This might be the dumbest thing I've ever read on here.
Can I run 170mm Cranks on a new geometry Demo 8?
- Thread starter TomBigmac
- Start date
Didn't know you only smash your pedals in rockgardens. Weird.
Maybe I'm the dumb one for assuming the kid pedals his bike. 
no no no... no blanket statement that people dont know, just that I see people in DH think that 5mm is enough to justify a shorter crank.... thats crap. there are alot of otehr reason to get different crank lengths that make alot more sense than beliving that it will keep you from hitting rocks. 5mm is nothing for clearance, but everything on the fit of a bike.I'll bet you 50 bucks that person is a retard
I would have liked to have been a part of that experiment though
I agree with all your points. The only thing I disagree with is a blanket statement that NO ONE knows what they're talking about with regards to crank length because you know a FEW PEOPLE who have proven they don't.
Know what I mean?
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So when in your opinion does the difference in change start to matter? 10mm? 15?
I reckon about 165mm. One time I spontaneously shortened one crank arm by 165mm mid-run and found it much harder to pedal. It had the added disadvantage that I kept clipping rocks with my helmet.
thats funny, in some of the rock gardens i ride if you just plow through with your pedals and cranks flat you will smash rocks. you i guess you HAVE to pedal through those rack gardens. but they aren't as gnarly as the back east ones i guess.
Completely agreed.
Do any of you people actually ride and pedal your bikes?
If you can't notice 5mm of difference, or realize that cranks point up and down much of the time (wtf? twice every full revolution in fact), you probably shouldn't be arguing about something like crank length making a difference.
If you can't notice 5mm of difference, or realize that cranks point up and down much of the time (wtf? twice every full revolution in fact), you probably shouldn't be arguing about something like crank length making a difference.
Yea but 5mm to you is like 50mm to the rest of us
I do ride my bike, and I pedal the **** out of it. 5mm for clearance is truly nothing.... What if you are leaning a little more to one side, or for or aft and your bike sags a little more.... isnt it conceivable that you can sit 5mm more into your travel anyways> Doesnt that cancel out 5mm of clearance>
Look the bike is low, you have to get used to when and were to pedal, 170, 165, dropping a good chunk of bb height your going to be smashing pedals and cranks for a bit.
of course it doesn't cancel it out. any amount of extra pedal clearance even a sightly thinner pedal will make a difference to how far you are able to lean the bike over and a shorter crank may just make the differrence between smashing a pedal and scuffing it in situations where a low bike is deep in it's travel.
why don't you get this basic concept?
Theory and reality. I get the concept, its a great theory that itll make a noticable difference in clearance. In reality its five friggin mm we are talking about.
of course it doesn't cancel it out. any amount of extra pedal clearance even a sightly thinner pedal will make a difference to how far you are able to lean the bike over and a shorter crank may just make the differrence between smashing a pedal and scuffing it in situations where a low bike is deep in it's travel.
why don't you get this basic concept?
Change the way the bike rides for rider leg position... 5mm can be huge, but for general gaining of clearance... its nothing.
Here is the concept I see people not getting about it.... People are buying bikes that are drastically lower at teh BB than the bikes they are on. one inch, two inch, sometimes three, to put into better perspective, two inchs is about 49MM. I dont care what cranks they have at that point, anyone swapping bikes like that is going to smash the pedals.
More reality here. This thread was soley asking about cranks. Yet pedals were also brought up..... Ok I will give that combine cranks, and pedals, and you may gain some noticable pedal clearance...... but here is the part that everyone seems to always forget about cranks.......... Crank length does not include to the very tip of the cranks, it is measured from the center of spindle to center of pedal insert....... So hey maybe some 165's may have a reality of more than a 5mm difference in overall length, and actually shorten up thet portion more than 5mm, again the rality is that 165's are generally buily super tough, and probably gaining even less than 5mm of actual clearance.
That would actually be a great thing to compare. Total overall lengths for the differente cranks out there for 170's and 165's. Then we will know what the true clearance gains are, to my knowledge, NONE of US have done this, and all just assume they are automatically overall shorter.
What I notice when changing crank length on a bike, road or mtn or DH, I notice the changes in how the bike feels and handles while acheiving the fit needed. What I dont notice... a difference in pedal strikes.
Only time I hit my pedals anymore is when I am riding sloppy and tired and not paying attention.