Originally Posted by
jonathanf2
Yeah I was thinking about Patani when going longer cranks! I'm about 5'7" myself. The reason I'm fine with shorter 165mm cranks on my gravel bike is that due to the trail terrain I ride, I can't climb OOS (or I loose traction) and the shorter cranks reduce toe overlap on the technical sections. On my road bike I have the traction to ride OOS and I don't need to worry so much about toe overlap since my turning is more dependent on leaning into a curve or making sure I follow the correct line. Would 175mm be too extreme though? Honestly I don't do long rides (mostly around 30 miles per session), so I'm not too concerned about long range riding comfort and I mostly focus on hard hill climbing and fast descents.
Would 172.5mm make a big difference over 170mm though? I figure if I go long, 175mm would be the way to go for maximum torque.
I think there are so many opinions on best crank length because . . . everyone's different, sorta like saddles. IOW experiment, realizing that changing any aspect of fit requires a period of adaptation during which the feeling of "weird" becomes a feeling of "good" . . . or not. Personally, I don't think I'd climb better on shorter cranks.
OTOH, my wife was riding much too long cranks on our tandem and kept getting leg cramps, not good. I put on a set that was the correct length for her and which she really likes, but our climbing is worse now. Tandems fit is often a compromise. She can run those longer cranks on her trainer bike just fine, but the hard effort of long steep climbs is another story. Neither of us has every had knee issues like folks complain of when they talk about crank length.
IMO knee issues are a function of inadequate physical development. I think one hears so much about knee issues in runners because exact running form and conditioning to enable that exact form is so important. Similar idea. We had a couple our age (76&72) to dinner yesterday. The guy was telling me it was a bad idea to go to the gym because I was going to injure myself. Uh-huh. He has bilateral detached upper biceps because he never worked out. /rant
I know what you're talking about re gravel. Gotta keep that max torque down and cadence up.