Originally Posted by
osephjey
This is my "country bike". A 1988 Raleigh Technium "The Chill". Fat franks, Freddy Hardcore's, an inverted riser bar. Not exactly Rivendell, but it rides purty nice. Soon to have a spankin new UN-73. Then I'll get those 165mm cranks I've been scouring ebay for.
Anyone know why older MTB's seem to have been universally equipped with 175mm cranks? It's like they thought no matter the frame size a tall person would be riding it.
The higher bottom bracket clearances on older mountain bikes and the theory that a longer crank arm would give you more leverage
when climbing is why so many older bikes came with 175mm cranks. In the early days the hot thing was to use 180's, if you could get
your hands on them.
I have to look, but I might just have a set of Deore XT Compact Drive cranks (M737, 58/94 BCD 5 arm) in 165mm if you're interested...
Alan
