Thinking of moving my wife's cranks from 170mm to 165 anyone done this before. She's not overly tall -5'2" and were struggling with knee pain from being too far behind the pedals even with the saddle rammed forward on the rails.
Any other tips?
Inline seatpost?
The wife and I are currently doing this after seeing a bike fit specalist. Done the road bikes so far and things feel better. Mountain bikes next although less critical.
We're going 175 to 170 though.
People say it makes no difference or they don't feel it but if you're just a bit too long, the difference is massive.
The knee over the pedal spindle (kops) is only a very small part of it and less useful the further you are from the norm.
I think from doing some measuring and comparing to online guides were concluding she is not quite as normally proportioned as she thought. She has longer legs but a shorter body than specialized think she should. Seatpost is reasonably high (for a road bike) but the reach is still a little long. I will give the inline seat post a try. Perhaps an offset post is an odd choice on a women's frame, but then again perhaps an indication her problem.
Thats a really good move on the shorter cranks, be prepared to find out that even 165 may be a little long at 5'2".
I'm 6'4" and use 165mm cranks. I'm pretty certain that nearly everyone uses cranks that are too long really. For someone of 5'2" I'd definitely be going for 165mm at the very least.
Is there any kind of equation to work this out? I've often wondered this.
I have 175mm cranks on my Mega and very often pedal strike with the low BB. Plus I'm not tall either..
Maybe I should try shorter cranks but was thinking I'd lose leverage..a bit.
as a cheapie tester is it possible to reverse the seatpost so it's forward offset ?
worth getting a proper bike fit to get to bottom of issue. My road and cx cranks are 172.5 and are fine, as are mtb ones at 175, as I am moving around more. I had a bike fit on the road bike.
This year I have been riding a fair amount on hired track bikes at Velodrome and the 165 cranks don't agree with my (very dodgy and problematic at best of times, old) knees
with shorter cranks it not so much as KOPS, as started inline post help etc. (but it will help)
It also to do with the angles of the hip/upper leg/knee/lower leg when in the top of the pedal stroke.
shorter cranks well make that angle better.
G/F just gone to 165 on the road bike as says it a lot better.
Is there any kind of equation to work this out? I've often wondered this.
Try http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/bike/cranks/cyclist_crank_length_calculator.html
I'm 6'1" and really pleased after switching from 175's to 170's.
yup my stumps need 153mm cranks..
TA used to do some cheapish cranks down to 155. If you ask them nicely Middleburn will make some.
Wonder what Islabikes fit their bikes.
I notice that book quoted on how calculate your crank length was in part written by a certain person who used to post a lot about a diet.
I fitted 155 TA Vegas for my wife. I'm also cutting down and redrilling / tapping some XT 175s to fit an external bottom bracket for her other bike. These will end up about 153 as you can't drill too close to the original hole.
I'd rather have cranks a bit short than a bit long - if you have shorter legs, there's no way to avoid having to bend your knee too much at the top of the stroke. The only downside is a bit less leverage, which can be fixed by using a smaller chainwheel.
I am 5' 8" and use 180 and 175 on the ss and 165 on the fixed, I don''t really notice the difference....