Can you do the great divide on a gravel bike?

As far as a bike goes, you can do this route on a fully rigid gravel bike or a full suspension mountain bike, or some variation of the two. We are old school tourers who like rack and panniers, which we used. No issue at all with this and a perfectly fine choice as our focus was comfort not speed.

Is a single speed gravel bike a good idea?

Forcing you to work hard uphill and spin quickly back down, single speeds help build technique and are great for training. Equally on flatter terrain low weight and robustness make them ideal partners for commuting.

What kind of gears are used in Tour Divide?

Originally a single speed mountain bike, it was upgraded to have gears using a Gevenalle conversion kit for TRP Hylex single speed shifters. The drop bars and TRP Hylex brakes were installed in the fall of 2013 for cyclocross racing. The Gevenalle conversion was added last year in preparation for the Tour Divide.

What’s the gear ratio on a single speed bike?

Single speed bikes have only one gear ratio, so just one ring on your crank and one ring on your cassette. That means no gear changing — you’re stuck with what you’ve got. A single speed and a fixed gear are almost the same things but the difference is in the hub.

What should my gear ratio be for commuting?

If you’re mostly riding flat, then you might want a ratio that will allow you to go faster at the cost of acceleration. The opposite is true if you have some hills to deal with along your commute. In general, the rule is a 2:1 ratio. You want the front gear to have twice as many teeth as the gear in the back.

How to calculate the gearing ratio on a surly bike?

The calculation looks like this: So say you have a 32/16 gearing, with a rear wheel with an overall diameter of 26″; the calculation would be 26 times 32, the result then divided by 16, yielding 52 gear inches. The higher the number, the farther your bike will travel on one revolution of the crank.