leix_toffee
Active member
Anyone having excessive pedal strikes? I have a 2021 Stereo Hybrid SL. Has anyone fitted shorter crank arms?
Pedal Strikes
- Thread starter leix_toffee
- Start date
If youre new to emtb's, you will get pedal strikes because hou pedal through shit you wouldnt otherwise pedal through and the added bike weight combined with a bit extra compression with assist will also affect thst a bit. You will adapt to some degree over time. My bb's and pedals have gotten lower and lower as i progressivdly adapt.
Also the cube tends go lack mid stroke support. You can add an air volume reducer to tge shock. Ez procedure that will add some midstroke support and progreeivity to avoid bottoming out. That can also allow you to lower the psi for a more supple initial stroke. Maybe u just want the mid stroke support but you might find a balance in psi where you get mid stroke support and tge same time u get a more supple initial stroke. Id add,a volume reducer regardless and start from tgere.
Shorter cranks can be good. I wouldnt go too short but ifd say as a general rule you could go 5mm shorter than your regular enduro bike. I have 165 on my enduro and 160 on my emtb. 170's have a noticeable dead spot in the spin. The 165 was a good improvement. The 160 was also noticeable improvement in dead spot but it was more noticeable going from 170- 165. I think that says 160 is where i want to be on an emtb. Still noticeable improvement but not as much. Nice spin, no pedal strikes and can pedal them through some tech quite well. Eliminating that dead spot on an emtb really helps feeding the tourque sensor and not having the assist cut out
Also the cube tends go lack mid stroke support. You can add an air volume reducer to tge shock. Ez procedure that will add some midstroke support and progreeivity to avoid bottoming out. That can also allow you to lower the psi for a more supple initial stroke. Maybe u just want the mid stroke support but you might find a balance in psi where you get mid stroke support and tge same time u get a more supple initial stroke. Id add,a volume reducer regardless and start from tgere.
Shorter cranks can be good. I wouldnt go too short but ifd say as a general rule you could go 5mm shorter than your regular enduro bike. I have 165 on my enduro and 160 on my emtb. 170's have a noticeable dead spot in the spin. The 165 was a good improvement. The 160 was also noticeable improvement in dead spot but it was more noticeable going from 170- 165. I think that says 160 is where i want to be on an emtb. Still noticeable improvement but not as much. Nice spin, no pedal strikes and can pedal them through some tech quite well. Eliminating that dead spot on an emtb really helps feeding the tourque sensor and not having the assist cut out
leix_toffee
Active member
- Thread starter
- #3
I have tried upping the pressure in the rear and it helps a little but makes the ride really harsh (10-15% sag). I am riding about 18!years and a lot of bikes but never this amount of strikes. Maybe it’s just the nature of EMTB, possibly different pedalling dynamics.
It's mostly about reading the trail and anticipating how the bike will react to the terrain. As @Dirtnvert says, you'll often find yourself pedaling where didn't before and that's often the cause.
Shorter cranks will help of course, but if you can fix it for free, why spend the money? ?
Shorter cranks will help of course, but if you can fix it for free, why spend the money? ?
Add a volume reducer to your rear shock first. Costs nothing and is ez to do. Watch a youtube vid on it. It wont make the bike hatsh and youll be able to leave your bike at 30% sag, or wherever you had/prefer it. It will just ramp up quicker and give it more midstrokd support so the bike wont wallow low and thus get pedal strikes. Really , with the cube hybrid its a win win no lose scenario. Test it some more. Youll get more and more used to where your new pedal location is. The bike already has 165 cranks. If the air volume reducer in the r shock isnt enough you can shorten the cranks 5mm. Other options are adding 10mm of travel to your fork. That will add 3mm to the bb height and its also cheap to do or you csn get a "reverse components" angle reducer race for $15 from bike24. That will rase the front 10mm also, so 3mm at the bb
- 0.5° Angle Spacer for Tapered Forks | Reverse Components
With the tapered Angle-Spacer forks (crown race), you can fine tune and modernise the geometry of your bike.This simple spacer allows you to make the steering angle half a degree (- 0.5°) slacker, enabling you to get even more performance out of the bike on steep and gnarly descents.The spacer...
l've been riding regular MTB since 2013 and have done 13,000 miles
After buying my Ebike three months ago l have done around 1,000 miles on it.
l've had no issue with pedal strikes on my Ebike, except one occasion when l landed a small jump and hit a boulder, which actually bent the pedal axle.
l can't see why you would get more pedal strikes on a Ebike, unless the suspension has no air in it and the bike is slammed.
After buying my Ebike three months ago l have done around 1,000 miles on it.
l've had no issue with pedal strikes on my Ebike, except one occasion when l landed a small jump and hit a boulder, which actually bent the pedal axle.
l can't see why you would get more pedal strikes on a Ebike, unless the suspension has no air in it and the bike is slammed.
leix_toffee
Active member
- Thread starter
- #7
Thanks all for the advice. I have been thinking of adding air volume reducers to the rear for quite a while (and possibly front depending on the reaction of the rear). I have seen on the Loam Wolf and GMBN Tech some advice on this. I am going to order some today and give it a go. More progressive action on the rear may be of benefit, on the front I am not using enough of the initial travel when I have the Sag set to 20% as it feels quite harsh and when I reduce the pressure to get that initial bump sensitivity to a nice feel it blows through on any impacts and the front dives down too quick. I have looked at some 160mm e-thirteen or FSA cranks but everything is sold out so will wait to try this later when stock.
Rosemount
E*POWAH Elite
Cube Stereo hybrid are prone to pedal strikes .
The mid stroke of the rear suspension reacts to the terrain very dynamically . Meaning your pedals get closer to the ground than you might want .
You have 2 choices pump up the rear shock more or get shorter cranks .
Climbing on rocky or rooty slopes you need to plot your course more carefully .
Try half cranks of the pedals when you are concerned about pedal strikes .
The mid stroke of the rear suspension reacts to the terrain very dynamically . Meaning your pedals get closer to the ground than you might want .
You have 2 choices pump up the rear shock more or get shorter cranks .
Climbing on rocky or rooty slopes you need to plot your course more carefully .
Try half cranks of the pedals when you are concerned about pedal strikes .
Rosemount
E*POWAH Elite
TLDR ...
If you never get pedal strikes, you're riding trails that are too easy.
fenwick458
Active member
1cm is quite a lot really.
I had a stereo 150 2019 model, the BB was very low, it was bad for getting pedal strikes. weirdly that model in 2019 had the lowest BB of all other bikes (well that i looked at), and it still had 175mm cranks on where most other brands were switching to 165mm as standard...
I think Cube take a while to catch up
EebStrider
Well-known member
It’s rider error. I read it on here.
The things to consider when going shorter are... pedalling will feel very odd if going much shorter as if you are pedalling a clowns bike. When balancing with you pedals horizontal and level the spread distance of your feet will be shorter and may affect you balance on the bike. Also, your pedalling cadence will be faster.
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From all the reading of many peoples accounts on fb groups, on here etc, almost everyone seems to say that their experience with crank levels down to around 150/155 have basically stopped almost all pedal/crank strikes and felt almost no difference.
Do you really think someone like Hope would be making 155 mm e-bike cranks for that price if it made you feel like riding a clown bicycle?
They are very, very popular. It seems lots of ebike companies downsizing crank sizes. I think some manufacturers even shipping with 160mm now.
Do you really think someone like Hope would be making 155 mm e-bike cranks for that price if it made you feel like riding a clown bicycle?
They are very, very popular. It seems lots of ebike companies downsizing crank sizes. I think some manufacturers even shipping with 160mm now.
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l thought, it won't make your cadence any faster, how could it?
But then l realised that,
What shorter crank arms will do, is increase the effort required for a given bike speed, and because of that, you might end up in a lower gear, so turning the cranks faster.
But then l realised that,
What shorter crank arms will do, is increase the effort required for a given bike speed, and because of that, you might end up in a lower gear, so turning the cranks faster.
Mainly shame and public ridicule
I remember there was a craze some years ago for tiny bikes, and also tiny motorbikes, called "Minimoto" l think
Not much of a cadence increase, and thats mainly just at the extreme end when on fire roads trying to hit max speed on the smallest cog
Just check out Robs short crank video it shows it, and he was using 152.5mm cranks! I think 155 is probably fine for most people if pedal strikes are a big issue for you.
I find them really jarring, i'd rather not experience them if i dont have to. I am always trying my best to watch my line and time my pedals but im not always succesful. I want to challenge myself but im not going to handicap myself/put myself and my bike in possible harms way just to add challenge. I enjoy myself much more with shorter cranks (also because im on a medium sized bike but im really inbetween medium and large, so the shorter cranks help at the top of the stroke from getting painful).
It's okay if you dont want to ride them, but its a viable option for some people it doesnt mean they are inept.
It's okay if you dont want to ride them, but its a viable option for some people it doesnt mean they are inept.
jooles
Active member
Lots of good advice …
it’s very much about anticipation and technique. Yes shorter cranks help and on an eMtb with motor assist less of an issue on knees etc as a non eeb. Your Cube seems to have a lot of BB drop so would guess BB is quite low. Designed for railing turns and stability in gnar but does put feet nearer the ground. Looks like the Hybrid has a 4 bar Horst link and these normally are reasonably progressive so you should get some mid travel support. As above experiment with volume spacers and pressure. Try locking shock out more too if you can and see if this makes a difference.
As per post above its good to know if it’s down or uphill. I’ll take a guess and say uphill.
with an eMtb you’re climbing stuff not normally tackled on a non Ebike, so strikes are easier. You need to plan your route ahead and time pedal strokes to avoid higher points. Practice on a section, session it. Work out timing, look ahead. Don’t just plough through because you can with motor helping.
If DH then I’d guess it’s more in corners so in gnar on corners drop outside foot a little ergo lifting inner and this will help clear. Again look ahead and if it’s just a smooth berm rail it with feet level. If it’s rocky and gnar look to just lift inner pedal unless there’s a rock or stump on the inside of your arc.
They key is to look ahead, up and down. Plan your lines. Plan where to put your feet.
practise is as important as shorter cranks.
it’s very much about anticipation and technique. Yes shorter cranks help and on an eMtb with motor assist less of an issue on knees etc as a non eeb. Your Cube seems to have a lot of BB drop so would guess BB is quite low. Designed for railing turns and stability in gnar but does put feet nearer the ground. Looks like the Hybrid has a 4 bar Horst link and these normally are reasonably progressive so you should get some mid travel support. As above experiment with volume spacers and pressure. Try locking shock out more too if you can and see if this makes a difference.
As per post above its good to know if it’s down or uphill. I’ll take a guess and say uphill.
with an eMtb you’re climbing stuff not normally tackled on a non Ebike, so strikes are easier. You need to plan your route ahead and time pedal strokes to avoid higher points. Practice on a section, session it. Work out timing, look ahead. Don’t just plough through because you can with motor helping.
If DH then I’d guess it’s more in corners so in gnar on corners drop outside foot a little ergo lifting inner and this will help clear. Again look ahead and if it’s just a smooth berm rail it with feet level. If it’s rocky and gnar look to just lift inner pedal unless there’s a rock or stump on the inside of your arc.
They key is to look ahead, up and down. Plan your lines. Plan where to put your feet.
practise is as important as shorter cranks.
Murf
Member
I went w the 152 cranks that Rob speaks to in his vidy, less pedal strikes for sure and no discernible pedaling issues. Keep in mind width plays into pedal strikes as well so really wide flats will create more strikes.
He's already riding an eeb, how much worse could it be?Mainly shame and public ridicule
Yeah, it kinda does.
I use 155mm cranks on my Canyon Spectral ON. Some ebike have stupidly low BB heights (including mine).
Swapped bikes with my friend for five minutes. I was loving his Levo. He had a massive pedal strike on my canyon. Shot him straight in the air, bending my then 165mm crank. At least he had the good grace to really hurt himself whilst damaging my bike LOL.
I've 30+ yrs in the MTB saddle and never before had so many pedal strikes, even on 155mm cranks. That said I'm now faster than I've ever been probably with less skill than I used to have.
Swapped bikes with my friend for five minutes. I was loving his Levo. He had a massive pedal strike on my canyon. Shot him straight in the air, bending my then 165mm crank. At least he had the good grace to really hurt himself whilst damaging my bike LOL.
I've 30+ yrs in the MTB saddle and never before had so many pedal strikes, even on 155mm cranks. That said I'm now faster than I've ever been probably with less skill than I used to have.
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