Short cranks

[eljay]

I need short cranks and don't know where to find them! I'm 5' 1" and have a new Trek WSD 7.5 that comes with 170cm cranks. Also, my left knee has slightly less that 90 degrees of flexion. So, I need to shorten up on the cranks. I also don't want to spend an exorbitant sum of money on these. I met with a custom bike builder this morning, Lennard Zinn, and to get what I really need (142cm on the left; 165cm on the right) will cost close to $600. Does anyone out there have a more practical solution? A crankset with
155cm or 160cm crank arms will do, too. I just can't find them.

[Flybye]

What about a kids road bike?

[eljay]

Yes, I've thought about that. My bike-shop guru didn't seem too enamored of that idea, although I don't know why. I may explore that option a little further.

[Surlygirl]

Try aebike.com. I had luck finding 165 cranks with them.

[OakLeaf]

>Bulletproof Silver 110 BCD Cranks only $36.95

Bulletproof BMX cranks can be used as a single or double chainring setup.

These use the highly versatile 110 mm bolt circle, and fit standard tapered-square bottom bracket axles.

Chainline w/107 mm bottom bracket:

* 43.4 mm as double (middle of spider)
* 47.1 mm outer ring
* 39.7 mm inner ring
* 158 mm tread ("Q factor")

530 grams/pair (165 mm)

Arms only, no bolts nor chainrings included.

Lengths available (not all in stock): 140 mm, 150 mm, 155 mm, 160 mm, 165 mm, 170 mm <

Harris Cyclery (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/cranks/130-single.html)

If your legs are the same length I would really hesitate to have different length crank arms. It seems to my non-expert self that that would just create imbalances that would exacerbate the effects of your knee issue. Have you asked a PT about it?

[Crankin]

Your lbs owner should easily be able to order 165 cranks. I had no problem getting them!

[Eden]

Yeah - most of my bikes have 165's (one DuraAce, two 105's), my kiddie cross bike has 157's (or something like that) I think.

[dianne_1234]

I need short cranks and don't know where to find them! I'm 5' 1" and have a new Trek WSD 7.5 that comes with 170cm cranks. Also, my left knee has slightly less that 90 degrees of flexion. So, I need to shorten up on the cranks. I also don't want to spend an exorbitant sum of money on these. I met with a custom bike builder this morning, Lennard Zinn, and to get what I really need (142cm on the left; 165cm on the right) will cost close to $600. Does anyone out there have a more practical solution? A crankset with
155cm or 160cm crank arms will do, too. I just can't find them.

I found Bontrager road cranks in 155mm (or was that 150mm?). They come stock on the Trek kid's road bike, but my dealer was able to order them separately.
Here's the Trek kids bike they come stock on:
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2008/kids/ages_9_12/kdr1000/

[eljay]

I just found a guy in Minneapolis named Mark Stonich at Bikesmith Design who makes short cranks. This may be the answer to my "get over the top" problem! His website is www.bikesmithdesign.com.

[eljay]

:) I found a guy in Minneapolis who customizes cranksets. He turns out 148mm and153mm Shimano cranks. He's at Bikesmith Design (www.bikesmithdesign.com).

[Sylvia]

I know this is an older thread, but I thought I would answer this because I needed to find shorter cranks and had to do a lot of hunting around to figure out what my options were. So maybe someone else with a similar issue will find this useful.

The smallest size road crank arms (130/74 Triple) I've seen, without having to go to custom made, are 145mm. Here's a link to the crankarms. Check your bottom bracket type to see if they are compatible.
http://www.calhouncycle.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=1725&idcategory=0

If you are looking for small MTB cranks (110/74 triple). Sugino makes a 152mm crankset.
http://www.ebikestop.com/sugino_xd600_152mm_24_36_50_74110_78_speed-CR1035.php?cat=476

and SJS cycles has their Thorn cranks that go down to 140mm
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Thorn-Thorn-110-74-PCD-Triple-Solo-Alloy-Crankset--Silver-1672.htm

You could also try shortening your cranks as suggested previously, assuming they can be shortened. I had a pair of ultegras shortened by Mark Stonich. he did a great job. http://bikesmithdesign.com/Short_Cranks/shorten.html

You could look into crank shorteners. If you use crank shorteners, be sure to get a pair that fit the width of your crank arms.
http://elitecycling.com/page.cfm?PageID=99&action=details&sku=CR8873
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Thorn-Thorn-Crank-Shorteners-239.htm
http://www.tandemseast.com/parts/cranks.html


Another possibility might be trying an adjustable crankarm.
http://www.hscycle.com/Pages/adjustablecrankset.html

or just custom made cranks
http://www.zinncycles.com/side-cranks.php