Originally Posted by
sbs z31
I am asking if I should get shorter cranks, either 165 or 167.5, or should I go with 170mm which comes standard on bikes in my size 52cm. I would love to do fixed gear crits but there's nothing like that around here.
I can feel the difference between cranks 2.5mm apart.
What to put on your road bike comes down to a few of factors:
- Do you mash or spin?
- Do you intend to climb hills?
- Do you consider your road bike a "track bike with gears" whose primary function is to train for track racing?
One year I installed 165mm cranks on my road bike the winter before I rode 165mm on my track bike. It was nice having the same crank length on both bikes. Hills sucked, but I could average 110RPM for nearly 2 hours (not averaging zeros). This really taxes the nervous system, though.
The result was that my "spin" game went up. I could ride smaller gears and hang longer than usual in long races. That year I could finish points races on the lead lap (not common for me...at all...rolling refrigerator). I could also touch 160rpm in low-geared match sprints.