Originally Posted by
itsajustme
...
But my question to you is when does it feel like higher gearing? That is, if you can even tell; I know that fatter tires change the gearing too, but I'd be hard pressed to say I can feel it and, as I conjectured above, I'd imagine the pure leverage ratio effect of crank length would only hold true under small variations.
I notice it the most when I'm on my Strida, starting from a stop. There are several reasons for this:
--it's a single speed, and the only single speed bike I ride; so I'm used to starting in lower gears.
--the crank arms are unusually short, even for me: 5" or 127 mm (I installed them; OEM was 170).
--the Strida's design makes it hard to press really hard on the crank arms anyway; I can't ride it while standing up.
It does not help that Strida's design makes it especially unstable at its slowest speeds. Having unusually poor leverage is especially evident when first pushing off from a stop, when just taking one foot off the ground.
Once I'm moving and reasonably stable, acceleration to normal speed is also somewhat compromised. I feel it in the knees. Once I'm really going, at or near top speed, the pain goes away.
Am I really faster now (with short cranks), than I was before (with normal ones)? I don't have any data, but my impression is: YES and NO. YES, because the super-short crank arms enhance my ability to
sustain a high cadence, but NO because they compromise my ability to
achieve that high cadence.
On my other bikes, where I have an adequate range of gears to chose from, this issue does not come up.