180mm cranks – who uses them?

Just ordered some 180mm cranks for the 29er HT.
I have 180mm Middleburns on a SS, but have always used 175’s on geared bikes. Other than ground clearance (not an issue for me), any reason not to? 6’4″ and leggy……

I’ve got some 185s – might bung them back on something, they were lovely. I fou d a formula somewhere which said that was the length I really needed.

I have some 180 road cranks. not using them at the moment but thought they were OK, couldn’t really tell any difference from “normal” cranks

(no formulas/ae were used in the process; I bought ’em bacause they were cheaper 😳 )

175’s on MTB, 180’s on road bikes, Im 5.9″ with short legs, but I do like using big gears.
Its all about preference and your riding style/feel, ignore all the bs leg measurements etc…

175’s on MTB, 180’s on road bikes, Im 5.9″ with short legs, but I do like using big gears.

Not particularly fond of your knees then? 5ft11 here with 33″ legs, and anything over 170 on either road or MTB gives me dodgy knees!

180mm cranks – who uses them?

VERY tall guys, and people who don’t like their knees IMO. It’s all personal preference of course, but most people would benefit from learning to spin a bit quicker and shorter cranks can often help with this.

Nobody needs or will go faster with anything over 170mm.

Nobody needs or will go faster with anything over 170mm.

So you’re telling me that, despite the great ranges of different sizes available in many other components relating to fit (saddle, frame, seatpost, stem, handlebars), that cranks are not on this list?

I ride 180s because I can’t afford the complete custom bike to have 200s.

I had them in my race BMX – helped me “get ma
Snap on”.

So you’re telling me that, despite the great ranges of different sizes available in many other components relating to fit (saddle, frame, seatpost, stem, handlebars), that cranks are not on this list?

Nope crank length is efficiency and power output not fit/handling. You’ll actually fit a bike better with shorter cranks. Less toe overlap, less core/hip displacement from fore/aft feet locations, lower seat height, easier to get above the saddle the closer your feet are together etc.

So, despite me having a much longer femur and larger feet than you, you maintain that a shorter crank will work better for me? Despite those much longer levers moving comfortably across a wider range you tell me I’m no different to someone 18″ shorter than me? I use far less of the leg muscles available to me with a shorter crank giving me such a small circle to spin in.
As for lower seat height with shorter cranks – nope – it would be a higher seat position as the pedal would be higher at the bottom of the cycle.
Toe overlap? Not got it thanks.

Nothing convincing there yet.

Sorry I meant lower BB height. Potentially anyway. You’re right of course regarding seat height.

The bottom line is as crank length increases power and optimal cadence (efficiency) are reduced.

I’m the same size as TooTall and have 180 on one bike, 175 on all the others. Can’t say I’ve ever noticed a difference between them. In theory I should notice a few more pedal strikes on the 180’s but as the bb is higher on that bike, I haven’t. I’ll be sticking to 175 in the future.

I’ve got a set of 180s which are great for singlespeeding but I feel they are a little bit noticeable with gears. So I swap back to the 172.5s for then. I use the same bike for gears and SS and wear 32″ leg jeans.

180s on all my singlespeeds – except fixies. Extra leverage is definitely noticeable. Had 180’s on my road bike for a while and found them a bit too long.

Hmmmm.
I’ll see.