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I've never given crank lengths any real thought before having just ridden whatever was in the bike, which being 6ft tall and riding large bikes was usually 175mm.
Am I really going to notice any difference running a 170 crank?
Possibly. Some people do, some don't. My 180s feel better for me than 175s ever did on a mountain bike.
Some do and some don't. Most bike setup things like this are a matter of giving it a go and seeing for yourself. You are quite tall so the usual advise would be to stay 175 but there are other factors involved than just that, such as riding style.
If you prefer to spin rather than grind you may prefer 170 cranks. I've a bike with 165's and one with 170's and can't really tell a difference but then one is a hub geared rigid and the other a conventionally geared hardtail so they are very different anyway.
Previously I had a bike with 175's which were fine off road but I did find they my knees didn't like them for road sections where your not moving around on the bike so much.
Ah okay, this is for my retired hardtail which will be a commuter. So by that reasoning 170 would probably be okay?
Well going shorter isn't going to cause you any problems so I wouldn't worry about it. As far as I'm aware the only thing that can lead to knee problems is cranks that are too long.
I guess the shorter ones help if your BB is low and your often clipping rocks... you will miss ones that are 5mm higher !
I can't swap between 180s (that I normally run) and 175s. I tried but it hurt. I changed both bikes to 180s and I stopped hurting. I may be a freak though.