Posts: 531
Joined: 12/11/2018
Location: Bella Vista, AR USA
I’ve been in the 165 club forever. Everyone would make fun of me for baby cranks. Since it’s cool now I’ve been contemplating going smaller. I only ride park and don’t need to pedal full speed up a bank riding street. First session on my new cranks was yesterday. I absolutely love them. It was surprisingly noticeable from the 165. But after a few runs they felt so much better. Def recommend with 28/9
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Location: Akron, OH USA
160mm is where its at, I can’t wait till i can get down to that size, currently on 170mm
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Location: VA, USA
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I have 160’s going on my next project. Never tried them, but sold on the theory of my feet being closer together and basically zero flex.
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Joined: 9/28/2019
Location: Shorewood, IL USA
Remember when you were a kid in Karate class, and Sensei always said your stance was too wide or too deep? That you should be able to transfer weight without shifting your body too much? I think he was on to something.
I went from 175 to 165 to 160 (the 165's stripped out in a month, and 160's were the cheapest upgrade). I might get a new frame with a shorter backend and go with 155's this year. I still think the longer cranks are a holdover from racing. 160 with 28/9 is where it's at.
Remember when you could ride all day and not be sore for a week?
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Location: BIG, GUY
I read that shorter cranks remove some pressure off the knee. Can anyone confirm? Riding 170mm right now as a 6'1 and my knees are shot after each session, but i reckon thats just part of getting old.
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Joined: 9/28/2019
Location: Shorewood, IL USA
falloftroy20 wrote:I read that shorter cranks remove some pressure off the knee. Can anyone confirm? Riding 170mm right now as a 6'1 and my knees ...more
I've never heard that and can't confirm, but I can't see much difference from a leverage standpoint. A 1/2" difference in stance over the height of your leg wouldn't really change the angles and forces involved. I would say that on longer cranks, I think my back leg took more of my weight, and my front knee hit the bars a lot more. So that's a solid maybe...
Remember when you could ride all day and not be sore for a week?
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falloftroy20 wrote:I read that shorter cranks remove some pressure off the knee. Can anyone confirm? Riding 170mm right now as a 6'1 and my knees ...more
Kind of yeah, for long riding days with some pedaling involved going from spot to spot I really noticed an improvement on the knees by pedaling on a smaller circle, it “stretches” them less after each crank rotation.
I’m 6’1 too and I noticed that while swapping from 175 to 170’s.
I love 170’s and I don’t feel like I need to change, but I would be really curious to try a 165.
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Location: Alamosa, CO USA
falloftroy20 wrote:I read that shorter cranks remove some pressure off the knee. Can anyone confirm? Riding 170mm right now as a 6'1 and my knees ...more
I’d like to see the study on that, for sure.
Come, as you are. As you were. As “they” want you to be....
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Location: Westminster, CO USA
falloftroy20 wrote:I read that shorter cranks remove some pressure off the knee. Can anyone confirm? Riding 170mm right now as a 6'1 and my knees ...more
It is more applicable to seated riding from my understanding. I think because we mostly stand its more about better balance, body symmetry and easier rotations.
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Definitely needa grab some since you can flip whip lol.
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Location: Brew City, WI USA
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(At a bmx industry meeting.)
Hey,the 160 mm cranks are not selling.Quick,get a few pro's to use them and make a big deal about it on instagram.
(Two months later.)
Well that sure cleaned those out.What's the next trend going to be?
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Location: Memphis, TN USA
Ya, no...
It doesn't take much to understand that as CS have gotten shorter, so have cranks for more foot clearance. Also, some people like having their feet closer together.
I've rode 175mm cranks for 98% of my time riding BMX and thought that going to 165's was going to be some dramatically noticeable difference. It was not.
If anything...
(At a bmx industry meeting.)
Why do freestyle guys continue to use 175/ 180mm cranks? They know there not racing, right?
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My 160 choice has nothing to do with what pros ride. I couldn't tell you what any pro is riding as I never look. The only pro I am aware of anything they ride is Spencer Forsman & that is just the frame (Sunday). Other than that, I don't care what anyone is riding.
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Joined: 12/11/2018
Location: Bella Vista, AR USA
I’ve been on 165 since 2008. I saw total offering a 160 and figured I’d consider 160. So I ordered some new profiles. I’m a park rat. Tailwhips and flips is pretty much all I do. It makes sense for me personally
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Location: Bella Vista, AR USA
readybmxer wrote:Definitely needa grab some since you can flip whip lol.
That was the first session on them. Somehow everything aligned up and I was able to land it 4th try. Idk what happened. It was probably the cranks. Buy a set and then let me know haha
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Location: Westminster, CO USA
bloghogs wrote:(At a bmx industry meeting.)
Hey,the 160 mm cranks are not selling.Quick,get a few pro's to use them and make a big deal ...moreMishinn_Control wrote:My 160 choice has nothing to do with what pros ride. I couldn't tell you what any pro is riding as I never look. The only pro ...more
Did Spencer get approached?
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Location: MA, USA
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falloftroy20 wrote:I read that shorter cranks remove some pressure off the knee. Can anyone confirm? Riding 170mm right now as a 6'1 and my knees ...more
dude, at 6 feet tall, you dont need anything smaller than 170.
dont people ride places anymore? i ride street all around town, and id hate anything shorter than 170 personally. thats what im riding at the moment and when i switched from 175 i hated them at first. i lost a lot of torque. 160 is for the kiddies. 5 foot tall kids...
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Location: Racine, WI USA
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I saw a youtube vid from a racing bike type saying how it helps with less stress on the hips too.
I personally like the idea of smaller cranks cuz I'm not overly big and virtually every bike I ride has 165's and they feel good. I would not have an issue trying 160's.
I don't know if 170's and 175's were the norm from the beginning of BMX, but I'm guessing not. So at one time that was probably a trend too.
IMHO, almost everything in life has upsides and downsides. You just pick the things that work for you. And what you like one day may be different later on. Spice of life and all that.
Seems to me in my very limited experience that 175's would really be an issue with 4 pegs and the typical length of chainstays for street bikes now a days. And I think they would feel really big to me. But I'm small, so.....
Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. Insta: SilentNightSun
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Location: Brew City, WI USA
bloghogs wrote:(At a bmx industry meeting.)
Hey,the 160 mm cranks are not selling.Quick,get a few pro's to use them and make a big deal ...moreMishinn_Control wrote:My 160 choice has nothing to do with what pros ride. I couldn't tell you what any pro is riding as I never look. The only pro ...more
OK.... "Pro" might have been a overstatement.
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Location: Huntsville, AL USA
There have been studies done showing that there is no loss in power in using longer cranks so IMO even in racing use whatever is comfortable.
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Location: Akron, OH USA
Its not about getting more power lmfao its about giving you peg and knee clearance
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Joined: 6/13/2011
Location: Memphis, TN USA
I don't doubt that.
I was referencing the fact that for decades 175mm cranks were pretty much the standard choice in freestyle whether you were 5'4", or 6'4". That (imo) came directly from the the BMX racing side.
Again, I'm 6'3" and felt almost no difference when going from 175's to 165's, so it makes me chuckle when people say 160/ 165mm cranks will somehow effect how you pedal. I actually have a new 30T Odyssey sprocket coming in tomorrow, because 28-10 is just too easy to pedal around with all day.
Cranks that are shorter than 170 aren't going away anytime soon just like bars over 9" haven't gone away in over 10yrs.
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I'm thinking BMX is narrowing in on a general standard for these things. Back in the day, everyone riding "freestyle" rode whatever the racers were using that were strong. Then freestyle specific stuff started showing up & that went thru it's Frankenstein phase of trial and error (handlebars with deep V, or low flat crossbar. "knee-savers" etc....). Then sizes changed to super low-ride and narrow bars. I think we are just narrowing down to a standard that will vary slightly depending on preference.
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OneGuyIlluminatiEye wrote:Its not about getting more power lmfao its about giving you peg and knee clearance
Completely missing my point.
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Some freestylers still want to make riding look good at a high speed like josh stricker and sean burns , nothing wrong with racer speed in freestyle , I rode 180s with a 13.0 chain stay and size 10.5 shoes for years and never got my feet caught on the peg
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I'm not sure if I made it sound like I was vilifying people who use 175/ 180mm cranks, but I most certainly was not. Racing obviously played a huge role in some of the best street riders and dirt jumpers.
I just think it's odd that some people out there think that 175/ 180mm cranks are the only size that should be used on a 20" freestyle BMX.
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I’m on 175’s. I definitely don’t think they are the only size that should be used on a 20” bike, but they are the size I like best. I do believe that shorter cranks ability to improve spins and what not is overhyped. Probably some small truth to it, but the real benefit would be peg clearance and stiffness.
Don’t put 25.4 bars in a 22.2 stem.
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Location: Huntsville, AL USA
But it doesn't change the power you can get down so you should be able to go the same speed with 160mm cranks as 180mm assuming the same gearing.
I mean ride whatever is comfortable for you but it is going to change the speed at which you can do things.
