Crank lengths

[Joe of Loath]

I can't tell the difference myself (170mm feel a little awkward, but they're on my single speed and it might just be placebo), but both are way too short for me anyway, I should be on 185mm according to my leg length.

However, if you have shorter legs, going with cranks that are too long will give you knee trouble.

 

[velomaniac]

Personally cant tell difference between 170 and 175mm but strangely I can with 180mm. Longer feels easier to power uphill in whatever gear, must be leverage but the length is so subtle it should feel the same as 175, weird.

 

[xerxes]

I swapped the cranks on my modern hard tail from 175 to 170mm to match my older bike. I have quite short legs and definitely find 170mm more comfortable. With the longer cranks it felt like my legs were coming up too high at the top of the stroke, it's only a tiny difference, but I'm sure I could feel it. Similarly, sometimes I find moving the saddle up, down or fore and aft by just a few millimetres can make quite a difference to how the bike feels and how comfortable I am.

 

[the_duke]

I cant see that extra or less leverage means much when you have 21, 24, or 27 gears to use anyway.

I use anything up to 175 and cant tell any difference but thats me.

 

[Tad]

Also better ground clearance when cornering with shorter cranks. I've seen XT in 165mm