Track Crank Length

I am a fan of the 165mm but have almost been persuaded to get some longer ones due to the use of bigger gears in recent times. Ideally i think a set of 167.5mm would be great. I think Shimano and Suntour make them, not sure about others. Maybe worth looking into?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by drewjc
I am a fan of the 165mm but have almost been persuaded to get some longer ones due to the use of bigger gears in recent times. Ideally i think a set of 167.5mm would be great. I think Shimano and Suntour make them, not sure about others. Maybe worth looking into?

I always was tought that differant events requir differant cranks for optimum. ie Sprinters use 165 and pursuiters use 170+. I would like to know what some of the guys who work on power, ie Ricstien, think. Crossed my mind that it is a power based question relative to track riders

I only have one set of cranks and mainly race scratch, derby and elimination races and other "races". Not into doing too much of the longer (read "harder"😉 stuff like pursuits. I know that most of the boys on the aussie team who broke the world record rode 175mm cranks and 102/104inch gears. But when u r riding at that speed for that long it is vastly different to riding stop-start races at local/state level on gears around the 90-94 range.

For all round track racing most of the guys around here are changing to 170mm cranks as opposed to a few years back when everybody rode 165mm. The different lengths that u mention Fixey, only start to come into play at the level above which most of us are capable (i think), unless you only ever ride one event on the track (ie. pursuit or sprint) or u can afford more than one pair of cranks.

It seems to me that the best all round crank length seems to be changing to a slightly longer 170mm as opposed to the old 165mm. Just my observation/opinion on the matter. As u say different events always require different gear, just a matter of whether u can afford or be bothered to use it.

I would only have considered 165mm cranks until i found out the national scratch race final was raced on 170mm cranks.And the guy uses the same cranks for everything.

Crank length will depand on the tpe of rider you are. If you are a big roady that mushes bigs gears you should go for longer cranks. If you tend to ride smaller gears and spin, go for shorter cranks. Length will also depend on the events you concentrating on.

This is my kind of thread!
I am considering a bit of endurance track racing. Pursuit and perhaps things like Scratch and Points races too. The crank length has been the thing that has bothered me the most.
I admit that I am a grinder of a roadie and I have recently just gotten 175mm cranks on the roadie. Using 165s sounds insane to me.
From my knowledge there are technical regulations which limit the crank length depending on the track (banking) and event being raced.
So 172.5 or 175s for a pursuit and 170 for all others sounds more like me!

Does anyone factor in how tall they are to what crank length they use? Im only 172cm tall(or short) but dont have a problem with 170mm cranks on the road.

At 86cm inseam (I'm only 175cm tall) I looked at various calculators which gave appropriate lengths ranging between 170mm and 185mm! So I chose the seemingly conservative length of 175mm for my road riding. So I don't think I'd be comfortable on anything shorter than 170mm on the track.
it is the leg length that matters in these calculations. There is still a lot of conjecture into how upper and lower leg proportions contribute.

You've really got to consider your bottom bracket height & the banking on the track. OK if you're going to stick to pursuits & kilos but I'd be on my ar$e on Manchester with long cranks in a scratch or points race when it all slows down. If You mostly ride tracks with shallower bankings then this isn't an issue. Manchester is 250 m & 42.5 degrees at the steepest point, a bit like the Dunc Gray stadium, & it's a long, long way down from the top. It does nothing for the confidence if you're worried about catching a pedal when you're slowing down at the top of the banking.

I rode Kirkby recently on an older frame with 170 cranks & a 10.5 bottom bracket. Kirkby's 485 metres & fairly shallow compared to Manchester, I caught the pedal a few times & have switched back to 165s for there. An additional factor is BB length (width?) which is anything but standard, The narrower the BB then I guess the longer the crank length you can get away with.

Conventional wisdom has lankier riders needing longer cranks to suit their propotionately bigger levers and shorter riders looking at the shorter crank lengths. Millar rode 180s to win the world TT champs last year.

I'm bang on 6 foot tall & ride 170s on the road & am quite happy with 165s on the track although I'm usually riding 84" to 88". Hope that helps 😕

from here... http://www.bcf.uk.com/features/2003/track/00_track_bikes.shtml

Cranks: Because of the banking on the track, I went to someone who coaches at Calshot, Tim Knight, and asked what length cranks should be used. "It is pretty standard to use something like 165s. A 165 is ideal for Calshot (with 11 inch Bottom Bracket height), but 170 with a higher bottom bracket like 11.25" is also ideal. Again, if in doubt, contact a coach at any of the velodromes who can advise.

I use 175mm cranks on steep banked velodrome tracks here in Australia and have never touched wood 🙂

I use 175mm on my road bikes and was strongly recommended by a track coach to carry on the same. I know of riders who use 180mm both road and track.

Cannot perceive it affecting my spin. I would suggest that the relationship of crank length to the ability to spin maybe one of those old wives' tales like tying and soldering spokes (started with penny farthings to avoid getting a leg speared)

Everyone talks about how longer cranks give you more leverage, and that is true if you're just purely thinking of mechanical leverage through the crank. I think that a shorter crank would be better from a Kinesio standpoint. Because your hip angle is not as closed as it would be with longer cranks, your upper thigh is in a better position to transmit power. Just a thought

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by VeloFlash
I use 175mm cranks on steep banked velodrome tracks here in Australia and have never touched wood 🙂

I use 175mm on my road bikes and was strongly recommended by a track coach to carry on the same. I know of riders who use 180mm both road and track.

Cannot perceive it affecting my spin. I would suggest that the relationship of crank length to the ability to spin maybe one of those old wives' tales like tying and soldering spokes (started with penny farthings to avoid getting a leg speared)

What sort of events do you do with 175s? And you can do this at the Dunc?
I run 175s on roadie and was thinking of trying track, it would be nice to be able to use a similar length.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by tafi
What sort of events do you do with 175s? And you can do this at the Dunc?
I run 175s on roadie and was thinking of trying track, it would be nice to be able to use a similar length.

Check with Peter Bundy of Peter Bundy Cycles. He was a top track racer and recommends carrying your road length through to the track - unless his opinion has changed. A lot of trackies use his biking expertise.

Basically or in my fantasies, I am a sprinter but have done all other events. Scratch, keirin, tt, points, pursuit, team pursuit, Olympic sprint, elimination, handicap, etc.

You would only have a potential problem of bottoming on turns 1 and 2 of Dunc Gray if you are going slow after a start. Best to keep on the duckboards during that time any way.

Never had a problem at Dunc Gray. The type of pedals (underhang under the pedal axle) and bottom bracket height come into the equation also.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by VeloFlash
Check with Peter Bundy of Peter Bundy Cycles. He was a top track racer and recommends carrying your road length through to the track - unless his opinion has changed. A lot of trackies use his biking expertise.

Basically or in my fantasies, I am a sprinter but have done all other events. Scratch, keirin, tt, points, pursuit, team pursuit, Olympic sprint, elimination, handicap, etc.

You would only have a potential problem of bottoming on turns 1 and 2 of Dunc Gray if you are going slow after a start. Best to keep on the duckboards during that time any way.

Never had a problem at Dunc Gray. The type of pedals (underhang under the pedal axle) and bottom bracket height come into the equation also.

Nice coincidence, I just met Peter at his shop last week. Seems like a good bloke.

Do you have a high bottom bracket for this?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by tafi
Do you have a high bottom bracket for this?

I have a 50mm BB drop measured as the distance below a horizontal line drawn between the rear and front wheel drop outs. I would think this would be about standard for a track bike.

This may help in your decision ... Brad McGee now uses 175mm on both road and track after using 170's on the track, in earlier years.

Jacques Anquetil 175mm
Lance Armstrong 175mm
Chris Boardman 170mm
Santiago Botero 172.5mm
Angel Casero 175mm
Mario Cipollini 172.5mm
Fausto Coppi 171mm
Malcolm Elliott 172.5mm
Tyler Hamilton 172.5mm
Bernard Hinault 172.5mm
Miguel Indurian 180mm (190mm for second Hour record!)
Laurent Jalabert 172.5mm
Greg Lemond 175mm
Brad McGee 175mm
Robbie McEwen 175mm
Eddy Merckx 175mm
David Millar 175mm (180mm in TT)
Francesco Moser 175mm
Marty Northstein 167.5mm in Keirin (170mm in kilo)
Graham Obree 175mm
Marco Pantani 170mm (180mm in mountains)
David Rebellin 172.5mm
Roger Riviere 175mm
Jean Robic 170mm
Tony Rominger 172.5mm (175mm for Hour record)
Oscar Sevilla 175mm
Jan Ullrich 177.5mm
Rik Verbrugghe 175mm
Erik Zabel 172.5mm
Alex Zulle 175mm (180mm in mountains)

This is interesting, apparently I should be on 175s

http://www.highpath.aaugonline.net/cycles/03.html

😕

I do not exactly know about track per se, but I've run 165 and 170 on a road fixie and the 165 seemed to spin better, even made hills easier in a bigger inch gear. Then again, I'm only riding an 82ish.