I got some use out of my Surly “Dingle” cog today, riding up Peavine Road. Peavine is remarkably low-traffic, even around 5:00.
This Dingle cog has a 17 tooth cog and a 21 tooth cog. The Quickbeam’s 40 and 32 tooth chainrings make a large gear of 63.9 i nches and a low gear of 41.4. I have my usual 15t cog on the other side of the wheel for a 72.5″ gear. Your exact development changes depending on your tire size and crank length, of course; I’m running 35mm Paselas and 170mm cranks.
Dingles are also available with 18, 19 or 20 tooth big cogs. I chose this one because I’m an extremist. Also, I’m remarkably weak, and I wanted something that would take the pain away.
I rolled around town a little, cutting through the park to get onto 2nd, which took me out to Hill Road. This was the highest traffic leg of the loop, or maybe it just felt like that because the shoulder disappears halfway to Peavine and I was passed by a big rig and a dump truck that was tailgating him.
I rode out Peavine, and switched to the low gear when it got a little steep. There’s a nice shaded turnout there at just the right spot, but of course I went another hundred feet up the road and changed gears across from a dirt driveway on a blind corner.
Of course, there was fender-fussing, where I had to brute-force a little more slack from one side and finesse the quick releases about halfway before the fender wouldn’t rub the wheel in its new position. The Dingle makes the low gear axle position about half as far back as with just the two rings and a 15t cog.
The 32×21 is a nice low gear for that road. There were a couple times when I spun out on some slight downgrades, but the sustained climbing felt really good.
When I got to Power House Road, though, I switched back to the 40×17 and navigated the steep washboard gravel road. Too much speed and you just start bouncing around! The trick seemed to be to stay off the rear brake. The 35mm tires seemed to handle the gravel fine, though.
There was one big black pickup that came up the road, throwing a lot of dust. I took a deep breath and half-closed my eyes to get through that roiling cloud.
There’s also a house with two enormous Rottweilers. They came running out the driveway, but I said “HEY!” and they let me go. I’m glad Power House Road is a lot shorter than I thought. About the time I started saying “this road sucks,” it was over.
Right turn on Baker Creek, and I’m almost home. I stopped at Ed Grenfell park for some water, and because I always like to make a circuit of the park and cross the bridges.
