Got my Dingle!

I mentioned last week that I was already thinking ahead to winter and had ordered some unconventional parts. I picked up some of those parts today at my LBS. A Surly Dingle Cog for my fixed gear commuter. And to complete the new set-up, a Surly stainless steel chainring. The Titec H-bar I ordered for the Pugsely was out of stock at QBP. I'll have to hope they get another batch in.

OK, so what's a Dingle cog? It's a fixed gear cog, with two cogs, that fits in the space of a single conventional cog. You have to use a narrow 9-speed chain due to the narrow spacing of the two fixed cogs on the Dingle. When you add a second chain ring on the crank you have the ability to switch between two sized gears. I've been running a 41 x 17 gearing. The Dingle cog I bought has a 17 and a 20 tooth cog. A three tooth difference. The second chainring I bought is a 38 tooth, or a three tooth difference from the 41 already on the bike. What this means is I can change between the 41 x 17 and 38 x 20 without changing the length of my chain. Of course I have to loosen the wheel lugs and manually move the chain by hand to do this.

What will I use it for? I plan on trying to ride the fixed gear in snow and ice this winter. Last winter with the 41 x 17 I couldn't climb the hills around Duluth in ice and snow because with that gear I need to be out of the saddle to crank it up the hill. As soon as I come out of the saddle and hit snow or ice the back wheel would spin. With the Dingle Cog, on the days there is ice and snow, I can change to the lower gearing and be able to get up the hills without having to get out of the saddle. I'll be able to keep my weight over the rear wheel for traction. I'll be putting studded tires on the fixed gear as well as adding a rear brake. I wouldn't want to be braking on a steep downhill in snow or ice with just a front brake.

I have a flip-flop hub on the fixed gear bike. I thought about using a single-speed freewheel with a smaller gear for snow and ice. That would involve flipping the wheel. With that set-up I would have to change the length of the chain. And if you think about it, most tires are uni-directional. So when you flip the rear wheel your tire tread would be going in the wrong direction. With the Dingle I can go from a 65 inch gear to a 51 inch gear without changing the length of the chain or having to remount the tire if I want the tread to be going in the correct direction.

It's a little bit of Surly genius. I anticipate it will fill my needs the way I hope it will. I most likely won't be changing to the Surly Dingle Cog set-up until mid fall.

Yesterday's commute went pretty good considering I did nothing but sit the previous three days while we were out of town. Although, I had some knots in the legs. I took the long way home and ended up doing 29 miles after work. Today my legs were sore. Not something I'm used too. I felt sluggish. When this happens I swear I'm never taking another day off the bike. All the parts just work better when I ride everyday.

Mileage update:
Friday: 20 mi
Sat-Mon: 0 mi
Tue: 37 mi
Wed: 20 mi
August: 245 mi
2007: 4,687 mi