Hi, I'm now about 178cm (lost a few cm in my spine) but I still have legs more proportioned to someone lots taller. I run 175mm on everything I own. Trainer, road, gravel, cross and mtb. I did try 180's on the mtb but damn the pedal strikes were brutal so that idea got punted. I had Andrew Pruitt do a bike fit on me years ago (with 175s)…
Hi, I'm now about 178cm (lost a few cm in my spine) but I still have legs more proportioned to someone lots taller. I run 175mm on everything I own. Trainer, road, gravel, cross and mtb. I did try 180's on the mtb but damn the pedal strikes were brutal so that idea got punted. I had Andrew Pruitt do a bike fit on me years ago (with 175s) and he only raised my saddle about 5mm. This was the original infrared/stick figure system circa 2001. I run a road saddle height of 79.5cm centre BB to top saddle along the seat tube axis. -1cm on mtb and cross. Hips stay level with no side to side seesawing. I'm pretty comfortable spinning on the road 85-95 rpm. What most intrigued me about your article was the effect shorter cranks would/could have on tight hips. Mine are tight. Along with having an anterior rotation make road riding a numbing affair. Who's that dufus standing in the paceline? Moi but not for long. The wife has 165 & 170mm cranks I could swap in the test.
For your hips, pay attention to lateral movements vs vertical (the former is often overlooked) as that is related to tight hips / hip flexors... And while not scientifically proven, I have observed some saddle related numbness issues related to that too (I'll write more about that in early spring).
I think that for your current saddle height 165's will be too short, but I would be curious to hear how you do with the 170's! Even 172.5 could be a meaningful enough change, even though it might not seem like much.
Hi, I'm now about 178cm (lost a few cm in my spine) but I still have legs more proportioned to someone lots taller. I run 175mm on everything I own. Trainer, road, gravel, cross and mtb. I did try 180's on the mtb but damn the pedal strikes were brutal so that idea got punted. I had Andrew Pruitt do a bike fit on me years ago (with 175s) and he only raised my saddle about 5mm. This was the original infrared/stick figure system circa 2001. I run a road saddle height of 79.5cm centre BB to top saddle along the seat tube axis. -1cm on mtb and cross. Hips stay level with no side to side seesawing. I'm pretty comfortable spinning on the road 85-95 rpm. What most intrigued me about your article was the effect shorter cranks would/could have on tight hips. Mine are tight. Along with having an anterior rotation make road riding a numbing affair. Who's that dufus standing in the paceline? Moi but not for long. The wife has 165 & 170mm cranks I could swap in the test.
Hi Ian, thanks for reading and for the comment!
For your hips, pay attention to lateral movements vs vertical (the former is often overlooked) as that is related to tight hips / hip flexors... And while not scientifically proven, I have observed some saddle related numbness issues related to that too (I'll write more about that in early spring).
I think that for your current saddle height 165's will be too short, but I would be curious to hear how you do with the 170's! Even 172.5 could be a meaningful enough change, even though it might not seem like much.