Originally Posted by
The B
Howdy
I've got stubby little legs with a 31" inseam. I'm pretty borderline for 170 or 172.5, have been using a 172.5, and I've recently been wondering if I couldn't improve cadence and efficiency by dropping to a 170mm crank. Then, on a long bomb down mountain roads last night, it also occurred to me that this would have the side (and even more pronounced/beneficial) effect of giving me another 2.5mm of saddle height and thigh clearance to get tilted even farther forward more comfortably...
Sound reasoning, no? Any reason I shouldn't expect to be able to flatten out a little better after shortening my stroke diameter a full 5mm??
Thanks
-B
My inseam is 81.5 cm, about 32, and I just switched back from 172.5 to 170. Feels like home, and I can spin well, again.
I think a flat back is based on good stretch-out, strong core, and body balanced over the BB, with the saddle height not too high. With all that, you can find the comfortable bar height. But if it doesn't feel natural it's not likely to be right.