>>1391291>Different cyclists have different leg lengths. It seems obvious that crank length should be proportional, so long legged cyclists should have long cranks, short-legged cyclists should have short cranks....and yet, 99.9% of adult bicycles have crank lengths between 165 and 175 mm. Have the bicycle manufacturers joined in a great conspiracy to force everybody to ride the same length cranks, regardless of their needs?https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cranks.htmlI just went through this crank madness myself. My road bikes square taper BB crapped out and i had a bunch of Hollowtech II in the parts bin. My MTB Saint Cranks and the old road bike cranks were 175mm and i put on the Dura Ace without thinking about it. They turned out to be 170mm. Huge difference in feel off the bat. I had trouble putting power down at first and i needed to completely re-do my saddle fit. Gradually got used to it. Im not sure if i am any faster but i get less bogged up hills and am now very happy. (mainly with the increased stiffness)
Cranks are one of the most expensive parts to buy new for a bicycle and hollowtech II is bombproof so i cant see many people changing them on whim. 170mm seems to be the gold standard and if you deviate too much either way you will ruin your pedaling power stroke
Have my leg muscles just been optimised to 175mm after pedalling on 175mm for so long ? who knows but i did think about this topic alot during this process. I had whole box of different cranks for free. And the whole time i was thinking. Is this pedalling feel what i want ? do i feel faster ?
The one take way i felt was that crank length had more to do with rider weight that anything. Im just under 100kg and prefer big torquey power strokes which could suit a longer crank. A 70kg rider who really like to spin could suit a shorter crank. Its just Biometrics. Not really Watts.
