Are people with short legs at an inherent disadvantage?
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Are people with short legs at an inherent disadvantage?
It seems if you want to get aero, having a large saddle to bar drop is ideal. For those of us with short legs relative to body height, this is a challenge. But what I am wondering is if other aspects of riding, including hill-climbing (where aero really shouldn't be a major concern) might also be affected?
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I have come to the realization I probably have shorter than normal legs for my size (5'10"). I can't tolerate 175 mm cranks at all, 165's and 170's are my preference. But I don't look at it as having "short legs" I look at it as having " a long trunk". I have 130-150 mm stems on all my road bikes, and every seat is slammed back as far as it will go. I love the long low horizontal riding position.
I figure, if you are turning the cranks around and keeping up, what's the difference? I used to think there were advantages to being a taller rider, but the vast majority of past Tour de France winners are between 5'8 and 6' tall. For whatever that's worth.
I figure, if you are turning the cranks around and keeping up, what's the difference? I used to think there were advantages to being a taller rider, but the vast majority of past Tour de France winners are between 5'8 and 6' tall. For whatever that's worth.
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Caleb Evan, 5’5”, seems to do ok. As does Nairo Quintana,
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It seems if you want to get aero, having a large saddle to bar drop is ideal. For those of us with short legs relative to body height, this is a challenge. But what I am wondering is if other aspects of riding, including hill-climbing (where aero really shouldn't be a major concern) might also be affected?
I dont see an inherent disadvantage for shorter people(short legs) when it comes to being aero- I see an inherent advantage, actually.
If you compare 2 people of equal height and one has legs that are 6" shorter than the other, then sure I guess maybe there could be a difference in wind resistance between the 2 riders since bike setup will be different.
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1) Negative stem angles of greater than 17° are possible, so my point is a bit of a red herring.
2) If a short-legged person can get their back flat, their swept area will be less, thus less watts required per unit speed plus fast descents.
So no, I don't think it's a disadvantage, I have short legs and it's worked OK for me. Main thing is to not be so fat one can't get all the way down and still breathe!
Looking at tall, long-legged pros, one is struck by the gap between thigh and chest with pedal at TDC. I think that's a function of crank length as much as anything.
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You just aren't looking around to find the right bike for you. It's out there somewhere. More people have short legs than long legs, IMO.
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Those with long legs require a higher saddle position- arguably less aero.
Blaming my limited climbing ability on leg length is not necessary- I have other excuses at the ready.
Blaming my limited climbing ability on leg length is not necessary- I have other excuses at the ready.
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I have no clue where you got the idea that short legs = harder to ride with more saddle to bar drop. Maybe this is true if you end up needing an XXS frame, where the reduction in stack is limited by wheel size. But most people of average (or greater) size with shorter legs do not have this issue. And even then, you can just compensate for this with a longer and more steeply angled stem.
Also, saddle to bar drop is not the best heuristic for how aero you are. It’s torso angle. Saddle to bar drop is affected by reach (bar, stem, frame etc), torso angle, torso length and arm length. You’d have to claim that people with shorter legs have a harder time maintaining the same torso angle.
The ability to hold a certain torso angle is determined by saddle position, belly fat, hamstring flexibility, saddle comfort (to be able to rotate onto your pubic ramii), crank length, thigh diameter, hip socket mobility, ankle mobility and tibia length. I see 2 potential foundations for your claim.
1) tibia length. But in this case, a shorter tibia is actually more beneficial for aero because your knee doesn’t come as far up at the top of the pedal stroke, minimizing hip impingement.
2) Crank length. It’s true that if two people, one with shorter legs and one with longer legs, ride the same crank length, the person with shorter legs will have a longer crank relative to their leg length. This would cause what I call “overstroking” where the crank stroke (2x crank length, say 34cm) is greater than the amount of stroke the rider’s leg is able to cope with, causing an exhaustion of ankle mobility, acute knee angles, and potentially a positive femur angle at the top of the stroke, which causes hip impingement, which forces a more upright torso angle. But I don’t see a good reason for this to happen besides ignorance. It’s also possible that the person with shorter legs has much shorter tibias and similar femurs and therefore is actually more aero on the same cranks.
Let me know your thoughts.
Also, saddle to bar drop is not the best heuristic for how aero you are. It’s torso angle. Saddle to bar drop is affected by reach (bar, stem, frame etc), torso angle, torso length and arm length. You’d have to claim that people with shorter legs have a harder time maintaining the same torso angle.
The ability to hold a certain torso angle is determined by saddle position, belly fat, hamstring flexibility, saddle comfort (to be able to rotate onto your pubic ramii), crank length, thigh diameter, hip socket mobility, ankle mobility and tibia length. I see 2 potential foundations for your claim.
1) tibia length. But in this case, a shorter tibia is actually more beneficial for aero because your knee doesn’t come as far up at the top of the pedal stroke, minimizing hip impingement.
2) Crank length. It’s true that if two people, one with shorter legs and one with longer legs, ride the same crank length, the person with shorter legs will have a longer crank relative to their leg length. This would cause what I call “overstroking” where the crank stroke (2x crank length, say 34cm) is greater than the amount of stroke the rider’s leg is able to cope with, causing an exhaustion of ankle mobility, acute knee angles, and potentially a positive femur angle at the top of the stroke, which causes hip impingement, which forces a more upright torso angle. But I don’t see a good reason for this to happen besides ignorance. It’s also possible that the person with shorter legs has much shorter tibias and similar femurs and therefore is actually more aero on the same cranks.
Let me know your thoughts.
Last edited by smashndash; 10-12-20 at 10:03 AM.
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It seems if you want to get aero, having a large saddle to bar drop is ideal. For those of us with short legs relative to body height, this is a challenge. But what I am wondering is if other aspects of riding, including hill-climbing (where aero really shouldn't be a major concern) might also be affected?
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In fairness he said short legs - not short in stature.
I have short legs and a long waist and have never been able to get into a particularly good TT position. Sure there's other factors at work but the saddle to bar drop has been the bane of my riding existence and constantly put be between frame sizes for 30 years.
I have short legs and a long waist and have never been able to get into a particularly good TT position. Sure there's other factors at work but the saddle to bar drop has been the bane of my riding existence and constantly put be between frame sizes for 30 years.
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OK, I want a count of the folks in this thread who posted that having short legs is not an aero disadvantage AND who also have short legs, say 29" and less.
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Fwiw I’m 5’ 7” and have long legs for my height (31” jeans?) and had to downsize to 165mm cranks to get aero without impinging my hips.