Swapping to shorter cranks on the Levo/Kenevo... talk to me.

[Paceman]

After a few moments when i've clipped a pedal at speed on my Levo, i'm considering shorter cranks. Who's done this and what affect did it have on your ride?

Cheers.

 

[Zimmerframe]

I ordered short cranks for my Kenevo when I ordered the bike, based on the feedback that it had a low bottom bracket and some people had problems. When it arrived, I found the BB was 5cm higher than my Hardtail and I didn't actually have any issues. I swapped them anyway after a few weeks because they were there and after a few miles, you don't notice the difference - or you adjust to it. At first it feels like you're riding on tiny little hamster cranks.

That said, I cut my bars down from 800 to 760 a few week ago and for the first few miles it felt like I had teeny weeny 30cm bars ..

I've stayed with them as, despite being crap, the only pedal strikes I've had are lateral ones and I don't feel they affect my power delivery in anyway. I'm about 5'10, if you were taller things could be different.

I have unicycle 140's. I had 150 Miranda's on the Hard tail and these significantly helped with pedal strikes.

 

[Martinintirol]

Is this an Emtb thing? Normally you just horizontily hold the cranks until you are over the obstruction?.... Physics should help here ... ie; enough power generated to clear the obstruction in advance ....

 

[Zimmerframe]

Is this an Emtb thing? Normally you just horizontily hold the cranks until you are over the obstruction?.... Physics should help here ... ie; enough power generated to clear the obstruction in advance ....

I think so. Ultimately you find yourself pedalling up, and in rockier places, that you normally wouldn't even consider. I have quite a few "uphill" runs which whilst not as Adrenalin charged as "downhill" runs, I still do as fast as possible and really enjoy.

So you end up pedal striking more as you're in uncharted territory. You certainly improve and adjust over time, but initially it can be an issue.

 

[Martinintirol]

I think so. Ultimately you find yourself pedalling up, and in rockier places, that you normally wouldn't even consider. I have quite a few "uphill" runs which whilst not as Adrenalin charged as "downhill" runs, I still do as fast as possible and really enjoy.

So you end up pedal striking more as you're in uncharted territory. You certainly improve and adjust over time, but initially it can be an issue.

As I dont have the experience yet I can't really say. All my stuff is done until now with analogue bikes...

 

[HGmtb]

I've put 155 mm cranks on my Levo - and I can't tell that they're any different to the standard ones, except now I hardly ever get pedal strikes !

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

I have 137mm cranks on both of my ebikes.
Why?
Answer......
The steep terrain of my local trails that I never even looked at before getting my Eeb and the way I personally like to ride these particular sections.
Moving from analogue to Eeb over 2 years ago opened up a whole new ‘uphill world‘ for me.
I ride my ebike like I stole it on ‘Turbo‘ most of the time when I am riding up steep climbs. This is my choice, this is how I ride, this is what I enjoy doing, this will never change as this is what I call fun .
On some of these steep climbs I will come across deep ruts and various other features which again, I want to conquer ‘at speed’. To do this I need to pedal continuously because it is steep and technical. I don’t get a lot of options to level out my cranks, or half, quarter pedal stroke to ‘miss’ hitting a feature as all you do is ‘stall and fall’ on the steep stuff where I ride.
A recent feature I have found with short cranks is you can actually pedal your way out of the occasional rut you may drop into.....pedal, pedal, pedal, if in doubt pedal, if still in doubt, pedal some more
I enjoy going up steep climbs as much as I do going down them so it is a win, win for me and how I like to ride.
Downsides?
I haven’t noticed any. I do not have any trouble keeping up with other ebikers whether I am on flat terrain or descents speed wise.
Depending on how short you go, You will probably have to adjust your seat post position to raise your saddle height by the same length your shorten your cranks by to keep the same downward pedal stroke length. I use a dropper and moved from a 150mm to 175mm to compensate.
I have been on short cranks for over 2 years now and comfortably switch from my Eeb with 137mm cranks to my road bike with 175mm cranks with zero issues.
It is like anything, you get used to it.

Short cranks are not for everyone. You may ride your steep climbs a completely different way to me, if you do, feel free to keep your long cranks on Roll how you want to roll.

I love my short cranks