Gearing down the front?

Hey guys, I took my bike to a serious harescramble track and had a hard time with my gearing... I find 1st is useless unless you're stuck and 2nd is almost too wide...

If I dropped just the front could I keep my chain?

What would I expect for speed changes and with what tooth combination? I do a lot of hard off roading but I like to hit the highways up for short distances.

If you are still stock in the back, 43T, then dropping to a 12T on the front you can keep the stock chain no prob.. Check out this site, gearingcommander.com. It is quite useful in playing with different combos to find out top speed and speed in different gears.

Cheers

I found 13/43 worked well on the road...getting up to speed and all.
Keep in mind...getting up to speed on the road and on the trail is usually quite different.
Getting up to speed for an obstacle , and for an open stretch, can be 2 different things.
I like my bike set for trails. which means a low first can come in handy. And second is fast enough for the momentum my skill can carry.
I am using 13/52 now...you can release the clutch with no throttle, on the flats, and putt along...without throttle or clutch.
Maybe a little low geared for my needs...but on a slow tuff trail/obstacle, it's hard to argue.
I still hope to find my perfect gearing for all use...I know now, that there is no replacement for just trying it.

There's an old saying that goes something like:

one down in the front = 3 up in the rear


At any rate - yes, you can drop from 13t to 12t on the front and use the same chain assuming you're in stock trim now.

It will fubar your stock speedo readings. It will show faster than you're really going.

Your top speed will decrease by somewhere around 5 mph.

You will notice a more torquey grunt lower down in the rev range.

I have 13-50 on mine and stayed in second for the slower parts of that track and used 3rd for the faster parts, I only used first when I got stuck behind a slow rider but they pulled over and let me by once they could.

Going to a 12 tooth front is cheap, quick, easy and works with the stock chain.

If you want to go with a larger rear sprocket I have a piece of chain to lengthen your stock chain if you want it.

A lot of poeple and myself think the bike works better on the road with 12-43 gearing, stock is too tall, the bikes guttless in 6th.