26" Cruiser gearing question

[Brunson67]

i have a 1980 Schwinn Cruiser in building up and I'm putting a freewheel on it. I already have a 39 tooth chainring, looking for advice on freewheel tooth. The bike will be more of a cal cruiser/Strandie with a lil BMX flair. Will mostly be ridden around camp grounds, beach sidewalks. I looked at the new SE 26" BMX bikes and they have a 39 chainring, and a 17 tooth freewheel. Thoughts?

 

[gowjobs]

That sounds about right. For off-road, the rule of thumb is about 2:1, so a little higher than that is pretty good on the street.

 

[Wildcat]

My new 1981 Typhoon came with 44/19, so I checked the calculator, 39/17 is fairly close, 0.8 gear inches difference, almost the same. Yours is just a tiny bit easier to pedal that the standard one speed like I had. If it's too easy, change the cog to a 16, you may not have to take a link out of the chain, it may just need the wheel adjusted back. Then it'll be faster but harder to pedal. But for yours needs, it sounds just right.

 

[RustyGold]

I have a 26" PK Ripper with the 39/17 gearing and 1.95" K-Rads. Gearing works great on the street and pretty good off it...definitely not great for steep hills, but works fine everywhere else.

If you have a bmx background, it would be like riding a 20" with a 44/15 combo. Not "the optimum" race gear...but close .

Jason

 

[Brunson67]

Thanks guys! I do have a 16 tooth freewheel in my spare parts, maybe I'll try that first and see if I like before buying a 17.