Sprockets 36T sprocket and heavy riders

Sooo.... the way I understand it is that if you weigh 160 pounds, a 44 tooth sprocket will do you good.

But if you weigh 260 pounds, a 44 tooth sprocket will do you no good. So, if you weigh 260 pounds, you need a 50 tooth sprocket?
 
Sooo.... the way I understand it is that if you weigh 160 pounds, a 44 tooth sprocket will do you good.

But if you weigh 260 pounds, a 44 tooth sprocket will do you no good. So, if you weigh 260 pounds, you need a 50 tooth sprocket?

I weight 250lbs and I have a 44 tooth. Gets me where I need to go. I've been up to 27mph with room to go and backed down. Just don't like going that fast on bicycle.
 
Sooo.... the way I understand it is that if you weigh 160 pounds, a 44 tooth sprocket will do you good.

But if you weigh 260 pounds, a 44 tooth sprocket will do you no good. So, if you weigh 260 pounds, you need a 50 tooth sprocket?

I weigh 275, and I am satisfied with the 44T sprocket. I do have to peddle to help it up real steep hills, and it bogs when going against a strong wind. Other than that, it flies up to the top speed! I had the 50T sprocket and did not like it for normal riding. The top soeed on 26" wheels was only 23 mph. I am going to use the 50T in the winter. I dont need to be going faster than 23 mph on ice. I don't think I am going to go with a 36T. I think it will bog too much. I might get one someday to play around with.
 
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When you are pedalling the clutch is in and the chain won't lock up when the engine seizes. Or, on a non-motored bike, you probably won't come to grief.
Believe me if you have done thousands of miles on these motors the day comes when the engine seizes and you probably can't get the clutch in quick enough because the back wheel is locked and skidding outwards to the right and you are fighting to stay on it. It's all over in a couple of seconds.
I have had this happen although only at 15 mph and I ended up on my face in the ditch with the hot engine burning the flesh off my legs. If it had happened on the freeway 2 minutes earlier I'd have been dead. If you want speed then get a freewheel hub of some sort so you live to tell the tale of the engine seizing. At 40mph a wheel lock up would throw you off in a split second. Cycling Australia states that hitting a labrador dog at 35mph is usually a fatal accident on a bicycle. Just a warning from a cautious old cyclist.

Very good points. This is stuff I never though about. I dont think I want to go 40 mph anymore :eek:
 
I weigh 269 pounds due to a serious bout with depression. And after seeing this post I got kind of worried about a 44 tooth sprocket pulling my lard butt.

However, I'm won't be going very fast on my bike after the motor is installed. I mostly need the motor to help get to places like the park, where I can chain my bike up and go walking to lose weight I've put on.
 
I weigh 269 pounds due to a serious bout with depression. And after seeing this post I got kind of worried about a 44 tooth sprocket pulling my lard butt.

Interesting you mention depression and bikes cos I went to my doctor 2 years ago and told him that my motorised bike was a better anti-depressant than any of the new NSRIs he liked to prescribe. I said I could see the snails mating in the grass verge and smell the cow***t and the smell of rain on hot asphalt and the cold earth on a moonlit night etc. He said "That's interesting John, when I was a young doctor many years ago we used to prescribe tri-cyclic drugs for depression and here you are recommending I switch to Bi-cyclic!"
He was so impressed with my bike he got me to build one for himself!
 
You know, on a psychological level, walking and biking is like chiken soup for the soul. I sure does to help you lose weight. But for me, it's more. Being out in nature and just out in he open is a very freeing experience. There is NO drug on Earth that can take the place of the sun hitting your face on a beautiful day. You're out, alone with your thoughts and it's better than any therapy you can buy.

And on a side note, it's really interesting the things you can see when you're walking on foot or riding along on your bike. Things that the whole freaking world misses in their refusal to give up their cars for a few hours. (Of course there are the those who can't because of a disability and so on, so I'm not digging into those people.)

Walk on foot throughout your city and you get to see just how dirty it really is. You get to learn the intimacies of gang signs scrawled on the sides of buildings. You begin to think "Ooh, A57 is tagging into LEWP'S territory now." Walking along a highway near my apartment I learned that there must be a litterbug who leaves for work and eats bananas. Because west heading east, there's a string of blackened dried up eaten banana peels withering away on the side of the road. But they're not on the other side of the road east going west. Things like this is what you have the chance to realize. There's a brdge that's over a river hundreds of cars are stuck on while awaiting the light to turn green (the Duck River). Have any of them ever noticed the family of muskrats living in a burrow on the bank of the river? THESE are the kind of gifts you recieve by having a motorized bicycle (or walking).

Walking and riding is therapy for me.
 
I use my engine to take over my peddling so rarely do I go over 18 mph. I like to cruise between 10 and 15 as it is.
44 for me. No need to change.
 
I am pushing 250 these days and before I sold my bike to buy groceries (booze) I was running the 50 tooth sprocket no problem. But after reading this thread I am only going to buy organic booze when I find my gas can and sell that. Then I will walk through my fair city, pondering the delicate nature of our existence. I may pause for a moment to watch a bug, toiling in the **** that chokes the streets, much like the legions of unemployed roaming the neighborhoods during the day... scouring the lanes for a quiet porch to rest upon. I too seek such subtle comforts. I too desire to wear organic cotton and birkenstocks... perhaps huff a little jekem and talk of a time when things were a little simpler.
 
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I had no idea what jekem was so I Googled it.

We live in an amazing world, don't we?
 
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