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Not sure about for bike fitters. Do mtb'ers get bike fits? If for roadies then the crank is missing all the 2.5mm increments.
Bike shops renting them out makes sense, it's a specialist tool like those laser handlebar alignment things. Very niche!
(Sorry, I mean nitch
)
Appleman put those out for regular riders to test out a range of lengths and see what feels best for them, as they make cranks all the way from 175mm down to 100mm. Admittedly, after making and trying some 152.5s over winter I'm intrigued.
was it the LAL Nucleon or the standard? part of me is hoping they put out a 130-140 trail bike with a LAL drive, I'd be super tempted by it.
Lots of people I know get bike fits, my supervisors wife is a physio that mainly works on mountainbike fitting. Im guessing it’s probably not as crucial as a roady that’s purely sitting and pedalling the whole time, but she made a difference to my knees on the long grinds
It was the Lal version.
https://www.nicolai-bicycles.com/enduro-racing-team/?fbclid=PAAaZFSTYPI…
I was curious why the Appleman fit cranks jump from 175 down to 165 and don't feature 172.5's and 170's, and the answer to that riddle is because Appleman doesn't make 172.5's or 170's. The fit cranks are for customers to try a crank length before they buy the super expensive Appleman cranks, so the test sizes are only the sizes Appleman makes. Makes sense, but kinda wild they don't make the most popular sizes. Niche, indeed, but still a really cool product. I just went down to 170's on my road bike and they're great. Weirdly, I'm still preferring 175's on my mountain bike, but the body position and hip angle on the road bike is so much more hunched over and tight that the shorter cranks feel great.
Why the 175s on the MTB?
Great question! I'm a pretty low cadence guy, and I like the longer crank arm for peak-effort kinda moments, like technical climbing or sprinting to clear a jump or in a race, etc. Those are situations where I think torque is helpful, especially if you're not the sorta person who spins high RPMs. Longer cranks also feel nice for standing and descending, whereas I think 165's feel a little less stable because I'm tall and my feet feel too close together. 170's are fine for descending, and that's what I finally settled on for downhill bikes. Interestingly, none of those factors matter much on the road bike, so I've gone to shorter cranks and love it. Would even consider 165's because I've got some really tight hip flexors that make it hard for me to get low and out of the wind on the road bike. All personal preference, but I think most people would be better off with cranks that are too short as opposed to too long.
I put 150mm Miranda cranks on my e-mtb as they were dirt cheap and a bit of an experiment, I can definitely say, at 6'1 and quite long legs there is a thing as too short of a crank! it felt like I was riding my daughters BMX bike. Totally weird feeling.
However, I was able to pedal on some seriously rough terrain, there was one local track I have probably done 200+ laps on and was able to PR on the fact I could literally pedal where longer cranks would kill trying the same thing.
back on 165's and I think that's the sweet spot for me, and 160 for possibly shorter people. I definately see an advantage in them in Enduro racing, every pedal stroke counts.
I also enjoyed the shorter/closer feeling when cornering and jumping, felt a lot more like Moto where my background is.
I have Hope 155mm cranks on my DH bike and love them. Like Brash wrote, feels more like a moto bike with feet not so staggered. For DH and ebike, I don't see a reason not to use 155mm.
Pretty sure it’s the optimal robot rpm to torque equation
Fully agree! I put 160 mm cranks (shortest available) on my Levo SL and couldn’t believe the difference. The stance and squatting down on the bike feels much more natural. Less pedal strike is an added bonus.
Forgot to post this photo of the new caliper as well. Potentially a six pot caliper.
Went for a set of Canfield 155s on my Trance X. It sits considerably lower than the SB6 it replaced, and I was banging pedals and near broke a toe on the stock 170s. Liked it so much I ordered another set for the hardtail and dropped my road bike to 165s. I tend to be a spinner, spinner, chicken dinner pedaler from years of riding track bikes. The clearance was immediate of course, but what I didn't anticipate was feeling more stable in the air. I found the centered stance easier to control and load the pedals facing off trannies/lips. Also made the punchy climbs we have here in Wisco a lot easier to get up n over since spinning a gear made traction rather easy to maintain. Singlehandedly one of the best component decisions I've made.
Crank length rumors and innovations
Give me 69mm cranks, or give me death.
More crank-length discussions in 2 days than I've seen in my entire life. I run 175 on my Single Speed and 170 on all my other bikes, mostly because I haven't given it much thought. But now I'm crank-length curious based on some of your glowing reviews of shorter lengths.
I'm also 175mm on my SS but went to 165mm on my full-squish and pretty happy with it. Curious about how shorter would feel on my SS, anyone tried it?
Off topic folks
This kinda feels just slightly off topic, just. Its the new wheel size debate brought on by a new product (Appleman cranks), something that very little of us have explored at all (Innovation)
someone start a crank length forum topic and i'll homepage it. always good for future derailments : )
To keep things on and off topic at the same time. NSB finally released their new “Talon” crankset that we’ve been seeing around for the last year or so. 155-170mm lengths, because 175mm is too damn long! No holes, innovative manufacturing or other weird features, just look like a durable set of locally made cranks with some bling factor.
https://northshorebillet.ca/collections/drivetrain-components/products/trinity-crankset
How do you change pads on these?
From the bottom?
Bridging the on and off topics... You magnificent bastard.
Those NSB cranks look pretty sweet. They've always seemed like a solid company.
They are, I just got some of their new pedals and an Overlord stem and the quality is top notch!!
Use NSB brake adapters, overlord stem and recently got their new bb. All top notch product.
Sounds like the prototype specialized DH bike is gonna move to a more conventional construction soon and start selling an updated bike. Via Loïc bruni on Gypsy Tales
Either that or 420mm