Now, that’s what I call a decent size chain ring.
In road races, riders will typically use a 53 outer chain ring. With an 11 sprocket this can enable speeds of up to 45-50mph, as long as you can pedal at a very high cadence.
For Time trialls, some riders prefer a much bigger chain ring. For time trials, riders tend to prefer a lower cadence. There is much debate about the optimum gear ratio. But, some riders feel that a big chain ring enables more power.
Nik Bowdler is one of the UK’s top time triallist, he often rides a 57 Chain ring or higher
Most pro riders are used to racing road gears and prefer a cadence in the mid 90s. When Obree broke the world hour record in the early 1990s he was unusual for riding a higher gear than usual. But, he still had a cadence in the 90s according to this table
I believe Ken is exercising some good old fashioned boasting with his post. See, by referring to the cartoonishly large chainring as a ‘Granny Gear’ he is implying that the standard gear his associated group (Midwesterners in this case) uses is much larger and that only weak people in the area, or grandmothers, would stoop to using a chainring that small. This is a circuitous way of implying that midwesterners and implicitly Ken himself are much stronger than the rest of the population.
Eh… here in the Midwest, we’d only refer to that as “Granny Gear” if that sprocket were on the rear cassette and the front cassette were on the smallest sprocket available. “Granny Gear” is definitely not the biggest sprocket on the front, as front cassette means bigger = harder work/faster speed. (whereas on rear, bigger gear means less work/slower speed.)
Out here in the Midwest we’d call that one “Granny Gear”.
From here: http://www.fibre-lyte.co.uk/fl/fl_cycles_carbon_chainring.html
They are very helpful and will do custom cut outs to match your chainset if required.
Nik
Hi,
I am building a bike and would like use a large chain ring. Where can find one like in the pic? Thanks.
Cheers,
Vanessa
Hi,
I quite like this pic, do you have a higher resolution version of it?
Much appreciated if you could send me a copy.
thanks,
Nik
Hi,
Just to let you know, the chainring in the picture is a 77 tooth.
regards,
Nik