Shorter Crank Arms on Levo / Kenevo?

Kiwi in Wales

Short cranks rule!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
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Jan 24, 2018
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Carmarthen, Wales
"Hm, i don't get it, but maybe i missunderstood something. If i pedal and my pedal will hit an oncoming root, i have to stop pedaling (or back pedal a bit). If i brake or not doesn't matter, that pedal will hit the root if i don't stop pedaling. Braking would just change my speed but the pedal rotation is still exactly the same. I don't have a clue how you move your pedals to a position you want while keeping (forward?) pressure on them, while braking, but not back-pedaling/ratcheting and all this on a steep technical uphill climb?"
Crank timing is about reading the trail in front of you and anticipating where your cranks will need to be in order to not strike whatever rock. root or rabbit that your mind says uh oh about. This as I mentioned is not exclusive to eMTB's and if you have ridden much dino MTB just think about what you do to avoid them using your conventional crank size. Back pedaling is out for this method as I mentioned because it will just shut down the PAS.

Best I can tell you is next time you ride your bike play around with the concept a bit as it can be felt even in a parking lot. Get going and apply the slightest pressure to the brake lever while slowing down your pedal stroke enough while still applying forward pressure to position them for a ghost obstacle, which shouldn't take a full revolution of the cranks. Release the brake and continue pedaling without pause. It is the slight resistance against the brake that keeps the pedal pressure constant enough to keep the PAS activated and although you might slow down a little the instant engagement gets you back up to speed quickly. For trial purposes it might help to actually over accentuate this and grab more brake while keeping pedaling against the resistance it provides.

If you have brake cutouts btw this won't work but not many bikes have them these days as torque assist systems are refined enough these days over the old cadence sensing ones that would stay activated for a bit after you stopped pedaling that they are not necessary.


Hi Mabman,
Completely understand where you are coming from regarding reading the trail and anticipating where your cranks will need to be. This is a skill that takes time and experience to learn which I have done over the number of years that I have been riding. Also what you say about applying the brakes for Trials type riding is spot on.


The key thing to remember is we are all different, our riding styles are different, our riding skills are different, the bikes we ride are different, even the Levo's we ride are set up and configured differently, the terrain we ride is different and the terrain we 'choose' to ride on and the 'speed' we ride on that terrain is different.

I moved to shorter cranks on my full suspension ebike almost immediately after I purchased it as I found I was riding a lot of completely different terrain that I was just not used to at a 'speed' I was not used to. This resulted in many pedal strikes on the 170mm cranks that were fitted standard on the bike. Trail reading and anticipating where your cranks would need to be became very challenging as the newly found steep uphill terrain that you could now climb on the ebike at speed required you to continually pedal in order to actually get up the climb. Changing to shorter cranks for 'my' style of riding removed most of the pedal strikes in this situation. In really rough terrain I still get the very odd strike but it is almost a non event now.

I still use the methods you describe above where I can which is quite often. However, I believe I have the best of both worlds now where I can work my way though a steep uphill section or root/rock garden without pedal strikes using your method or when I feel like it, SMASH THROUGH IT and pedal non stop at high speed through the same steep uphill section or root/rock garden with my Levo that has 180mm of front travel, 165mm coil rear travel and 137mm cranks.
 

R120

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Apr 13, 2018
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@Mabman

What bike do you ride? I ask as a lot of the more enduro focused full suss e-mtbs have low BB's and this is what contributes to the pedal strikes, along with the fact you are going faster up more technical climbs on an E-MTB, meaning pedal strikes come at you quicker with less time to adjust than on a normal bike.

As you point out a lot of it is about technique, but from my testrides i have found that a hardtail E- Mtb, or a converted analog MTB doesn't have the pedal strike issues at the BB Is higher. On my Vitus, which i think has the lowest BB of any E-Mtb at 329mm from the floor (its pretty slack geo) pedal strikes where a very real issue until i went shorter - however i only went to 160mm cranks.
 

Al Boneta

Dark Rider
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I was having terrible luck with pedal strikes on my first Levo. I called one of my friends that works at Specialized (full disclosure, I am a Spesh dealer and I also used to work there in product development) to see what solution would be available. He told me there was a shock yoke that raises the bottom bracket height 6mm. So he sent me the yokes for my 2 Levos and 160mm cranks. I also changed the air shaft in my Pike to 160mm. These measures decreased the number of pedal strikes. When I went to 29er wheels with 2.6 tires I stopped getting pedal strikes.
 

aw113sgte

Member
Jul 15, 2018
28
36
La Crosse, WI
So after riding since I was well, 5, two weeks ago I had a pedal strike that landed me in the ER to check for internal bleeding. Hardest hit I've ever had. Bent the RF Chester pedal and stripped out the stock crank arm threads. I ordered the Miranda cranks listed here and was not impressed. They are significantly wider q-factor and much less substantial in construction. I decided to give them a try and about 15 min into my ride I had another bad pedal strike that bent the crank arm enough to strike and bend the chainstay. Didn't bend the pedal this time. Rashed up the right side (luckily the opposite side of last crash) and had CSF (spinal fluid) leak out my nose. Thankfully wife is a doc dealing in brain injuries and checked me out. Anyways...beware, the Miranda cranks are wider and flimsier than stock.
 

c4s2rs6

Member
May 3, 2018
43
53
Aberdeen
Hi. Think they will but the Q factor not shown, prob q16. I ordered these and returned them as I found a better Q factor from Miranda Delta 155mm Q8s
1.jpg
2.jpg
 

jallabanan

Member
Oct 12, 2018
24
2
Norway
Hi guys, and thanks for all the info in here.

I'm still confused though, as I asked Merlin Cycles if these will fit my Kenevo, and they said.. no.

ME:
Hi! Do you know if these fit the Specialized Turbo Kenevo? https://www.merlincycles.com/miranda-replacement-e-bike-crank-arms-106338.html


MERLIN:
Hi, They wouldn't fit no sorry, they are for a Bosch system which the Specialized dosn't have. Thanks

ME:
Do you have anyone that will fit?

MERLIN:
Hi, No Specialized parts tend to be only on sale from Specialized dealers. Thanks
 

pgtips

Well-known member
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Jun 3, 2018
312
279
Somerset
Thanks, I get that.

It's just a little weird that people keep linking to these specifically, saying they've fitted them on the Kenevo, but then the shop itself says it won't fit.

I mean, who's right and wrong??‍♂️?
I got the same ones turned up today from Merlin cycles.....I haven't had time to fit them yet, but /i let you know soon :D
 

pgtips

Well-known member
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Jun 3, 2018
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So I fitted the KTM Miranda crank arm to my Kenevo and yes they do fit. To mention they also come with new bolts.
Miranda Replacement E-Bike Crank Arms

I still to ride the bike and test them but at first look the Q factor seems fine to me. Even if there is wider q factor it suits me as I was running extended pedal shafts on my road bikes for years due to hip issues.

Here's some pictures.

Standard Crank arm
44043237_178853252999090_8982630010288340992_n.jpg


KTM crank arm
44094721_592152734537333_7618879195459878912_n.jpg

Standard crank arm
44031547_2152018435062871_5751359490251292672_n.jpg


44043237_178853252999090_8982630010288340992_n.jpg


43952104_2021738844784685_1040307702623895552_n.jpg


44067583_353164425227007_6066404902010093568_n.jpg


44065362_350069479089884_2630611947757764608_n.jpg


44110915_322993501587034_3695676730934034432_n.jpg


44127002_314898419339175_9175185467321090048_n.jpg


44038371_302074770622913_9140524625975836672_n.jpg


44023371_257604034944787_2362039752883961856_n.jpg
 

GDAS

Member
Sep 19, 2018
123
87
Surrey, UK
Am I right in thinking the bolts you get aren't self-extracting? which I guess isn't the end of the world, just means you need an extractor tool (around £5) to get the cranks off next time?

I've just bought the 152 ISIS cranks from Merlin for my 2017 Levo, curiously they're the same KTM branding as Rob's posting of several months ago Shorter Crank Arms on Levo / Kenevo? - EMTB Forums whereas yours look a little different
 

pgtips

Well-known member
Patreon
Jun 3, 2018
312
279
Somerset
Am I right in thinking the bolts you get aren't self-extracting? which I guess isn't the end of the world, just means you need an extractor tool (around £5) to get the cranks off next time?

I've just bought the 152 ISIS cranks from Merlin for my 2017 Levo, curiously they're the same KTM branding as Rob's posting of several months ago Shorter Crank Arms on Levo / Kenevo? - EMTB Forums whereas yours look a little different
Yes you're right as I found out today as I was trying to remove one of the cranks lol. But a 2 leg puller did the job nicely. The cranks should be the same, just different logo.
 

jallabanan

Member
Oct 12, 2018
24
2
Norway
Ok, stupid question coming up.

Which one of these do I turn to remove the arm? Outer or inner? I've tried to turn the inner one, and it loosens, but only for half a turn, and it's completely tight again?

15407220634674291941310122501220.jpg
 

Frank_Denmark

E*POWAH Master
Patreon
Dec 17, 2018
312
530
Denmark
This forum is simply the best for eMTB-riders (y)
Always lots of inspiration and good advices for any "problem".

After reading this thread about shorter cranks, I have mounted the 152 mm Miranda on my Levo. Before I experienced 3-4 cranks strokes per ride - This past week I have been riding about 80 miles with no strokes and just one or two crank-kisses.
The pedaling feels the same - but the my confidence in my riding has grown a whole lot.
Thx again to the members here :)

( I bought these - bolts were included - Miranda 152 mm )
 
Last edited:

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