Originally Posted by
bargainguy
I'm a shorty at 5'4. More than a decade ago, I sent a couple cranks to Mark Stonich at
BikeSmith Design and Fabrication to have then shortened, an Ultegra triple and a 105 double. The idea was to experiment with shorter cranks than 165. Both cranks were shortened to 148mm.
I immediately put the Ultegra on a favorite folding bike to see how it would work. Short answer? Not great! Spinning was easier, but it seemed I had no leverage, so hills and wind became exponentially harder than I would have expected. After a month of deciding whether I wanted to kill my knees some more, I put my "normal" (165 or 170, can't remember) crank back on and everything felt fine, just like before this little dalliance.
I still have both these cranks, but have never felt a need to re-experience 148 again.
This is my thing--I live by torque and am definitely not a spinner, so I really have no interest in shortening the levers. That's why I'm skeptical that it's just a matter of proportions, these generalizations seem to rely on assumptions of one particular riding style.