I am a 4’11” woman, and I love my new bike (Pivot Shadowcat) but I would like to try shorter cranks. It came with 175mm, even on the XS frame. It seems like out-of-the-box bikes aren’t always made for the extreme ends of the height spectrum. From what I’ve been reading it seems that shorter cranks might be more efficient for me given my height. My previous bike also had 175 cranks so it’s what I’m used to, but I am interested in making my bike better for me if I can, plus I have been pedal striking a lot lately.
I realize that making the change is the only way to really know how it will feel, but I’m torn on the length to get. I was thinking of going down to 165 or 155, so a 1 or 2 cm difference from where they are now. If any of you are short like me, or ride with someone who is (wives, children), I would love your input on which size to go with. I’m worried I won’t go short enough to feel a difference, but I’m also worried about going too short. Thanks for any advice!
Edit: I’m getting lots of good input and I’m lookin at 155s. People are saying they are expensive, so is this crankset I found for about $100 a bad idea?
https://www.sram.com/en/sram/models/fc-sx-1-a1
by BikesOrBeans
10 Comments
You will feel a difference. I personally have a bike with 170s and 175s and you do feel it.
I went to 165mm cranks as a 5’10” male with average leg length and love them. Won’t go back to longer cranks. I’d say that 155mm would be great for you but 165mm would probably work well too but given your stature. You’d probably have less knee and hip bother with 155mm. You’ll probably want to drop down a chainring size though.
I’d go 165mm as you’ll have quite a few options for cranks.
I used to run 175mm cranks but now run 165mm and the difference is noticeable; less pedal strikes, smaller pedal circle which my knees tend to appreciate….
175s are too long for me, and I’m 6 feet tall. I ride 160s, and like those. Demoed 155s, and they felt a little odd.
Check out a crank length calculator. I’d bet 145 or 150 would feel world”s better.
https://canfieldbikes.com/collections/cranks-chainrings/products/canfield-bikes-am-cranks-new-standard-offset?variant=44270137639204 goes down to 150mm if you want to try
https://www.applemanbicycles.com/shop/2xr-fit-crankset-rental/ is weird but you can try it out to see what length you like.
Just a FYI, some manufacturers use the same crank arms and just drill the holes in different locations for the length, so you might still struggle with pedal strikes.
I have 165s on all my bikes, and my hips really like it. It might make sense to go down a chainring size for leverage, but I didn’t feel the need to do so.
Have you seen the video from [GMBN](https://youtu.be/m2p1Cg_sf9k?feature=shared) about crank length? Go crazy. Get 145mm.
Once you go below 165 it will get expensive. Not sure what your inseam is but women tend to have a higher leg to torso ratio so 165 could work. As others have mentioned Canfield, 5dev make shorter cranks and if they fit your budget I’d definitely go for it. 160 or even 155 imo would be a great fit for you. Will take some pressure off your knees and back/core during hard long seated climbs.
I’m 5’4″ went to a fitter and his model suggested 155. To keep it simple/not make too drastic of a change, I went from 170 to 165. It was a small adjustment (felt a little weird for the first couple weeks) and I don’t know that’s it’s actually “better”, but I’m pretty happy with the bike overall (once I get some narrower handlebars 😉 )
It seems like people nearly a foot taller than me are running 165 and very happy.
I am 5’11 and went with 165 and would have gone even shorter if I could find them. Less pedal striks less hip angle at top of pedal stroke all benefits with minimal disadvantages
Dear God that is absurd that they put 175s on an xs shadowcat. I was annoyed that my S1 Status came with 170s.
I am 5’1″ and have swapped the cranks on both my current bikes for 165. I would like to run 155 but Canfield and 5Dev are basically the only brands that make cranks shorter than 165. Canfield has been out of stock every time I have been in the market and 5Dev are just too pricey for my blood right now.
There are quite a few options for 165s though. Sram makes an OEM 165 (I’m currently running an NX takeoff on my Status). I have a Raceface 165 (Shimano compatible) on my Element.
The most immediately noticeable difference is reduction of pedal strikes. As the bottom brackets keep getting lower, we have to make up for it with better skills in rocky/rooty terrain. The shorter cranks help. I have been running 165s on my mtbs since 2018 and I didn’t ride my bikes with the stock 170s much before I did the swap, so it’s hard to make a comparison specifically related to the ergonomics. But I don’t get any knee pain or fatigue and my pedal stroke feels smoother than on my trainer/road bike and fatbike, both have 175s.
There is a fair amount of research out there that indicates that 155 is the optimum length for most riders, especially gravity focused ones (not just short riders). I have a friend (also about 5’1″) who is on Canfield 150s and swears by them. I think us shorter riders will have no problem going as short as the 150s, 5Dev makes 135 and 145 and that I think would be a bit excessive.