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Gear Inch Ratio Table For 26 Inch Bicycle Wheel

The gear inch ratio for bicycles is defined as:
Inch ratio = wheel diameter * (front cog teeth / rear cog teeth)

Back in the dark ages of cycling (before the bicycle gear calculator) riders actually used to do their gearing calculations this way! The trick is to choose front (chainring) and rear (freewheel/cassette) values that give an evenly spaced set of ratios in the correct range, that will produce also a simple gear shifting pattern. GearCalc Pro can do this automatically of course. The gear inch table below is solely for the benefit of die hard traditionalists and masochists.

The numbers in represent the number of freewheel / cassette teeth. The blue numbers are chainring tooth values. The numbers in the white cells are inch ratios for a given chainring and freewheel. From experience I can tell you that less than four inches difference between two gears is barely a gear change at all, and more than twelve inches is starting to feel like a big jump. Personally I like to get as close as possible to eight inch steps between gears

The cells with the yellow backgrounds represent the gear inch ratio sizes for a six speed derailleur system comprising a 14, 16, 18, 21, 25 and 30 tooth cogs on the freewheel used in combination with a 50 tooth chainring.

FREEWHEEL OR CASSETTE REAR COG TOOTH VALUES
F
R
O
N
T

C
O
G

T
O
O
T
H

V
A
L
U
E
S
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34
54117.0 108.0 100.2 93.6 87.7 82.5 78.0 73.8 70.2 66.8 63.8 61.0 58.5 56.1 54.0 52.0 50.1 48.4 46.8 45.2 43.8 42.5 41.2
53114.8 106.0 98.4 91.8 86.1 81.0 76.5 72.5 68.8 65.6 62.6 59.9 57.4 55.1 53.0 51.0 49.2 47.5 45.9 44.4 43.0 41.7 40.5
52112.6 104.0 96.5 90.1 84.5 79.5 75.1 71.1 67.6 64.3 61.4 58.7 56.3 54.0 52.0 50.0 48.2 46.6 45.0 43.6 42.2 40.9 39.7
51110.5 102.0 94.7 88.3 82.8 78.0 73.6 69.7 66.3 63.1 60.2 57.6 55.2 53.0 51.0 49.1 47.3 45.7 44.1 42.7 41.4 40.1 39.0
50108.3 100.0 92.8 86.6 81.2 76.4 72.2 68.4 65.0 61.9 59.0 56.5 54.1 52.0 50.0 48.1 46.4 44.8 43.3 41.9 40.6 39.3 38.2
49106.1 98.0 91.0 84.9 79.6 74.9 70.7 67.0 63.7 60.6 57.9 55.3 53.0 50.9 49.0 47.1 45.5 43.9 42.4 41.0 39.8 38.6 37.4
48104.0 96.0 89.1 83.2 78.0 73.4 69.3 65.6 62.4 59.4 56.7 54.2 52.0 49.9 48.0 46.2 44.5 43.0 41.6 40.2 39.0 37.8 36.7
47101.8 94.0 87.2 81.4 76.3 71.8 67.8 64.3 61.1 58.1 55.5 53.1 50.9 48.8 47.0 45.2 43.6 42.1 40.7 39.4 38.1 37.0 35.9
4699.6 92.0 85.4 79.7 74.7 70.3 66.4 62.9 59.8 56.9 54.3 52.0 49.8 47.8 46.0 44.2 42.7 41.2 39.8 38.5 37.3 36.2 35.1
4597.5 90.0 83.5 78.0 73.1 68.8 65.0 61.5 58.5 55.7 53.1 50.8 48.7 46.8 45.0 43.3 41.7 40.3 39.0 37.7 36.5 35.4 34.4
4495.3 88.0 81.7 76.2 71.5 67.2 63.5 60.2 57.2 54.4 52.0 49.7 47.6 45.7 44.0 42.3 40.8 39.4 38.1 36.9 35.7 34.6 33.6
4393.1 86.0 79.8 74.5 69.8 65.7 62.1 58.8 55.9 53.2 50.8 48.6 46.5 44.7 43.0 41.4 39.9 38.5 37.2 36.0 34.9 33.8 32.8
4291.0 84.0 78.0 72.8 68.2 64.2 60.6 57.4 54.6 52.0 49.6 47.4 45.5 43.6 42.0 40.4 39.0 37.6 36.4 35.2 34.1 33.0 32.1
4188.8 82.0 76.1 71.0 66.6 62.7 59.2 56.1 53.3 50.7 48.4 46.3 44.4 42.6 41.0 39.4 38.0 36.7 35.5 34.3 33.3 32.3 31.3
4086.6 80.0 74.2 69.3 65.0 61.1 57.7 54.7 52.0 49.5 47.2 45.2 43.3 41.6 40.0 38.5 37.1 35.8 34.6 33.5 32.5 31.5 30.5
3984.5 78.0 72.4 67.6 63.3 59.6 56.3 53.3 50.6 48.2 46.0 44.0 42.2 40.5 39.0 37.5 36.2 34.9 33.8 32.7 31.6 30.7 29.8
3882.3 76.0 70.5 65.8 61.7 58.1 54.8 52.0 49.4 47.0 44.9 42.9 41.1 39.5 38.0 36.5 35.2 34.0 32.9 31.8 30.8 29.9 29.0
3780.1 74.0 68.7 64.1 60.1 56.5 53.4 50.6 48.1 45.8 43.7 41.8 40.0 38.4 37.0 35.6 34.3 33.1 32.0 31.0 30.0 29.1 28.2
3678.0 72.0 66.8 62.4 58.5 55.0 52.0 49.2 46.8 44.5 42.5 40.6 39.0 37.4 36.0 34.6 33.4 32.2 31.2 30.1 29.2 28.3 27.5
3575.8 70.0 65.0 60.6 56.8 53.5 50.5 47.8 45.5 43.3 41.3 39.5 37.9 36.4 35.0 33.7 32.5 31.3 30.3 29.3 28.4 27.5 26.7
3473.6 68.0 63.1 58.9 55.2 52.0 49.1 46.5 44.1 42.0 40.1 38.4 36.8 35.3 34.0 32.7 31.5 30.4 29.4 28.5 27.6 26.7 26.0
3371.5 66.0 61.2 57.2 53.6 50.4 47.6 45.1 42.9 40.8 39.0 37.3 35.7 34.3 33.0 31.7 30.6 29.5 28.6 27.6 26.8 26.0 25.2
3269.3 64.0 59.4 55.4 52.0 48.9 46.2 43.7 41.6 39.6 37.8 36.1 34.6 33.2 32.0 30.8 29.7 28.6 27.7 26.8 26.0 25.2 24.4
3167.1 62.0 57.5 53.7 50.3 47.4 44.7 42.4 40.3 38.3 36.6 35.0 33.5 32.2 31.0 29.8 28.7 27.7 26.8 26.0 25.1 24.4 23.7
3065.0 59.9 55.7 52.0 48.7 45.8 43.3 41.0 39.0 37.1 35.4 33.9 32.5 31.2 29.9 28.8 27.8 26.8 26.0 25.1 24.3 23.6 22.9
2962.8 58.0 53.8 50.2 47.1 44.3 41.8 39.6 37.6 35.9 34.2 32.7 31.4 30.1 29.0 27.9 26.9 26.0 25.1 24.3 23.5 22.8 22.1
2860.6 56.0 52.0 48.5 45.5 42.8 40.4 38.3 36.4 34.6 33.0 31.6 30.3 29.1 28.0 26.9 26.0 25.1 24.2 23.4 22.7 22.0 21.4
2758.5 54.0 50.1 46.8 43.8 41.2 39.0 36.9 35.0 33.4 31.9 30.5 29.2 28.0 27.0 26.0 25.0 24.2 23.4 22.6 21.9 21.2 20.6
2656.3 52.0 48.2 45.0 42.2 39.7 37.5 35.5 33.8 32.1 30.7 29.3 28.1 27.0 26.0 25.0 24.1 23.3 22.5 21.8 21.1 20.4 19.8
See Also
Gear Inch Table for 28 inch wheels | Nigel's Abacus

Cycling Software Index | Power Calculator | Bicycle Gear Calculator | Fixed Wheel Bicycle Gear Calculator
Wheel Builders Software | Optimum Bicycle Crank Lengths | Machinehead

Designed by Nigel 'Gear Ratio' Jones