Originally Posted by
bicyclridr4life
Why do you want the shorter cranks?
Possibly because he's been listening to me, not that that necessarily makes it a good idea.
Originally Posted by
bicyclridr4life
Just have to pedal faster to go same speed.
I don't think that's right. The pedals on my bike, with 14 cm crank arms, travel 88 cm per revolution. The pedals on yours, with 17.5 cm arms, travel 110 cm per revolution. That means to complete one revolution, your feet have to go 25% faster than mine do. This means if the rest of the drive train is the same, and our feet move at the same speed, I will go faster than you. If we are going the same speed, I will be moving my feet around smaller circles, and therefore slower.
Originally Posted by
bicyclridr4life
I have 175's on all my bikes, including my 16 inch single speed folder, and have no problems with them being "too long".
Hey, if that's what you like, I'm cool with that; but I would politely suggest you not be too sure of yourself unless you've actually tried short ones. I used to experiment with 175's, 172.5's, 170's, and I found they were all pretty much the same. Now that I have 140's on one of my bikes, I understand why the 175's, 172.5's, 170's, and even 165's, all felt the same to me. They feel the same because they fit the same: too big. But maybe that's just me.
My inseam (pants size) is 32.