# Short crank experience/experiment

**URL:** <https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/short-crank-experience-experiment/67454>\
**Category:** Equipment\
**Created:** [January 8, 2022, 6:12pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/short-crank-experience-experiment/67454 "2022-01-08T18:12:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 15

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**Author:** ![TRusername](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90ced4/32.png) [@TRusername](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/TRusername)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2022, 1:25am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/short-crank-experience-experiment/67454/15 "2022-01-13T01:25:50Z")

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I’m 180cm but have very short legs, 76cm inseam. I went to three well-regarded bike fitters and none of them suggested crank length to me, I ended up replacing my 56cm frame with a 54cm frame because all three fitters said my current frame was too large for me. Guess what, I should’ve just gotten shorter cranks.

I’ve been using Rotor’s Aldhu oval chain rings with 155mm cranks for the last 2 years and am very happy with the setup. My personal benefits have been:

1. More aerodynamic. I can get lower in the drops without my knees hitting my torso.
2. I can pedal through turns that most folks can’t.
3. I can spin up noticeably faster than when I was using 172.5mm cranks; granted this is largely due to gearing, but it also disproves the argument that longer cranks provide more leverage on geared drivetrains.
4. I get to be a shorter crank apologist to the folks that poke fun at me for running “women-sized cranks”.

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