Road Cycling - Here's a list of pro crank lengths for you tekkies!

Stolen from another cycling website, FWIW:
Originally Posted by smurfbike
This may help in your decision ... Brad McGee now uses 175mm on both road and track after using 170's on the track, in earlier years.


Jacques Anquetil 175mm
Lance Armstrong 175mm
Magnus Backstedt 177.5mm
Chris Boardman 170mm
Santiago Botero 172.5mm
Angel Casero 175mm
Mario Cipollini 172.5mm
Fausto Coppi 171mm
Malcolm Elliott 172.5mm
Tyler Hamilton 172.5mm
Bernard Hinault 172.5mm
Miguel Indurian 180mm (190mm for second Hour record!)
Laurent Jalabert 172.5mm
Greg Lemond 175mm
Brad McGee 175mm
Robbie McEwen 175mm
Eddy Merckx 175mm
David Millar 175mm (180mm in TT)
Francesco Moser 175mm
Marty Northstein 167.5mm in Keirin (170mm in kilo)
Graham Obree 175mm
Marco Pantani 170mm (180mm in mountains)
David Rebellin 172.5mm
Roger Riviere 175mm
Jean Robic 170mm
Tony Rominger 172.5mm (175mm for Hour record)
Oscar Sevilla 175mm
Jan Ullrich 177.5mm
Rik Verbrugghe 175mm
Erik Zabel 172.5mm
Alex Zulle 175mm (180mm in mountains)

Still not a lot of differences compare to the variety of length of their legs.

This reminds me of a story I heard long ago(I think it was when the new Staple center was being built). Someone thought of make sitting more comfortable for the basketball players in the locker room, so they made a taller bench. The players didn't like it, even though they have to bend deep to tie their shoe strings and such but they are so used to their habit of adjusting to the normal bench height that when they tried taller bench, they felt so uncomfortable. So the idea of taller bench was dropped.

Maybe, just maybe they got so used to the size available that they feel uncomfortable with anything beyond that?

Can't believe Boardman used 170mm cranks.

Can't believe Boardman used 170mm cranks.



It's a weird list....qualifies some events, but not others.

Were there 170s on Boardman's road bike? Road TT bike? Hour record bike? 1992 Lotus track bike?

Can't believe Boardman used 170mm cranks.

I was thinking the same thing. Those TT specialists usually use huge "Ron Jeremy" cranks . :D

Maybe Boardman is short? Any idea how tall he is? :)

how tall is cipo, thought he'd be riding 175's at least

I see that Jan is trying to strike a happy medium. ;)

idunno, boardman was a spinner. he averaged what, like 120 rpm on his hour record? 170mm doesnt seem so weird at that kind of speed.

what gets me is pantani using 180's. he was only like 5'4 (maybe less?) thats a crazy inseam-crank ratio.

what gets me is pantani using 180's. he was only like 5'4 (maybe less?) thats a crazy inseam-crank ratio.

That's what I was thinking. Apparently, the extra leverage helped him on the big bumps!

I see that Jan is trying to strike a happy medium. ;)

Not listed: Clydesdale Magnus Backstedt using 177.5's too. :)

I was thinking the same thing. Those TT specialists usually use huge "Ron Jeremy" cranks . :D

Maybe Boardman is short? Any idea how tall he is? :)


1.75m, 68kg.

Lots of pros who are my height are using 175. Hmmmm...

I'm using 172.5 btw.

how tall is cipo, thought he'd be riding 175's at least


189cm, 76kg.

Not listed: Clydesdale Magnus Backstedt using 177.5's too. :)

I'm more of a Jan/Backstedt-type than a Lance-type spinner. Using 175's now, but 177.5 is intriguing...maybe on my next crankset. ;)

according to this, Boardman used 170s on all his hour records

http://www.bikecult.com/bikecultbook/sports_recordsHour.html

Rominger 172.5
Moser 175
Merckx 175
Obree 175

And, according to this site, despite only having an 86cm inseam (33.85"), Marc Madiot used 180s all the time
http://www.bsn.com/Cycling/cranks.html

Is Backstedt mainly a sprinter, or mainly a big grinder?

If so, despite his height, it's unusual for a sprinter to use 177.5s

And, according to this site, despite only having an 86cm inseam (33.85"), Marc Madiot used 180s all the time
http://www.bsn.com/Cycling/cranks.html


Big fan of the 12 cog, Madiot. His win at Roubaix in 1991 was sublime.


The one that got away for Hendrik Redant.

....and, in case anyone missed my fascinating thread a couple of weeks ago about Lennard Zinn's excuse (which I don't really buy) why pros don't use huge cranks, here it is (the reason) :)

He talks about sponsor constraints, but Dura-Ace and alu Campag both come in 180s, yet no pro is using 180s, as far as we know

Q & A from Velo News


Dear Lennard,
You recently stated that Magnus Backstedt used 177.5mm cranks. As a 6-foot-5-inch tall rider I have been following your many articles over the years on crank length which appear to conclude that longer is better for tall riders. I'm surprised then that Magnus doesn't use at least 180mm cranks if not longer. Can you provide further insight into what the tall pros are currently using for crank length and why. Why don't we see more custom cranks in the range of 190-210mm for the Axel Merckx's and Magnus Backstedt's of the peloton?

Dear Nat,

I suspect it has less to do with testing and more to do with what is available from sponsors, what a rider has used in the past, and the inertia of tradition in the cycling industry and of professional racing managers, coaches and riders. The industry is devoted to selling product and making a profit, and offering a lot more crank lengths does not make economic sense, because the cost per crank goes up, and they would still sell very few lengths outside of the traditional 165-180mm range. Also, the old-school ideas of their directors sportif and coaches are hard to buck.

Not many riders approach their equipment with personal interest in the way that Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong have, and tall riders are definitely in the minority in the peloton. Miguel Indurain's career was over before I started going to the Tour, but he was reputed to have used custom 190mm Campy cranks.

http://www.velonews.com/tech/report/articles/6841.0.html

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=124769

That's why you'll never see me supporting companies that only make cranks in 3 sizes.

I'm considering going from DA 177.5's to 180's in the future.

Leverage baby, it's allll about the leverage.

I thought you still had 175s

You got any shoes with Shimano cleats?
If so, you can try my 180s one day if you want

Aussie,

I know Backstedt's won some sprints, but not sure about his general cadence. The longer the crankarms, the better the leverage - and spinning be damned!

I thought you still had 175s

You got any shoes with Shimano cleats?
If so, you can try my 180s one day if you want

you can try my 180s one day if you want

How tall are you and what's your inseam length, Aussie?

Do you get noticeable more power over 175mms? :)

The only number that stands out to me is Coppi's 171. Talk about custom, 170 just wasn't close enough. What surprised me is that Merckx didn't have some custom set-up.

What surprised me is that Merckx didn't have some custom set-up.

Betcha he didn't need custom cranks. He just pedaled and won.

I thought you still had 175s

You got any shoes with Shimano cleats?
If so, you can try my 180s one day if you want

Naw, I've only ever had DA177.5's on my roadies. All my mtb's have 180's so I'm more than familiar with the 'feel' or whatever.

oh, i see

Aussie, I know Backstedt's won some sprints, but not sure about his general cadence. hmmm, i see .........thanks

How tall are you and what's your inseam length, Aussie?
Do you get noticeable more power over 175mms? :) Again? Are you teasing me? :p

I'm only 6ft with longish legs: 89.5cm inseam (35.24")

If you become obsessed with, and you "look" too hard for the extra leverage on your fist ride with long cranks (like I did :)), your expectations may get out of whack, BUT, I have no doubt that an extra 5mm gives me more leverage (which is probably backed up by some of those pros using longer cranks on mountains and time trials), especially when riding off the saddle, where the slight restrictions of the longer cranks are obviously void.

I told this boring story a couple of weeks ago......

I once accidentally tricked myself into trying longer cranks without knowing it!! A fews years ago I was doing most of my riding on a crappy commuter bike with 170mm cranks. One sunny day, I dusted off my "good" bike which I hadn't ridden for about 2 years, and spun off to uni. When I got to the regular hills on my route, I couldn't work out why I was FLYING, and using slightly higher gears than normal up the climbs. I felt like Superman!! :D I then remembered that this bike had 175s on it!

1cm is still 10 mm right?
It is amazing that there is such variance and specific preference within a 10 mm range. When you look at 10 mm on the tape measure, it really can be splitting hairs for regular guys, those guys have scientists split the hairs for them.

yeah!! What about Coppi using 171mm!! Or is that a typo? :)

10mm doesn't look like much, but it translates to roughly double through the top section of the pedal stroke, relative to the knee position, once the saddle has been lowered to cater for the extra length. It's this effect on position which is most noticeable.

Also, I'm not exactly sure how 10mm effects rotational speeds, etc.

Well guys, I can tell you that I definitely noticed a performance difference in just 2.5mm. between 172.5 and 175 crankarms. I had a similar "accidental" experience with crankarm lengths as Aussie, where I was using what I thought were new 172.5 (when I had been using 175), and the difference in my overall speed and endurance was quite noticeable. When I looked at the new arms, I was surprised that they were 172.5, so I sent them back and got 175. Everything was "back to normal" when I installed the 175's.

How tall is David Millar? He looks to be at least 6'5" when he on the bike.

Jan looks like Lance when compared to David's training habits. Millar drinks and parties alot and I think he's banned for a couple of years for juicing. Too bad he's such a slacker because with those long-*****ed legs of his, he could be a TT terror! :rolleyes: :D

6'3"

http://www.itsmillartime.com/files/profile.htm

yeah!! What about Coppi using 171mm!! Or is that a typo? :)



I had a pair of Suginos 171mm cranks.

what are 5' 8.5" standard dimension males using?

I had a pair of Suginos 171mm cranks.well, there you go. I had no idea such a thing was available

what are 5' 8.5" standard dimension males using?

There are any number of formulas and brainy ideas concerning "correct" crankarm length. None of what I've seen works for everyone, so I would say that you just have to experiment with arm lengths and find what works best for you.

burp

I saw this list a couple of weeks back on the other website. I was kind of shocked at how few riders use what I thought to be the old "standard" (most common length), 170 mm. Just the opposite reaction to Boardman as some of you...

Personally, I like 170s. Though I had ridden and raced on 170s from Jr. high through college, I didn't know for sure that 170s were "ideal" for me until I got my mountain bike in the early 90's. I can definitely feel a difference with the 175s on my mountain bike and I don't like them and would change them out for 170s if I wasn't so thrifty/cheap/against waste/etc. I'm much smoother on 170s that I don't even have to try 172.5s.

For reference, I'm 5' 9.8", ~32.5" inseam

I seem to recall (because I'm the same height/weight) that Greg Lemond using 172.5s at least some of the time (if not most?) and experimented with longer cranks for time trials and hill climbs... There were articles about him and/or Hinault back in the 80s wanting to use longer cranks, but having knee problems with the longer cranks. (Hinault especially having knee problems.)

Yeah I remember Lemond using 172.5 he was famous for that. There's a huge difference between 165's and 170's for sure, my Awesome Schwinn Traveler (tm) had 165's on it then the bike my sponsor gave me had 170s, I had no "snap" to my legs until I got used to the 170s.

Merckx made a big show of being nonchalant (which is a good attitude to show in competition) but he was a major equipment nut, if the book Eddy Merckx by the Velo Press is any guide. Guy had something like 50 bikes at any one time and used to tinker on them obsessively. Great book, Amazon has it btw.

Merckx made a big show of being nonchalant (which is a good attitude to show in competition) but he was a major equipment nut, if the book Eddy Merckx by the Velo Press is any guide. Guy had something like 50 bikes at any one time and used to tinker on them obsessively.

It's my understanding that Eddy was also constantly trying to eradicate excessive friction from his bikes, especially with the bearings. He used to remove 1 bearing ball from each set so that the balls wouldn't rub against each other as much, in the hopes of lowering friction.

He used to remove 1 bearing ball from each set so that the balls wouldn't rub against each other as much, in the hopes of lowering friction.

That's an old trackkie trick.

Airlite hubs running in oil, one bearing taken out :)

TICK, TICK, TICK

I will share an expert opinion from none other than Sheldon Brown I e-mailed regarding crank length. Mr. Brown was gracious enough to respond to an average cyclist like myself. Zinn and all the other so called experts like to put people on long cranks and there is no evidence that they are faster or offer better endurance independent of rider size. I was intrigued by Mr. Brown's article on gain which in effect uses crank length as part of overall bicycle gearing if you visualize a crankset which defines a pedal circle as a large flywheel or gear...the other three gears combined to form aggregate gain being front and rear sprockets and tire diameter. Shorter cranks of course can easily be compensated by shorter gearing to achieve the same overall pedal speed or gain and power application by the rider. Try to accelerate in 53-13 from a stop on your 180mm cranks if you need further proof. ;-) ...then try in 39-21...same rider and same crank length.

Here is my abridged question I posed to Mr. Brown and his expert response:
Q:
My sense digesting your article about crank length is you are not quick to embrace in totality, proportional crank sizing for all, particularly in the context of your coined concept of "gain" ratio which allays some of the so called perceived advantage of increased lever arm length and leverage of longer cranks correlating to power and speed. Do you think I am giving up much overall speed and/or endurance on 172.5mm cranks versus 175mm cranks for aggressive cycling...say in A group rides etc?

Mr. Brown's response:
I don't believe that crank length, within the normal range, has any effect on speed or endurance.
I also don't believe that 2.5 mm is a significant size increment.

Q:
Is there therefore any downside then of going to shorter cranks?..if riding aggressively...be it to maximize average speed or endurance?

Ans:
Doesn't matter. The only negative effect I've noticed with any crank length is that long ones make my knees hurt.


These are prophetic words from the bicycle legend whom I consider to be the preeminent bicycle authority in the country. In summary, I believe if you look at crank lengths used by the best cyclists in the world as listed in the intro of this thread, crank lengths by and large are quite average relative to what the rest of the cycling community use which confirms what Mr. Brown wrote. BTW it has nothing to do with what is available...the converse in fact is true...what is available is the net result of one hundred years of bicycle design evolution. If the best cyclists in the world were faster on any particular crank length, they would be on them period. The small increments of crank lengths available within a very narrow ideal crank length range and also a stagnant crank length norm for the past 20 years further substantiate what Mr. Brown wrote.
George

what are 5' 8.5" standard dimension males using?

I'm 5' 8" with a 30" (76.2 cm) inseam. Using 175mm cranks. A higher ratio than any of those "other guys". :eek:

According to some of those crank length articles, I should be on a 160 mm crank; that being proportional to my height.

Unfortunately for the article, I don't know of any 160 mm cranks and FSA only has 170's for my crankset.

Contrary to what Sheldon Brown says, I've found that for myself, 175mm cranks work better than 172.5, (I'm 5' 11.5"/approx. 31.5" inseam). I've noticed a fairly big difference in my endurance and power over the same courses/distances when I've A/B'ed the 2 lengths on the same bike.

YMMV.

.................. Those TT specialists usually use huge "Ron Jeremy" cranks . :D

.........

LOL!!!!!! dude you're hardcore

Corsaire :D

Contrary to what Sheldon Brown says, I've found that for myself, 175mm cranks work better than 172.5, (I'm 5' 11.5"/approx. 31.5" inseam). I've noticed a fairly big difference in my endurance and power over the same courses/distances when I've A/B'ed the 2 lengths on the same bike.

YMMV.
Man you have short legs for your height..must be a sight to watch you spin those 175mm cranks.
You must be special ;)...especially since there are TDF racers on shorter cranks the same size as you.
Placebo.
George

For what's it's worth, I'm 5'11", 32" inseam, run a 172.5 crank, because that is what was ordered when I got fitted. Can you purchase crank arms alone, or do you have to purchase the whole crank assembly? I'd be curious to try 175, hard to believe that just 2.5mm woukd make such a difference.

For what's it's worth, I'm 5'11", 32" inseam, run a 172.5 crank, because that is what was ordered when I got fitted. Can you purchase crank arms alone, or do you have to purchase the whole crank assembly? I'd be curious to try 175, hard to believe that just 2.5mm woukd make such a difference.
Understand you may want to try 175's for a data point. I did and thought they were too long even with my long legs but you may like them. You can purchase crank arms and spider separately but typically no economy to do so...they tend to be a bit pricey if buying in pairs without chainrings. You may get lucky and find a set in your size compatible with your chain rings and BB for a good price...but generally you will end up paying almost as much without chainrings. Since chainrings are a wear item...find a crankset you want to try...perhaps a compact or double with different gearing...I went from triple to double for example and reduced crank arm length by 2.5mms...and like both changes. Then simply e-bay the crankset you currently have or the crankset you least prefer or give them to good riding friend as a gift. You can also test ride a bike at the LBS with longer cranks to get a glimse what it is like. I find the longer the cranks the more critical the saddle position is relative to the BB to get an acceptable relationship or compromise between knee position at top and bottom of stroke. I can feel the 2.5mm change and likely why cranks are offered in such fine increments but some experts including Mr. Brown maintain that 2.5mm is relatively insignificant and in the grand scheme I believe he is correct.
George