Gear changes

I bought an 01 SV and the previous owner has 16/44 gearing. On the track, seems way to tall. Anybody have any recommendations for track/street use gearing? An experienced SV racer recommended 15/50 as not only does that have a lot of pulling power, but, the front sprocket can be changed to 14 or 16 without changing the chain length which will have the equivalent of a 3 tooth change on the rear sprocket. Anybody have any experience with 15/50 gearing?

[flymo]

Originally Posted by pilot

I bought an 01 SV and the previous owner has 16/44 gearing. On the track, seems way to tall. Anybody have any recommendations for track/street use gearing? An experienced SV racer recommended 15/50 as not only does that have a lot of pulling power, but, the front sprocket can be changed to 14 or 16 without changing the chain length which will have the equivalent of a 3 tooth change on the rear sprocket. Anybody have any experience with 15/50 gearing?

50 teeth on the rear! The sprocket would be as big as the rear wheel

I'ld go for 47 rear maximum, more like 15/46 or 14/46. If you are racing it then depends on the track characteristics. Smaller front and/or larger rear will give you more acceleration at the expense of top end speed. 50 is massive though.

[yorkie_chris]

50t rear avoids the extra chain wear a 14t front gives.

[Stu]

I like my 16T front for my long distance commuting. If there's any life left in it, lob it my way
I would consider a 17T if feasible/obtainable

[jambo]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

50t rear avoids the extra chain wear a 14t front gives.

Eh?

You've gone down at the front, and up at the back, so the chain's now doing even more laps for a given distance covered than with just the smaller front. The 14T front is still smaller than stock so the chain will be wearing it faster because it's doing more turns. The 50T rear will probably have a rather easy life, but I don't see it helping the chain or front sprocket out any....


I'd go for standard or near standard gearing if in doubt