Raise pedals???

[MitchF]

I've noticed that youtubers are moving more into the advertising business. For example, this video is for miranda cranks - not shorter cranks in general. A week or so ago it was pirelli tyres (rob and embn), and earlier than that it was specialized levo sl (again, rob and embn). Those few examples were very similar - as though the manufacturers gave rob and embn the pertinent points to address. It's still a good way to research stuff (Rob explains the wider q factor), but it is no longer unbiased. It is the same with Sam's bikes; I unsubscribed from his channel because I couldn't trust much of what he says about stuff he reviews. Also notice that none of these channels discuss the elephant in the room, ever! That is the poor reliability of the e systems for mtb use. I believe this is because it would be highlighting a big fault of the industry that they rely on for income. Embn is a classic for this. After one video they had that was clearly biased and not based in reality, a lot of the commenters to the video highlighted the reliability issues. Shortly after embn came out with this wanky video that did nothing to address or look at those reliability issues - pure PR for the emtb industry. It's unfortunate and seems to be unique with emtb youtube channels. I have other interests and I'm always researching and generally the reviews are unbiased. So why is emtb different? Because they're all pretty unreliable - industry wide - that is the unique thing with emtb. Most people coming to emtb know nothing about the reliability issues (I was one of them) because most of their research is based on youtube!

Anyway, I'm not going shorter. 165 is already short for me. I ride in hills where I need big torque to get over those obstacles on an already steep climb. Rob has ignored the one glaring obvious disadvantage of shorter cranks - less torque input by us. True, I could go boost or trail but I want to stay familiar with supplying that explosive power myself (as pathetic as it is ). I was definitely surprised at the pedal strikes coming to emtb - never had that before. However, my only real concern now is motor height - it's quite low on my bike. I still get a couple of light pedal strikes per ride, and sometimes these surprise me - as in unexpected. The more time I ride the more I'm beginning to think that others who have been mentioning technique and familiarity here, are right. I do seem to pedal through stuff more, whereas on the non e bikes it was more quick power strokes before then roll and manoeuvre through maybe with some half strokes. I seem to be holding a more uniform cadence now through more stuff. That might be the reason for more strikes? So, I'm trying to relearn the explosiveness required to get over obstacles (via my input), rather than just sit there and spin through stuff or not really try hard. Whatever it is, I'll persist and give it time. It will become subconscious soon

Wow, I could have changed my cranks in less time than it took to read that ?

 

[Rosemount]

What about flat pedals vs clipless pedals ?
More vertical and lateral clearance ?

@Gary .

 

[speedkills]

What's with tagging Gary in after he asked you to stop tagging him in? I mean, I get you disagree but this just seems like trying to stir things up.

 

[KeithR]

What's with tagging Gary in after he asked you to stop tagging him in? I mean, I get you disagree but this just seems like trying to stir things up.

Pretty infantile, isn't it?

 

[HORSPWR]

Pretty infantile, isn't it?

And yet now you feel like weighing in on the issue?

 

[nasamorpheus]

Well I stopped reading thread on page 2. I have same bike, cranks are 165 mm and just about right. I would switch to 160mm if I had problems..

 

[TheRealPoMo]

Yeah they look very similar in profile but the detail around the crank spline end is unclear. I would have thought someone would have done it given the seeming scarcity....but maybe that's an Australian issue.

Well, the bodge I did with the loctite a few months back eventually failed and the last few threads in the stock FSA crankarm let go - fortunately this time I felt it going.
I managed to get a set of these locally in 165mm : Aeffect e-bike Crankarms.
They say that they fit any Bosch ebike motor and can confirm that they fit my 2019 Cube Performance CX.

 

[Rosemount]

@Gary

Here you go Gary the best of both worlds .
165 crank with 175 overall length . ?

 

[Gary]

Plenty cranksets use the exact same crank arm castings but just have pedal threads drilled at different distances along the arms to give the various crank length options.

 

[Rosemount]

Plenty cranksets use the exact same crank arm castings but just have pedal threads drilled at different distances along the arms to give the various crank length options.

If it is so common why haven`t you mentioned it before ,
Whilst you were educating all the noobs re pedal strikes ?

Trap for the uninformed .

 

[R120]

I dont think that where the crank is drilled makes much of a difference - if you get a crank strike then you are probably already off line or doing something wrong. The thing with pedal strikes on flat pedals, is that more often than not if you are riding with good technique they will happen when the pedal is angled down and back, and in a minor pedal strike its the back edge/corner of the pedal that is striking when going downhill - if going up hill it will often be the full face of the underside - if you take a hard fast impact to the front of the pedal then its likely going to throw you and a few MM on your cranks either way isn't going to have made a difference if you find yourself in that situation.

In my riding most of the pedal strikes I get now are from the side, where I have misjudged the clearance in a rut or channel - I used to ride wide pedals but have actually gone back to riding pedals that don't stick out as far, or beyond my shoe

 

[Rosemount]

@2.20 of video technique for surviving pedal strikes ...

 

[Gary]

Or simply stop pedalling and keep your cranks level when you can't see if it's safe to put in a pedal stroke.
It's not rocket science

 

[Rosemount]

What do you in the case where the trail is over grown for a further distance than your momentum will carry you ?
Grind to a stop ? LOL . Physics Gary .

 

[OldGoatMTB]

Or simply stop pedalling and keep your cranks level when you can't see if it's safe to put in a pedal stroke.
It's not rocket science

Or slow down.

 

[Gary]

What do you in the case where the trail is over grown for a further distance than your momentum will carry you ?

Certainly not just sit down blindly pedalling away hoping a lower saddle height is somehow a cure for being an idiot and pedalling directly into shit!
The funniest part about Kyle's advice in the video is that there's perfect line of sight to the trail surface and obsticles on the trail he's advising using this shitty technique for. If he were to actually explain and show line choice, how to time pedal strokes, when to freewheel and when to raise/lower a crank arm to avoid oncoming obsticles it would have been way more rewarding watch but it would also have taken him longer to prepare, film and explain than a "4 ways to use something very simple to understand anyway" video
But content=views; Views = $$

But for arguments sake, when riding oveergrown trails and trails with limited line of sight, simply ride the trail cautiously until you've LEARNED where it's safe to drop a pedal and where not. ie. where the obsticles are.

Even a whiney crusty old bastard like Neil Young knows to plan ahead and look where he's going when pedalling his bike

Check that concentration