Can it... yes. Did it? No idea.

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My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

At the start of the season, I had a fit done on my TT bike. The result was raising my saddle 1cm and pushing it back, and raising my bars 1cm (as there was no other way to adjust my bars currently). From my results this year, I would say raising my saddle and my bars 1cm hasn't negatively affected anything, but without any testing with prior and current positions, there is just no way to know.

Maybe I'm misreading your post, but long cranks result in a taller saddle height. If nothing else changes you'll reduce your bar drop with longer cranks. To maintain hte same relative body positon, you'd need to take out 7.5mm headset spacers going from 170 to 177.5. Its' the bonus you get going to shorter cranks, if the frame you have is a little high in front, you effectively make the frame shorter.

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TrainingBible Coaching
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Longer cranks = less saddle height.

I tried dropping my pad height about 5mm this year. I did a ton of workouts on the trainer that mainly focused on 5 minute power. I rode the new position outside a bunch as well. My TT power in races this year never matched last year's power, so I raised the bars back to their old height last week and found the missing 20 watts.

I have tried changing seat and pad height to change the overall drop and it has never worked out. I also tested in the wind tunnel and my reduction in CdA for an extra 1 cm drop is pretty small, but coming up 1 cm adds a ton of watts. The lesson is that I have a really narrow range of drop that balances aero/watts. I have ridden 170-175mm cranks with mixed results.

The big question is whether the extra 8 mm makes you feel more comfortable. I would try going back down maybe 3 to 5 mm and seeing if you are faster and or more comfortable. A fitter or "rules of thumb" can get you in thr ballpark, but you really have to field test a position.

Up 1mm, what kind of watts are we talking?

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Thanks for the info. I'll be switching back to my 177.5s and lowering my saddle back down for the next race. I gave the 170s a shot and made no extra power and only saw slower times this year. I'm actually considering 180s so I can drop the saddle another 2.5 mm. Every bit helps when you're cursed with being tall and lanky.

I'm skeptical that crank length is the cause of anything that you're seeing.

Also being tall and lanky is not a curse in TT. Tall and lanky correlates with big aerobic engine. I'm 6'4", aero as all hell, and wouldn't trade it for anything. Wiggins is 6'3" and world class at TT.

And with that extra 20 watts you kicked our asses. I see a Nacho plate in your future.

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BoulderCyclingCoach.com

Up 1cm and I went from 265 to 285 watts.

Exactly. Small changes in position (we're talking a few mm one way or the other, not a few cm) *can* affect drag but without careful testing you can't really know. Small changes in position *usually* don't much affect power production but *sometimes* can -- but without careful testing you can't really know.

I need to stop being lazy and learn how to do some testing.