longer cranks are for longer legs, you will have to make a few measurements on your legs to determine what your ideal crank length is. Wish i could tell you what measurements, but I really don't know.

If I understood it correctly, that other post said it was 18% of the distance from the top of your femur to the ground. That's not what it said specifically, but when I simply measured my inseam and took 18%, I only got like 155mm - and I'm currently using 170mm just fine. Plus, I'm 6' tall, so I could concievably be "qualified" for the 180mm. So I recalculated from the top of my femur, and was indeed within the 180 range.

My main question is whether that extra 5 or 10 millimeters makes much of a difference in pedaling?

Found it! At http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm it says:

"One writer in a major magazine article quite a few years ago claimed that after considerable testing with many different riders, 18.5% of the distance from the top of the femur to the floor in bare feet should be the crank length. You can find the top of the femur pretty easily. It's 5" to 6" below your hip bone, and moves rearward when you raise your knee."

Hi,
there are several formulas. This one worked for me. Measure your thigh bone. Mine is about 16.5". The length of your thing bone -in inches- is the length of your crank -in centimeters. So my cranks are 165. I put a 165 crank on my commuter this spring, and then the next day ordered a 165 for my good bike. Love 'em.

One of our newer members asked me how tall I am... I used to be six foot tall; I've shrunk a bit. I'm now 5' 11". According to the femur-to-the-floor measurement, I should be using a 172mm crank. I have a 170, and want to at least try the 180.

Here's a question... I've been absorbing my bicycling catalogs, and finding mention of Ritchey components. What do y'all think of them?

i have some ritchey parts on my mountain bike...pretty good, but if I could get easton for close to the same cash, I would go easton.


edit: to elaborate....the ritchey seatpost i have has all kinds of problems with not wanting to stay put...so I had to get creative to make it stay. The handlebar stem on the other hand is awesome, light, strong, and cheap (well, relatively cheap).

So Ritchey is inconsistent? Or are you saying that overall they're *okay* but not among the better parts?

Easton... another name to investigate!

ritchey makes decent parts, but when they do have a dud product, its a really annoying dud.

Once I get some cash, that post is being replaced, possibly with a truvativ post.