[Blueadder]

I seem to hit my pedals on the ground often when taking a turn. I know you really shouldn't be pedaling while turning, but sometimes I'm trying to get enough speed through a turn, I jack myself by clipping my pedal on the ground.

Are there disadvantages to getting shorter arms?

 

[Skookum]

Do they even make shorter crank arms? hmm, y'know i have a Specialized Enduro and the bb height is pretty low especially when i'm in my suspension. I have a link i can flip to make the heighth even lower, i have NO idea why anyone would want to do that.... But anyways back to your question, i'd be interested to find out if they do make short arms and wonder if it would really make THAT much a difference.... i'm thinking it wouldn't and should just accept your bikes flaw and keep the problem in mind when choosing your next bike....

 

[Silver]

Yep, they do make shorter crank arms.

Less power per stroke, easier to spin though.

What length are your current ones?

 

[Blueadder]

Crankset: Sr Xcc150 42/34/24

 

[Skookum]

Yep, they do make shorter crank arms.

Less power per stroke, easier to spin though.

What length are your current ones?

hmm so if you got shorter crank arms, maybe switching to larger gears in your cassette would be something you would wanna do to compensate for power loss?......

 

[Blueadder]

That's what if figured, Skookum.

 

[Skookum]

That's what if figured, Skookum.

well if you do it report back and tell us if it was worth the time and expense.

 

[MikeD]

Shorter crankarms aren't your answer...better turning technique is.

Your standard cranks are 175mm. Short people and freeriders/DHers use 170mm sometimes, and lots of dhers use 165mmif they're riding 8" travel bikes with already-low BB heights.


In any case, you should learn to carry speed through the turns while not pedalling, and keeping your cranks level in the turn instead of dropping the outside pedal. This means braking less and learning to trust your tires...which is hard, especially if you've got crappy stock tires on a beginner bike.

MD

 

[MikeD]

hmm so if you got shorter crank arms, maybe switching to larger gears in your cassette would be something you would wanna do to compensate for power loss?......

It's not like you can get smaller than an 11t cog in the top gear, so there's really no way to truly compensate except spinning faster. If your 32t low-gear cog is now even a little shorter of a gear, it's no huge matter; you'll just end up riding the smaller cogs a bit more often than you would with the longer cranks.

MD

 

[Skookum]

It's not like you can get smaller than an 11t cog in the top gear, so there's really no way to truly compensate except spinning faster. If your 32t low-gear cog is now even a little shorter of a gear, it's no huge matter; you'll just end up riding the smaller cogs a bit more often than you would with the longer cranks.

MD

I can sense the pulses of your mighty brain all the way up here MikeD!
Yah i kinda figured it's alot of hassle to go thru for not much benefit.

 

[Bldr_DH]

Shorter crankarms aren't your answer...better turning technique is.

In any case, you should learn to carry speed through the turns while not pedalling, and keeping your cranks level in the turn instead of dropping the outside pedal. This means braking less and learning to trust your tires...which is hard, especially if you've got crappy stock tires on a beginner bike.

MD

Just to add on: something Gene Hamilton constantly says is "lean the bike, not the body". Try to get about 80 percent of your weight on the outside pedal, and try not to steer with your bars, let the leaning do turn. If you have to turn more, by countersteering, it'll lean your bike even more and make a sharper turn. This is all DH oriented, but my guess it'll work in just about any case. Hope this helped.

 

[Blueadder]

thanks guys

I just need to keep practicing. I've only been riding for about 5 months now so....

 

[w00dy]

Shorter crank arms are easier to spin and give you less power per stroke as mentioned before, however this will mean you'll want to run lower gears, not higher ones. You won't be able to push a higher gear with shorter arms. Turning lower gears faster will be easier though. It sounds like you've already figured out what to fix but I thought I'd bring this to light.

 

[Kornphlake]

I switched from 175 to 170 when I built up my last bike and couldn't notice any differance, it was a completely new bike though... I do wish that I had more powerful quads so I could pedal through some of the stuff that stops me dead.