155mm cranks what a difference

[mneil]

Changed the cranks on my VItus E sommet VR after getting many pedal strikes riding at Coed y Brenin. What a difference. pedal strikes are few and far between. Don't know if this is a problem on other bikes with Shimano E8000 motors but it certainly cured my Vitus.

 

[Gary]

Bobo approves

 

[B1rdie]

Do you feel any difference on the balance front/rear and traction control when pedaling off the saddle on steep climbs?

 

[mneil]

Felt a tad strange at first but took all of two minutes to adjust. Had the motor fail after the first climb at the forest of dean a couple of weeks back, pedalled the rest of the ride without motor assist and had no problem.

 

[B1rdie]

Felt a tad strange at first but took all of two minutes to adjust. Had the motor fail after the first climb at the forest of dean a couple of weeks back, pedalled the rest of the ride without motor assist and had no problem.

Thanks!
This would be the downside of shorter cranks for me, I can cope with a few pedal kicks but as I usually ride slowly, balance is key for me.
The other downside I could guess is on fast turns when the outside foot would rather be as far from the BB as possible. But this is not a problem for the same reason.

 

[Gary]

The biggest downside will be if you also ride regular bikes. When switching back you'll take with you your newly formed bad habits but won't have the same 20mm safety net to make up for them.

being 20mm higher when stood weighting a dropped outer pedal while cornering won't make a huge difference to cornering stability

 

[B1rdie]

If I rode like Amauri Pieron that difference would matter for sure.
But I have to agree that changing bikes would feel strange for muscle memory.

 

[LUCKYMULLEN]

Just out of curiosity, did you have to raise the height of your seatpost to counter the shorter crank arm length when pedalling seated?

 

[KenX]

I fitted 155 cranks, down from 165 and raised the seat post 1cm, logical!