I have a 50cm mercier kilo and I'm having two issues that I suspect I may be able to remedy with one fix.

first: mad toe overlap. I'm currently running the stock truative 165mm cranks and even though they are that short, the geometry of the frame just means no matter what I do, if i try to turn tight, I'm gonna hit the tire. this isnt really a big deal for me and I've been able to modify my riding to accomodate it well enough.

however, there is a second issue.
When I got the bike, I immediatly replaced the ugly-as-sin [and also not long enough for my reach] stock stem for some sleek nitto love.
when i switched stems I discovered that due to the smallness of the bike, the stem bottomed out in the headtube and still sits probably an inch too high for my taste.

Sooooo, I was thinking that if I got some even shorter cranks [is there anything in between 165 and 160?] I would have to raise my saddle and thus make my saddle-to-bars ratio a bit better as well as perhaps cut down on my toe overlap issues.

thoughts on this plan?
anything glaring that I overlooked?

thanks.

you can get bulletproof and other bmx cranks in like 155 and possibly even lower. of course you get less torque with shorter cranks

if your cranks are too mismatched (long or short) for your legs knee pain can develop.

sounds like your frame is the wrong size for you.. or the stem is the wrong drop.. or something.. these are weird problems to be thinking of fixing with new cranks.. you do realize the diff betweenn 160 and 165 is half a centimeter.. right?

this is the kind of thing I was worried about. my knees feel fine and I'd like to keep it that way.

yeah, I know. and really the only serious complaint I have with the bike is that I can't get my bars low enough. I think perhaps I should sucks it up about the toe overlap and find another stem with a deeper drop.


bah.

thanks.

[165] does not approve of this thead.

Hariss has some 160mm Suntour cranks, but I seriously doubt raising your saddle 5mm (less than a quarter inch) would solve your problem. A longer stem might help, or more likely a stem with a steeper drop angle, or bars with deeper drop. rotating your bars forward in the stem can both stretch out the reach, and lower the drop. I thought my stem was too long, or too low, but rotating the bars back a few degrees made a marked difference.