170 or 175mm?

[djb]

soo, what isthe common wisdom these days, are people moving (or moved) to 170mm crank arms for shore / whsitler riding? Does anyone use 175mm cranks these days?

I have found myself with two new sets of saint cranks 170 and 175. I have 170 now and think the 170s will go on my bike, but will I have any difficulty selling the 175mm ones locally?

p.s. pm if you want them $325 NIB.

[Hack On Wheels]

If you are tall (also depends on preferneces, and I think, more specifically, your inseam) 175 can be a great option, a bit more "roomy" and nice leverage and all. The drawback is reduced clearance while pedalling, so many people including dh racers use 170 and even 165 just so they can pedal more through rough sections.

[djb]

thanks, I am new to the shore and was wondering how much clearance typically plays an issue and therefore how frequently people at opting for 170 over 175.

I am 6' and do notice the more compact nature of the 170 but wonder if the 175 may cause me issues on my medium bullit on the shore.

thanks!

[Hack On Wheels]

I am about 6 feet also and I have had no problems really with 175 but I also don't worry too much about how fast I am going so I usually only pedal when necessary. Clearance can be important on the shore but it's only 5mm difference and you wont be pedalling over large roll-downs and obstacles, but then again 5mm longer cranks wont change the feel of the bike too much anyways, so if you want the most clearance you can get and you like it compact and dont feel cramped at all by it, then 170mm is great.

[HIBuLlitT]

I've run 175 on my med billit(s) for a few years now. The BB height
of the bullit is pretty high (at least compared to my demo). Never
hit my pedals w/ bullit, hitting all the time w/ the demo (It's on the
high bb set up). It's very rooty and rocky here with lots of room to
hit your pedals.

I've considered running 170 on my demo but I worry about the lack
of leverage. There's a lot of places you need to put the hammer
down after a turn to get speed for a jump.

If you go to the 170 let us know your thoughts (if lack of leverage is
an issue etc)

[djb]

perfect thanks!

[PegCityThrasher]

It's seriously half a centimeter. Run either and you won't notice the difference,

[HIBuLlitT]

You say run either and you won't know the diff, is that
in all aspects or just no lack of leverage but you won't hit
as much?

[Hack On Wheels]

Well, you won't necessarily think to yourself, "Wow these 175mm cranks have great leverage", but you will notice a difference in feel and there will be a slight difference in leverage.

[Futurelooks Guy]

If you have to climb with your bike a lot, get the 175's for the extra leverage. If you are a shuttle whore, get the 170's ;)

There is a reason why some riders in the TDF use cranks that are longer than 180.

[C.C.]

I'm running 165 cranks. I can tell the difference between riding 165's and 175's. It feels like it's easier to spin the cranks.

However, I used to run 170's and didn't really notice much difference when compared to the 175's. It could be because I don't really crank consistent long distance rides. Usually start/stop or chairlift style riding.

I like having shorter cranks though for foot/tire clearance and ground clearance. The bottom bracket height on both my bikes is about 12.7"

[myster chron]

haha... wanna hear sumthing funny. i had a pair of 170 mm saints. bent the non drive side and my shop replaced them on the spot... took me a few weeeks to realize but the one they replaced it with is 175mm, cant notice fuck all as the diffrence. just run em to the ground, keep the otherones handy as spare arms/ bearrings and b happy.

[Bryce]

If you have to climb with your bike a lot, get the 175's for the extra leverage. If you are a shuttle whore, get the 170's ;)

^^^ werd. Its a small difference either way but you might as well use what suits your riding style the best

[schoenrock]

depends on your bb height as well. on my vpfree i run 175's and on my demo9 i use the 170's. leverage ratio is also a deciding factor but comfort is the major decision maker.

[baloom]

geez, i peel the pins off my pedals on my VPFree as it is when I'm riding the shore....I can't imagine what they would look like with 175's.

I have always used 175's on my road and xc bikes. You do have greater leverage for climbing but there are trade-offs when you want to spin high cadence due to the longer lever arm (it takes more effort to maintain a high cadence). Thus if you are a masher like me, long arms are good because you can use leverage to your advantage. If you like to spin and stay aerobic, use the shorter arms and forego the leverage advantage.

[Jon-boy]

I have 175's on my hardtail and 170's on my fully as that's what came fitted. I can't tell the difference to be honest and I think the Bullit has a high enough BB for it to be a non issue, I ran 175's on my Bullit when I had one and coped just fine.