POLL: crank length & height

[jobob]

Sheldon Brown may not necessarily have the Last Word on all things cycling (tho he comes close ), but he tends to have a lot of useful info on his website.

Here's his take on crank lengths:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/cranks.html

[spazzdog]

5'7", 32" inseam, 52cm bike, 170's

spazz

[Surlygirl]

Another half pint here, 5ft and a tiny bit
I have 165 Ultegra cranks on my road bike. Better for the knees. They told me 170s would help me power up hills better but I have bad knees so the less stress the better, I spin. They are not uncommon so don't let the LBS give you a hard time about special order.

[Pax]

I'm really glad to hear all of these thoughts on cranks. I'm buying a new bike in Chicago this weekend (hopefully) and I keep running into problems with too much bend in my right knee (lots of knee surgery). I never knew sizing down the cranks was an option! Thanks again TE'ers.

BTW - I'm 5'10" with a 32" inseam.

[LBTC]

5' 1 1/2", 28" inseam (same as my DH, btw, who is 5'6")

165 mm MTB - a Santa Cruz Juliana Super Light (women's specific). I opted for the XTR group, but, the cranks/front rings of XTR at that time would have killed me, so mine are XT. They've got more XTR options now, 165mm crank length and compact chain ring....if I could justify the purchase, I'd totally option that up!

170mm road - came with the Shimano 105 group.

My Santa Cruz always feels better than my road bike, and I've never even considered if crank length is a possible issue. Now that you mention it, I think I'll ask DH to start Ebay hunting for me!!

I really like the fit, plus, I've been told the shorter crank also provides faster acceleration.

Ditto on the whole options for small people issue, though. I waited much longer than we wanted to for a full suspension MTB that fit me! At least things are improving!

Namaste,
~T~

[CorsairMac]

another beer holder for tall guys:

5'2" 29" inseam

Trek 1100 Road: 50 cm frame, 165 cranks (and toe lap)
Peugeot Road: 51 cm frame, not a clue but probably 170 (and toe lap)
Trek 820 Mtb Bike: who knows
Trek 200 Navigator: who knows

(ain't I just a Wealth of info )

[DeniseGoldberg]

I'm 5'5", and the cranks on all of my bikes are 165mm.
All custom, 2 touring bikes (1 diamond frame, 1 Bike Friday), and a Bike Friday road bike.

[DirtDiva]

What a bunch of short stuffs we are! Well, not everyone, but there are more people in this thread who are shorter than me than taller and that sure doesn't reflect my real life experience!

By the way, Corsair-wealth-of-information-Mac, I'd have had no idea how long my cranks were if I couldn't have looked it up on the Gary Fisher website.

[Crankin]

I have no idea what size my cranks are, but from reading this, I bet they're 165s (Trek 5200 WSD with 650 wheels). I was thinking the same thing about our collective height! I am 5' 1" (though I may have shrunk a bit?) and it seems like there are tons of people on this list that are my height... do you think there are more women cyclists who are short for any specific reason?
I just got back from a bike tour with Trek travel. The bike i used was the updated version of my bike (a Madone 5.2). Somehow, in updating the design, they managed to put 700 wheels on a 47 cm bike. I spent half of the trip getting used to the feeling of being higher up and the different feeling of turning with larger wheels. i did not like it at all! Maybe it's my poor spatial abilities, but I liked getting back to my own teeny bike with teeny wheels. A creature of habit, I guess.

[caligurl]

i've grown since i began working out! lol!

i'm 5'3" (made hubby remeasure about 6 times cuz i didn't believe it!!!!!!!!!!) (i was 5'2" or a bit over for years!)

crank: 167.5
bike: 51 (but it's too big )

i've been told i could use a 170 with my inseam (28" if i remember correctly)

[RoadRaven]

I'm 5'10" (unlike cali I have shrunk an inch since I was a teen)

I have a 54" frame bike and my cranks are 175


Just of interest for you crank-ophiles, my partner is 6'3".
His TimeTrial bike is a 58" frame, and with his 83cm seat height (he has very long legs) he has had custom cranks made (which were cheaper to have made and delivered from America, than to have done locally).
185 cranks on his 58"TT frame.

[fasteryet]

On a ride this past Tuesday with the assistant manager of my LBS, a crank length discussion came up. She said the the latest thinking in the bike world is that 172.5 is right for the majority of riders, no matter what height.
PS. I'm currently 5'4" and using 170's on my road bike and hybrid, and feel that they fit perfectly. Road bike is C-Dale r800 50 cm frame.

[emily_in_nc]

I'm 5'2" with a 28" inseam and use 170mm cranks on my road and mtn bikes. My slightly older Terry bike has 165mm cranks. Both are fine, but I chose 170s when I custom built my Aegis Swift and Bike Friday as I felt they'd give me more leverage on hills (and hopefully not kill my knees), and on my Aegis I wanted a compact double, which didn't come in a smaller length than 170. They seem to agree with me fine, even though all the charts say I should ride a 165mm or shorter crank based on my inseam.

Emily

[LED_now]

5' 4"
170mm factory-issue on GT Mtn

6 mos later, after "car vs. me" incident, the LBS (s) didn't have 170's to fit & I was off to Vancouver (from Toronto) w/ 175's instead.
Naively didn't know any different, so said "ok, 175's fine"... yet no probs in Vancouver despite hills + 8 hr days on the bike...
Back to T.O., switched to SPD's (great!float ok, super-duper fun etc.) but: 3 mos. later Knee Probs, taking me right off the bike ... for months sigh ...

Then, GT recall on crank set, shop now had 170's again, so went BACK to 170's.

Many calls to Different Shops here have resulted in the speech: "165's? 167.5's? Uh .... lady, those are hard to find..."
Note: I'm not looking for fluorescent polka-dot fun-fur custom cranks. But still, this response. I take my business elsewhere & same thing happens..?
Since I'm not overly mechanically minded, I do not know if whatever crank set (ordered on the 'net for instance) would fit the bike's BB etc... Among a zillion other Q's I suppose ...

ANYWAY:
Sill knee probs... surgeries...gave up for a while (a few years)... now, back in "Stubborn/Optimistic/Delusional(?) Mode", trying to figure out what the KEY(S) to this PUZZLE could be. I say "key(s)" since I've tried what seems to be everything under the sun. Any other types of leg-based exercise (running, weights, etc. = zero knee probs). On-the-bike puzzle though, you name it, I've most probably tried it.

Hence the CRANKS POLL Questions.

[DeniseGoldberg]

Many calls to Different Shops here have resulted in the speech: "165's? 167.5's? Uh .... lady, those are hard to find..."

I don't know what component group (manufacturer) you are looking for, but just out of curiosity I checked the Shimano site. I know that the (165) cranks on all of my bikes are Shimano, and I was just wondering if they'd changed the available lengths.

According to the Shimano site, the cranks for their XTR, XT, Dura-Ace, Ultegra, Tiagra, and Sora groups all are available in 165's as well as the more common longer sizes.

I just looked at the GT site too, and while some of their mountain bikes appear to have Shimano cranks, some don't. It's quite possible that the manufacturer of the cranks on your bike don't make 165's - but it seems to me that you should be able to switch to Shimano cranks. Might be worth asking a mechanic in your LBS. If they aren't willing to help you then I think it's time to find another shop!

Good luck, and keep us posted.

--- Denise