Mountain Bike Gear Ratios Explained

The most common gear configurations for modern mountain bikes include one or two front chainrings.

Mountain bike gear ratios explained. Whereas you ll see bikes with two front chainrings abbreviated to 2x. Pedalling in the highest gear. Many cyclists want lower granny gears for long climbs particularly when training and racing at altitude. Since the amount of oxygen is reduced riders find that an easier gear combination accommodates the ability to produce power for longer periods of time without tiring as quickly.

50 11 4 55. Gear range is often specified as a percentage that describes the overall range offered by the system. A sram 10 42 cassette has a very similar gear range but with a 32t chainring the lowest gear has a ratio of 32 42 0 762 and the highest gear has a ratio of 32 10 3 200. Moving your mouse over the ratio will show speed you will achieve by pedaling at 100 rpm.

If you re concerned with optimizing performance and don t want to give up gears on the climbs or descents then 2x10 is likely the better choice for you. The gear you re in is a simple ratio of the number of teeth on the chainring to the number of teeth on the sprocket in use. Let s say i am in the hardest gear on each which means i would be riding on the 50 tooth ring on the front and the 11 tooth ring on the back. Ratio of the highest gear of your setup.

If you know their numbers just input them below and we ll calculate it automatically for you. That means that a 300 per cent range would offer a 3 1 ratio. Ratio of the lowest gear of your setup. Simple just divide your rear cog size from your front chainring size.

Benefit of 2x10 gearing on long climbs. Also take a look at our complete bicycle gear ratio chart below to see how your size compares to other gearing options. The gear ratio can be calculated by the gear you re in using the number of teeth on the front chain ring and the number of teeth on the rear sprocket. For example with a 32 tooth ring and 16 tooth cog your ratio is 2 1.

To get our gear ratio we divide the number of teeth on the front by the number on the back. How to calculate bicycle gear ratio. With this configuration the lowest gear has a ratio of 32 46 0 696 and the highest gear has a ratio of 32 11 2 909. Shows table of all possible chainring sprocket combinations with gear ratio.

Bikes with single front chainrings are referred to as 1x or one by. This measurement reflects the number of wheel revolutions that are given per pedal cycle.