rich2007

Options are always good, but I think all of these comments are void without knowing how tall/ what inseame people have. Kinda like a 6'5" person commenting on how bad their 10 year old size small bike handles at speed vs a 5'2" rider complaining about how hard it is to get there xxl geoetron around a corner. Shorter cranks also raise your center of gravity, not alway a good thing… if you are always hitting your cranks on a climb it may not be the cranks fault, dynamic ride height/ suspension setup, how slack your "theoretical" seat tube angle is, how short are your chain stays? it could even be your riding, or cadence. Spinning a higher cadence 70rpms vs 90rpms means you have 40 more chances to hit your pedals every minute… also a wider Q factor and wider pedals play a part in that as well. Try new things, enjoy the woods, but don't always believe the hype. I tall and have long legs so Im bias towards longer cranks (6'2" 36" inseam), that's just me… I also pedal around a 39lb180 travel dual crown bike with a 61.5 head tube angle and a 1340 wheelbase and will gladly ride all day long.

Or just use a dual crown, and you don’t need to warranty your csu every six months.

Heavy renegade rows are another great one, all of the weight of a 1 arm push up plus what ever weight you are rowing directly through a pushing grip. Great for wrist stability and core stability.

@cxfahrer: I had an xl with a -1deg headset and 160 fork. I’m 195lbs geared up and ride harder than average. The murmur grip on wet and off camber roots was a amazing! Bike was flexy for sure on flow trails but didn’t seem slower, just different, BUT I could flex the rear end enough that the rotor started to hit the frame (200mm). The bike had a great climbing position, but really did require you to reach for the climb switch. Also even with an a air shock chucked full of spacers it would bottom out too often. I loved the simple design, look and ride feel most of the time, but in the end a G1 worked better for me, hard to tell if it was the frame flex, lack of travel, or lack of progressively. Honestly the starling was the second best bike I have ever ridden if in lump my g16 and g1 together.

Ok I’m tall with long legs so I’m bias, so take this with a grain of salt. Here are a couple of negatives I’ve found with shorter cranks. 1. You have to ride at a higher cadence. Let’s say you up you cadence 5 revaluations per minute, on a hour climb that’s 300 more pedal strokes you have to watch out for and have less torque if you need to stop pedaling and restart pedaling. If you need to take a partial pedal stroke I would argue that low end torque is more beneficial. This also adds up if you are sprinting down hill but to less of a extent, but with much higher consequences. Hitting a crank when climbing is annoying, clipping a crank in a dh race is another thing entirely. 2. You raise your center of gravity, by the length of your crank when seated and by a touch when standing. Seated is normally at slower speeds so less important but more stability when trying to clean a awkward climb isn’t a bad thing and a lower center of gravity going down is typically better. 3. Less stable and possibly harder to get lower when descending. If your feet are closer together you are less stable, your center of gravity is higher. A wider stance also makes it easier to get lower (I would think most people can get tower to the ground doing a split squat vs a regular squat). 4. I would think on a 160 travel bike dynamic ride height and mid stroke support play more of a role in pedal clearance then 5-10mm of crank length. Not to mention the higher your seat the more leverage you have on you suspension so you could theoretically cause more suspension bob especially if you bike has a stacker actual seatube angle. 5. If you need to gear down this could also effect how your bike pedals, this good go ether way but something to think about. Im not saying everyone should ride longer cranks but that there is more to it than just static pedal clearance. Mountain biking is a very dynamic and there are trade offs to both.

@mikelevy: Agreed! I was not talking about an app, more shim stack. Climb switches are band aids, and lockouts on forks only make sense on a hardtail, why would anyone want their front higher for climbing?