Anyone use longer cranks on 2018 Levo?

[eboy]

There's a thread here called "shorter crank arms" and I was wondering if anyone felt the crank arms on the 2018 Levo were too short and wanted longer ones? I guess the theory is shorter crank arms make sense with an e-bike because the motor is doing a bulk of the work and why have these large leg circular motions to go through. I'm coming from a regular mountain bike with longer crank arms and it's just what I'm used to and every time I switch to the Levo it feels like the peddling I'm doing is smaller circles. I'm also wondering would longer crank arms change anything in the ability to climb hills? Or anything in the way the software records the mileage? Has anyone installed longer cranks? If so what brand would be light and strong? THX...

 

[sisuman]

You will get a ton of pedal strikes unless you ride gravel roads.

 

[rsilvers]

"I guess the theory is shorter crank arms make sense with an e-bike because the motor is doing a bulk of the work"
It is not related to an ebike. One picks crank length on a road bike to match your leg length so that your knee angle is optimal on the rotations. On a MTB, there are other factors, like ground strikes.

Any bike can work with short cranks just by using a smaller chainring to adjust the gearing to make up for the leverage difference. You can change it if you don't worry about ground strikes.

 

[Rusty]

I rode a Scott eGenius with 175 cranks and my new one had 165. Strike was reduced significantly but 155 is looking like a better option to get strike to a random event instead of several times a ride.

 

[eboy]

I felt like the Trek POWERFLY 7 I demo'd earlier this year had longer cranks. The Haibike All Mtn 6.0 as well. My regular mountain bike has longer cranks and does not have ground strikes. So I'm not sure you can make blanket statements that mountain bikes need short cranks to avoid ground strikes. It may have to do with the geometry of the specific bike or the amount of ground clearance a bike has. I still think it may have to do with the difference in the way one rides an e-bike. Sitting down more especially uphill... You don't need to stand and pump when riding uphill. Leverage is different when riding that way...

 

[rsilvers]

You can say that the shorter the cranks, the fewer the strikes.

 

[Rusty]

My regular mountain bike has longer cranks and does not have ground strikes. So I'm not sure you can make blanket statements that mountain bikes need short cranks to avoid ground strikes.

To a point.
I think the thing to remember is that with an ebike you are carrying around a lot more weight. My Scott Genius carbon has 175 cranks and I rarely get strike on the same trails I am constantly getting strike on the eGenius with 165 cranks. With the lighter bike I am floating obstacles that I can't on the ebike. It is much the same as peddling on tight uphill corners - I can coast on the analogue bike where I need to pedal on the ebike.
It is worth noting that a lot of DH racers ran 160-165 back in the day of the heavy sleds they used to ride.