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Road bike crank length
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I apologize for probably doubling or tripling up a conversation but I couldn't find answers I was looking for.
I ride a 170 crank on my tri bike and no one on here has suggested shorter in my fit thread.
I am upgrading the group on my roadie and wondering if I should stick with 175 or decrease that? Is there any real, proven benefit for longer or shorter on the roadie?
I have a video from playing with saddle height recently if that helps.
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Re: Road bike crank length [hokietris] [ In reply to ]
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Smarter people than me will respond but will give my thoughts based on what I have heard here on ST.

On the tri or TT bike, crank length is a way to influence hip angle and balance the aero of the stack in your position with power robbing hip angle.

Road bike? You seem sitting up high enough it shouldn’t matter at all. Maybe for a Merckx road bike TT person or a solo breakaway specialist. I say for road bike just ride what feels best to you. If you are short, maybe a shorter one. Average height like most folks, keep the one you have. Super tall, maybe a longer one.

Cliff notes is that the advantage of a short crank in TT doesn’t seem to be relevant in normal road positions assuming your fit is good for your body (height, inseam, etc).
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Re: Road bike crank length [hokietris] [ In reply to ]
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How tall are you?
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Re: Road bike crank length [burnthesheep] [ In reply to ]
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burnthesheep wrote:
Smarter people than me will respond but will give my thoughts based on what I have heard here on ST.

On the tri or TT bike, crank length is a way to influence hip angle and balance the aero of the stack in your position with power robbing hip angle.

Road bike? You seem sitting up high enough it shouldn’t matter at all. Maybe for a Merckx road bike TT person or a solo breakaway specialist. I say for road bike just ride what feels best to you. If you are short, maybe a shorter one. Average height like most folks, keep the one you have. Super tall, maybe a longer one.

Cliff notes is that the advantage of a short crank in TT doesn’t seem to be relevant in normal road positions assuming your fit is good for your body (height, inseam, etc).

I'd agree. The evidence I've read suggests a wide range of crank lengths don't make much difference to power. I did find 165mm cranks on my cross bike did feel weird.
In general going shorter has few downsides but going too long can be a problem.
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Re: Road bike crank length [jimatbeyond] [ In reply to ]
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Quote:
How tall are you?
6'1".
Bike is a 58, Trek's H2 geometry. Cranks are currently 175.
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Re: Road bike crank length [hokietris] [ In reply to ]
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At your height, I would stick with 175mm on a road bike.

No reason to spend money.
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Re: Road bike crank length [jimatbeyond] [ In reply to ]
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Okay, thank you!
For my own edification, are there any positives or negatives to decreasing to 172.5 or 170?
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Re: Road bike crank length [hokietris] [ In reply to ]
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If you switch to a shorter crank, you lose a bit of leverage.
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Re: Road bike crank length [hokietris] [ In reply to ]
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6' here... ride 175 on all my bikes since forever. I never really bought into the shorter crank movement
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Re: Road bike crank length [COBRI] [ In reply to ]
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I'm 6'-0" and sized down my road bike frame size to 56cm with 72.5 cranks. For me it is a much better fit than the 58cm / 175 scenario.

My TT bike is a Trek SC (large) with 165 cranks.

"They know f_ck-all over at Slowtwitch"
- Lionel Sanders
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Re: Road bike crank length [jimatbeyond] [ In reply to ]
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jimatbeyond wrote:
If you switch to a shorter crank, you lose a bit of leverage.
... but gain the ability to hold a slightly higher cadence. (Not suggesting either is better - just the trade off)
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Re: Road bike crank length [jimatbeyond] [ In reply to ]
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jimatbeyond wrote:
At your height, I would stick with 175mm on a road bike.

No reason to spend money.

If I'm buying a whole new groupset, is it worth $15 extra bucks to stay with the 175s?
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Re: Road bike crank length [hokietris] [ In reply to ]
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I recently went from 175mm to 170mm. This would be considered a short crank size for my endurance geometry bike and my height (6'2"), but I wanted to experiment and see what it would feel like.

I actually prefer the shorter cranks, and haven't thought about sizing back up. I feel like I have more control over my pedal stroke. And for what it's worth, I haven't been able to discern a decrease in my performance.

That's my N=1.
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Re: Road bike crank length [hokietris] [ In reply to ]
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hokietris wrote:
jimatbeyond wrote:
At your height, I would stick with 175mm on a road bike.

No reason to spend money.

If I'm buying a whole new groupset, is it worth $15 extra bucks to stay with the 175s?


I think you are saying that 172.5mm cranks would be $15 less than 175mm.

If that is the case, I would go with 172.5mm.
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