of falls when riding too close to the piles of snow on the shoulder, trying to give cars room to pass, but falling in the snow is a lot easier than falling in a road race.

Grinning ear to ear, the wheelsucker rolled into downtown Annapolis at the traffic circle and Market House and realized most of it was closed. His favorite coffee shop, the Hard Bean was dark. But a few bars and City Dock coffee were open, so the wheelsucker enjoyed a large latte as his reward. After savoring it to the last drop (and procrastinating as long as possible), the wheelsucker hit the road for the ride home. For some reason, everyone he passed had the same comment – that’s dedication – but the wheelsucker actually thought there were less complimentary words to describe riding in the snow.

Winter riding thoughts:
Keep the weight back so the front wheel does not dig in.
When riding in a car tire rut, don’t look down, look ahead.
Brakes work remarkably well in the snow
When you are about to wipe out, wipe out towards the shoulder, not into the road.

PowerCrank Season

The wheelsucker would do almost anything for a few more watts. Say enough additional watts to stay on Ace's wheel when the sprint starts, or enough more watts to hang on with Ace and Doetsch on the Patuxent Parkway climb on the way back to route 214, enough more watts to go hard off the top of Harwood Hill instead of holding on for grim death at the back, trying to recover and them move up nearer the front.

And the wheelsucker would do almost anything to get this additional power (caveats, it has to be legal, and ideally is ethical). May the wheelsucker present PowerCranks, legal and arguably ethical. You can read information on the www.powercranks.com website or check out one of the PowerCrank videos, but these are biased opinions, because they want you to buy a set. For other opinions on PowerCranks, try these.

From a hilarious posting on bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com The Fall Guys: A Guide to Cyclists in Autumn, specifically:

The Serious Roadie

Even the serious roadie takes some time every year to relax. He's no longer worrying about the season that's just passed, and he's not yet preparing for next season. He's just having fun. As it happens, this period of relaxation was last Thursday, from 12:00 to 4:30, and if you're a roadie worth your embrocations then you're well into training for next year's meaningless park races. At this time of year The Serious Roadie can be seen riding alone, or he can be seen riding with other identically-clad cyclists in tight formations designed to discourage any sort of autonomy or enjoyment. The Serious Roadie has temporarily downgraded from his $2,000 carbon race wheels to his $1,200 aluminum training wheels. He's also got either a Power Tap or an SRM, he's watching his watts more carefully than a security guard at a lightbulb factory, and he is under strict instructions from a highly-paid coach that he is not to ride hard lest he inadvertently compromise his chances for a top-20 finish in a Tuesday night Cat 4 training race, or, worse yet, enjoy himself. And if his spirit is not yet broken completely, or if he doesn't quite trust himself, he might even be riding a pair of Power Cranks, the cycling equivalent of a Victorian anti-masturbation device.

What are PowerCranks?
Basically, the two crank arms are not attached to each other, and each crankarm has a clutch, such that the crankarm only comes up if you pull it up with your foot, on the back of the pedal stroke. Piece of cake, you think, I pull up all the time! No you don't, and the wheelsucker will prove it to you by letting you try his bike with PowerCrank pedals. You will not be able to pedal more than a couple of minutes before stopping to rest your legs, and the tops of your quads will be screaming for mercy and will feel like mush.

It takes multiple workouts to work up to being able to ride PowerCranks nonstop for 20 minutes or longer. You are better off starting on the indoor trainer, because on the road you will find any and all excuses to coast and rest your legs.

But if you persevere through, you will develop stronger muscles to pull up with, and you will have better results on tests like the spin scan.

Despite his advanced age the wheelsucker is no expert on training (he has only been riding with a team for three years), but he listens to what his coach says, and he listens to people like John Howard, and both recommend PowerCranks. For that matter so does Pez Cycling.

Pez on PowerCranks

Last winter, during PowerCrank season, the wheelsucker worked up to 30 minutes non stop (note that this is hearsay and is not corroborated) nonstop on the PowerCranks. This year he wants to take the PowerCranks on the road for longer rides AFTER working up to 30+ minutes on the trainer. Right now he is back to five minute intervals and several days recovery.

Team Meeting December 7th

Instead of going to the Crofton Italian Market, the team went to the Annapolis Bike Doctor for the monthly meeting (December 7th). The owners -- Mr. Jack and son Andy -- rolled out beer, wine, cheese and fruit, which was very much enjoyed by the riders, even some who looked a little over their racing weights (unfortunately this last group includes the wheelsucker).

In addition to President Waring filling us in on various club activities, we had the legendary John Howard in to speak (BTW, he looked fit enough that he could eat all the fruit and cheese he wanted too).

Bobby Stu and John set up a bike for John to demo his FITTE system on

John also spoke about some of his experiences cyling.


This image is of the first cycling training camp in the US; that is some of the Raleigh Team on the porch in the image.

Three guesses as to which one John is ...

With a little rearranging Bike Doctor Annapolis turns into a very useful space.

A Good Idea? Not So Much.

Last night I was really hoping that the snow would melt and the roads would be clear today for the Ellicott City ride. Given that desire, I was predisposed to optimism this morning when I saw the temperature hit 32 degrees and the roads in West Annapolis clear of any snow, ice or moisture. I saw Mike Wagner's Facebook post "Michael Wagner is braving the cold and icy weather" so I knew I wouldn't be alone. And of course Steve Owens is always there if it is not raining. So it was the three of us that set off at 10:15. The roads looked good and the BWI path (at least the parts I saw on the drive in) were clear. So far so good. A little ways down the path, there were a few slippery spots and I'm thinking, hmm, maybe this isn't such a good idea, but we press on. Lawyers hill was wet but not slippery, certainly not anywhere near what High Rock was like last spring. All was good into Ellicott City, although we were taking the descents very carefully. All was good going up Oella, until about half way up we came around one of the left hairpins and like three dominoes down we went, floop, floop, floop. Luckily it was a pretty slow speed fall, so pretty much no harm, no foul. I'm sure there will be a few sore hips tomorrow though. There were a couple more icy spots on the way up and we went REALLY slow down Westchester back to the coffee stop.

We decided to go down River Road and see how that was (quite dry) and thought we'd go up Thistle road for the hill and then come back down it because we knew S. Hilltop would be treacherous. Thistle looked good at the bottom, but just after the first turn and out of the sun, not so good, so we skipped it and continued up Illchester and back to BWI. In retrospect, probably not the smartest thing in the world, but we did get in a nice 2:15 ride (only 4 miles shorter by cutting off Thistle/Hilltop). And at least it was a little more sane than Ali who, according to a text he sent me, was sitting at the Davidsonville Road park and ride yesterday, wondering why no one was there...