Originally Posted by
PedallingATX
i donno, the change in teeth might be counteracted by the shorter crankarms. It might end up being no difference, I'm not sure. Use a gear inch calculator to get a specific answer. you can google it.
Crank arm length has no effect on gearing, only on the radius of your pedaling arc and the perceived effort of pedaling. In that sense you're right, the 160mm cranks will give him a little less leverage but the slightly lowered ratio will make pedaling easier, so it might even out in terms of perceived pedaling effort.