Crank arms

paul20v

Hi all
Just a quick question
Is there a crank arm available thats less than 170mm
Im asking as in bends while pedaling sometimes im catching a pedal
Im running a 175mm at the moment so can gain a little with a 170mm but not really much
Cheers

estampida

http://www.middleburn.co.uk/tech_cranklengths.php

I have seen half sizes (162.5) but google knows all

nicklouse

paul20v wrote:

Hi all
Just a quick question
Is there a crank arm available thats less than 170mm
Im asking as in bends while pedaling sometimes im catching a pedal
Im running a 175mm at the moment so can gain a little with a 170mm but not really much
Cheers

Why are you pedalling in bends?

What bike?

cooldad

nicklouse wrote:

Why are you pedalling in bends?

This,

sloppycowpat

are you riding a fixie?

thats the only time that this should happen

ilovedirt

Agreed with the rest, why are you pedalling in corners?

Twelly

Outside foot down = pedal will never catch

..and if it does, you have fallen off.

chazkayak

I hate to admit, ive been having the same problem.

Where I ride its a slight uphill with off camber zigzags, If I stop peddling, I stop and loose all speed to get up the hill!!

I also was thinking of shorter cranks.

Chunkers1980

Learn to tilt your bike to give you the clearance when needed

stubs

Shimano do some of there cranks in 165mm sizes but 10mm is going to make next to no difference to ground clearance. About the same as fitting fatter taller tyres.

paul20v

nicklouse wrote:

paul20v wrote:

Hi all
Just a quick question
Is there a crank arm available thats less than 170mm
Im asking as in bends while pedaling sometimes im catching a pedal
Im running a 175mm at the moment so can gain a little with a 170mm but not really much
Cheers

Why are you pedalling in bends?

What bike?

Hi sorry all been away and only just got back
Its a cube analogue in an 18"
The bike is great apart from the issue im having
In 25yrs of cycling ive never had this problem the bike has a very low BB which i had not noticed when buying
Im using the bike for road comutting at the moment and pedalling on roads in bends happens
Ive caught the pedal twice in the last week on the outer edge so was willing to try if available a shorter crank as its the only way i can stop this from happening or slow down in corners
Obviously if i was ridding offroad the style would be different i would also be using my other bike which has a load of BB clearance .

paul20v

chazkayak wrote:

I hate to admit, ive been having the same problem.

Where I ride its a slight uphill with off camber zigzags, If I stop peddling, I stop and loose all speed to get up the hill!!

I also was thinking of shorter cranks.

Glad im not the only one

nicklouse

Time your pedalling differently.

Shorter cranks will not help. Thinner pedals will Mae more of a difference in that example.

YeehaaMcgee

paul20v wrote:

In 25yrs of cycling ive never had this problem

There isn't any bike that this wouldn't happen on. I don't see how you've not had it happen before if you've been pedalling round bends for 25 years.

chez_m356

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

paul20v wrote:

In 25yrs of cycling ive never had this problem

There isn't any bike that this wouldn't happen on. I don't see how you've not had it happen before if you've been pedalling round bends for 25 years.

even worse, its on the road, which are usually fairly smooth, so you don't even have the excuse of rocks and roots etc

paul20v

chez_m356 wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

paul20v wrote:

In 25yrs of cycling ive never had this problem

There isn't any bike that this wouldn't happen on. I don't see how you've not had it happen before if you've been pedalling round bends for 25 years.

even worse, its on the road, which are usually fairly smooth, so you don't even have the excuse of rocks and roots etc

Hi
I really dont understand why this scenario is so unbelievable for people
When your going round bends fast you have to lean a bike over it just what happens naturally And if theres any sort of speed wanted you have to pedal so it doesnt matter how smooth it is if you want to crack on the bike will lean
It just happens the bike has a low BB height And i was wondering about shorter cranks
I also dont get how i can time my pedalling when there could be a number of revolutions of the pedals in some corners
Im not looking for an argument im just lost as too some of the answers
I understand when on a down hill on or off road flat crank position or pedal up on the inside of a bend when pedalling is not needed thats obvious
but not every corner is down hill or banked
I have changed the pedals to slighty shorter ones with more cut off side but it still caught a bit the other day hence my original post
Guess i will just have to ride round a bit slower on this bike
Thanks anyway

nicklouse

paul20v wrote:

chez_m356 wrote:

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

paul20v wrote:

In 25yrs of cycling ive never had this problem

There isn't any bike that this wouldn't happen on. I don't see how you've not had it happen before if you've been pedalling round bends for 25 years.

even worse, its on the road, which are usually fairly smooth, so you don't even have the excuse of rocks and roots etc

Hi
I really dont understand why this scenario is so unbelievable for people
When your going round bends fast you have to lean a bike over it just what happens naturally And if theres any sort of speed wanted you have to pedal so it doesnt matter how smooth it is if you want to crack on the bike will lean
It just happens the bike has a low BB height And i was wondering about shorter cranks
I also dont get how i can time my pedalling when there could be a number of revolutions of the pedals in some corners
Im not looking for an argument im just lost as too some of the answers
I understand when on a down hill on or off road flat crank position or pedal up on the inside of a bend when pedalling is not needed thats obvious
but not every corner is down hill or banked
I have changed the pedals to slighty shorter ones with more cut off side but it still caught a bit the other day hence my original post
Guess i will just have to ride round a bit slower on this bike
Thanks anyway

Road bike have a lower BB than most MTBs and they don't run shorter cranks to reduce catching pedals.

On a fixed some use 165 mm cranks but that also reduces the power you can apply.
And 10mm is very little when taken into consideration. IE change of angle of bike and pedal clearance.

The biggest change will com from how you ride.

Saying that I run 175mm cranks n th fixed. Only caught the pedals once and not badly.

YeehaaMcgee

paul20v wrote:

I really dont understand why this scenario is so unbelievable for people

I know the pedal will strike the ground when you try to pedal round a bend whilst leaning. I'm not disputing that, at all.
What I am confused by is how you've apparently managed to ride a bike for 25 years without realising this before.

stubs

Maybe try watching some cross country races to see how the pros get round corners fast. Loads on youtube and there might be a race on near you where you could go and chat to some of the racers.

I did have a bike with a low BB a Commencal and I did spend the first couple of months bashing the pedals but without really deliberately doing anything I altered my technique and the problem virtually went away.

I think the main thing I did was to try and carry more speed into a corner briefly lean bike over hard then get it upright quickly and get back on the pedals. Without seeing myself doing it I cant be sure.

YeehaaMcgee

stubs wrote:

Maybe try watching some cross country races to see how the pros get round corners fast.

Or even road racing. There has to be plenty of footage of the tour de france, for example. And their BBs are way, way lower than any mountain bike.

bails87

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

stubs wrote:

Maybe try watching some cross country races to see how the pros get round corners fast.

Or even road racing. There has to be plenty of footage of the tour de france, for example. And their BBs are way, way lower than any mountain bike.

Yep, I've ridden both road and CX bikes on the road, as said above you have the advantage of knowing exactly where the ground is (No roots, rocks, bumps etc). You just have to learn how far you can lean while pedalling, and then not quite lean that much. Or lean further but stop pedalling.

paul20v

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

paul20v wrote:

I really dont understand why this scenario is so unbelievable for people

I know the pedal will strike the ground when you try to pedal round a bend whilst leaning. I'm not disputing that, at all.
What I am confused by is how you've apparently managed to ride a bike for 25 years without realising this before.

I mainly ride offroad , my FS bike has 60mm more bb clearence than my hard tail ive ridden the FS on the road loads and never caught the pedals in fast pedalling bends on the road
Of course i realise this happens and of course i have belted a pedal or too in the past but on this latest bike i have hit it twice in a weeks worth of ridding
Im obviously trying not to ride so fast in these corners but they are 2 fast bends on a slight up hill that i commute on that i do as fast as i can and ive caught them twice
Obviously i ride off road different as it a different thing all together and going into bends fast is usually down hill or into berms Where you can level the pedals or switch them high to low depending where or what your riding this isnt a problem
Its just tarmac riding on these particular bends damn the black stuff
Any how i wont go on about it
Thanks for the suggestions all i will have a look at some vids of road guys see if i can see anything different i can do on the black stuff
Paul