Originally Posted by Heathpack

Yes, it is very different from the sparrow. I feel like I am working much harder on the sparrow, not in a bad way, though. I feel it in my quads and glutes, its harder to move my legs around the pedal stroke, that could totally be the longer cranks. Everything feels a little more instantaneous on the sparrow, I guess quicker, not necessarily speed over ground but just the way it moves. I kind of dart around on it vs the magic bike which is smoother. If you have ever ridden horses, the movement of the magic bike is very much like a canter on a dressage horse, very precise and strong and graceful. Whereas the sparrow flits around like a, well, sparrow.

I definitely feel like my pedal stroke is smoother on the BMC, maybe that's the majority of what I'm feeling. I know with the longer cranks, my knee comes up just a little too high, its a ever-so-slightly harder for me to get my foot over the top. That's why I'm so interested to see what the fitter says, if he says to go with the shorter cranks. He said he would never talk me into anything, everything about the fit is my choice, whichever of the options felt best to me is what we'd go with. Then when I was unsure of the crank length difference, he said, ok since you can't decide, this is the one thing I will talk you into. The shorter ones are better for you, you will generate more power with less effort. I don't think this is necessarily the most tremendous difference quantitatively. But I am now wondering if it makes a huge qualitative difference for me, just making everything feel more "right".

Lol on the suggestion of skipping the fitting. It will be the highlight of my weekend.