I have a quarq that has 172.5mm crank arms on it. I rode 172.5mm arms on my road bike, but I liked 170mm crank arms on the tri bike. The shorter arms were more comfortable as when in the TT position, the knee coming up to the stomach gets cramped. Especially when I have some flab on me when I am not in super stellar shape and ice cream and popcorn tastes so good! lol
I was thinking about going smaller to 165mm. Being that I never tried that before, I am a bit worried to make the leap. Let me know your thoughts. I have short legs- 30" inseam and I am 5’10".
I was planning to buy a new set of cranks and swap arms between the new cranks and the quarq. I plan to recalibrate the quarq via the ant+ dongle and the qalvin ipad app. after the crank arm swap.
We are the same height and same inseam. I ride 165’s. No issue for me. I mainly did it to get a bit lower in the front without closing my hip angle too much.
I have a quarq that has 172.5mm crank arms on it. I rode 172.5mm arms on my road bike, but I liked 170mm crank arms on the tri bike. The shorter arms were more comfortable as when in the TT position, the knee coming up to the stomach gets cramped. Especially when I have some flab on me when I am not in super stellar shape and ice cream and popcorn tastes so good! lol
I was thinking about going smaller to 165mm. Being that I never tried that before, I am a bit worried to make the leap. Let me know your thoughts. I have short legs- 30" inseam and I am 5’10".
I was planning to buy a new set of cranks and swap arms between the new cranks and the quarq. I plan to recalibrate the quarq via the ant+ dongle and the qalvin ipad app. after the crank arm swap.
Do whatever your bank account can afford. You are talking just over 0.25in difference between 172.5 to 165. If you want the 165, get them, and lose the belly.
I’m 32" inseam and I am 5’10" and used to ride 175 cranks on my road bike. When riding int he drops I would get hip impingement, so I went to a shorter crank arm. I also use 170mm on the tri bike. If you decide to go shorter, then you’ll have to adjust your bike fit.
i am same height/inseam and use 165s. I like them. as mentioned you will need to adjust you bike coordinates. going from 172.5 to 165 make your seat effectively 7.5mm lower, so it will need to be raised to keep the leg position on the bottom of the stroke the same as you have now, then everything else will need to be adjusted to fit., but the 165s will give you about 0.6" more space between your leg/knee and belly.
I switched from 172.5 to 165’s on all my bikes except for my commuter a couple years ago. I’ve been happy with the change. Took a bit to get the fit dialed in again.
170mm is good, I think you’ll find 165mm is better. It’s a fit issue, not a matter of power, height, etc. If it improves your bike fit and lets you be more aero too, you’ll make more power AND go faster.
I’m on 165mm, never had any regrets, seems to work great for me.
The bottom line, is that crank length is generally not a limiter to power production… at aerobic intensities at least.
i am same height/inseam and use 165s. I like them. as mentioned you will need to adjust you bike coordinates. going from 172.5 to 165 make your seat effectively 7.5mm lower, so it will need to be raised to keep the leg position on the bottom of the stroke the same as you have now, then everything else will need to be adjusted to fit., but the 165s will give you about 0.6" more space between your leg/knee and belly.
I went from 175 to 165 to 170, and the difference between 165-170 is pretty small for me to tell.
If I were to ONLY use this crank on the TT bike, I’d keep 165, but I like the 170 better on the road bike for some reason, maybe for out-of-the-saddle climbing? So the best combination for me on the road AND TT bike is 170.
I’m down to 5-10 and shrinking. My inseam is a bit longer than yours. At FISTapalooza IN '09, Dan fit me and started me out on 165s. The difference between the 172.5s that were on at the time, and even the 170s I had before that was pretty remarkable. The difference in hip extension and room between the chest and the thigh is double the difference in crank arm length. When you shorten the crank arm, the bottom of the pedal stroke is also raised, so the seat has to go up to make the distance from the hip to the pedal at the bottom of the stroke the same. So, instead of a 7.5 mm difference, it’s really 15mm, or at least close to that. That’s 0.6 inches. I was immediately 1mph faster the next time out.
I am afraid you can’t change Quarq arms without sending it back for re-calibration
I had the same issue, I wanted shorter arms but Quarq told me to send it back
Power2Max doesn’t have this issue, you can swap crank arms as much as you want. just to say…
I am afraid you can’t change Quarq arms without sending it back for re-calibration
I had the same issue, I wanted shorter arms but Quarq told me to send it back
Power2Max doesn’t have this issue, you can swap crank arms as much as you want. just to say…
You can definitely do it on the Rikken. Quarq sent me the instructions, confirmed it would not need a factory calibration and would not void warranty. Other models may require so, and they may have changed their warranty policy, but last year they were allowing it.
I am afraid you can’t change Quarq arms without sending it back for re-calibration
I had the same issue, I wanted shorter arms but Quarq told me to send it back
Power2Max doesn’t have this issue, you can swap crank arms as much as you want. just to say…
You can definitely do it on the Rikken. Quarq sent me the instructions, confirmed it would not need a factory calibration and would not void warranty. Other models may require so, and they may have changed their warranty policy, but last year they were allowing it.