I’ve been experimenting with crank length the last few months, I’m currently riding 190mm, as much as I like them the verdict is still out if I’m going to stay with them though. I’m going to ride them for the next couple months continously while I work on my cycling position as well, then throw my 175mm back on for a month or so and then make up my mind. I might even just go to something inbetween like 180′s as a comprimise.

I rode the 190′s the end of last season for about a month, after the end of the month they really grew on me and I felt that I was onto something as I was faster and more comfortable, but I’m not sure if that was just because I finally got a needed break from all the group riding I had been doing all summer.

Also my riding position was bad, and I’m sure was aggravated by the longer cranks, as the longer cranks made my KNOPS out even further backwards, when my knee needed to move foward, actually my knees and whole body needed to move forward. But even with the bad position I still experienced about a 2.5MPH average speed increase on my 1 hour TT loop I do at least once a week.

I’ve very curious to see what happens with my new improved position and the 190′s and then having a couple months of saddle time in on them, I think it will work out good, but we’ll see. And I’m even more curious to see what will happens when I go back to the 175′s.

What makes this testing difficult is that my body is changing and getting stronger and faster, and that it can take several weeks for your legs to adjust and get smooth and powerful on the new length of crank.

I think what I should do is shorten the time I spend on one length and go back to the other, because if I spend too much time on one length by the time I go back I’ll be 2 months stronger and it will be hard to take my results seriously when I switch cranks.

So I think what I’m going to do, is ride a bunch of easy and moderate rides for 2 weeks, and when it feels like I’m pretty much adapted and use to the new length I’ll switch to the other for two weeks and then at then end of those 4 weeks I should know which I want to say with.

I have been working on my cycling position lately after discovering I had major fit problems, currently I’m fine tuning and experimenting and trying to get closer to my perfect fit. I had an expert fitting the other day, but, I think fit is such a personal thing that they can only get you close, in the end you’ll have to know for yourself if a small change is helping.

So I spent some time yesterday marking and measuring where the fitting had me, so that I could come back to that position and reset my fit position if my position experiments don’t work. I know that I need to give each position a couple weeks to get used to and judge, but some of the things I could tell right away needed to be adjusted because it was obvious after a short one hour ride.

So these are my latest changes

1. Switched from my WTB saddle to my San Marco saddle that originally came with the bike.
2. Moved my fore-aft position forward about 3/4″
3. I assume my KNOPS is moving forward by moving my saddle forward, but when I measure with a plum string it doesn’t seem to be moving forward, but I know that it must be? I think I need to find a way to measure KNOPS better. I need to be on a trainer or someone holding me straight while I get a real plumb string not just a string with a tool hanging on the end.
4. Moved the saddle up 1/4″

These changes are based on the feeling of not engaging all of my leg muscles fully, I think my KNOPS was still too far back.

Also I don’t think I like wear the fitting put my cleat further back, it feels like it’s to far back now,  I think the ball of my foot is now actually slightly forward of the pedal axle where I like to be either right on it or slightly behind.

I was careful to make sure that I didn’t make the mistake of putting my saddle too high like I had it before, it was giving me a dead spot in my pedal stroke the fitter said, I think he was right. I like the saddle on the high side, but you have to know what the limit is.

I still need to move my brake levers closer though I think, the fitter suggested that but I haven’t had time yet.

I am new to road cycling, it was only since last year that I switched from riding mostly MTB to now riding mostly road. My unfamiliarity with road bikes made me forgiving of the uncomfortable position I had been riding around in the last year. Not knowing that their where major problems with my fit, I rode around it a terrible riding position for the past 11 months, suffering from leg muscle pain, stiffness, cramps, premature failure etc. People that I’d pass up on the MTB climbs  would pass me behind on the road bike climbs etc, I couldn’t figure it out, I keep working on these theories of why. On the road bike when climbing or riding hard my ham and glut muscles would be the point of failure, also the lower front of my quads would burn and I felt generally weak. I assumed that because I started riding again last spring and started on the MTB bike and I had more time last season on the MTB bike then that was the reason I was better on it and had “weak road” muscles.

When I originally bought my bike last spring, I only received a partial fitting, I distinctly recall asking the shop rep. if I don’t look to stretched out as I feel pretty stretched out, he said I look good and I trusted his judgment, because what did I know  I never bought a real road racing bike before.

This winter I had been riding the stationary expresso bike trainers in our local gym, I discredited indoor training on a stationary for years, but finally gave it a try and found it to be a lot of fun and nice alternative to riding out in the windy cold snowy conditions of where I live. This winter I discovered the good and bad points of riding on a stationary bike trainer. One of the good points I found was that I could really think and feel and focus on how I felt on the bike, and what my body was telling me etc.  One day I was experimenting with the fore-aft position on the bike and for some reason decided to try moving it more forward like on a triathlon bike. What I found was that I had more power and comfort and could spin better if my knees where in just the right spot over the pedal axles, for me I even feel better with them 1-2cm forward.

So last Saturday I went for my first ride in months on the real road bike outside since it was very warm 50-60F, and I was disappointed with how weak I felt on the bike. I could tell I was stronger but I couldn’t send my power into the bike properly, within 5 minutes of not riding that hard my front lower quads where on fire. I couldn’t figure it out. I just thought that since my road bike has long 190mm cranks and the trainer in the gym has 172mm crank arms that was the reason why, and or also having not ridden on the road bike position which is partly true. Yes I was no longer adapted to the terrible riding position my road bike had.

The next day Sunday I went for a hard trail run and a road ride with a group of the fastest riders around, again I felt very weak on the bike, and had trouble keeping up, and had to drop out after 10 miles. My legs felt so wrong and off when pedaling, I though maybe again it was because I was adapted to the trainer not the real bike, which I’m sure is part of the problem, also my legs where tired from pedaling yesterday in an unfamiliar wrong position, then doing a death run on the trail with the local super fit bike shop owner, we did a “slow run” that pushed me really hard.  So after being dropped and feeling like crap for not being able to hang on I decided that I’d never let that happen again, or I’d make sure I have ever advantage possible so that I can ride with the best. I was embarrassed, frustrated, angry with my lack of performance esp. after having trained very hard this winter so far.

So I went for a ride again Monday as I was convinced my problem was that I was putting all my ride time on the trainer and not on the real bike. I vowed never again to ride an indoor trainer, even if that meant riding outside in all conditions.  I will never be dropped again like that. I want to ride at my full potential. I want to ride fast, and I don’t want to make a training mistake that could have me spending months of time training wrong.

As I was riding Monday evening, I tried moving onto the rivet, ie. the nose of the seat and pedaling on the flats to see if I would feel the same comfort and power improvement like I discovered on the road bike. I was pedaling at 27MPH on the flats with relative ease when I got more over the pedals and put my hands in the drops, I was onto something. I immediately went home and tried sliding my seat forward, but I could see that it would only move forward maybe 2 cm, I felt like I need to come forward more like 5 or 6 cm lol, so I actually turned my seat post around. I could tell this was better right away as I didn’t feel so stretched out, and like I read earlier that day about fitting I now could not see the front hub.

In my excitement I threw on the night light on the road bike and went for an hour ride in the wind, cold and blackness of the night. It was solved, the source of all my ham and glut pain and weakness, the strange burning pain in my quads, the hand numbness from stretching out far and putting so much weight on my hands in the process etc. all where fixed. That was the funnest 1 hour of riding I had ever had on the road bike, I felt both comfortable and powerful at the same time! I felt like I could really enjoy riding more and more miles. I felt like a kid discovering the joy of just riding. I was both very happy to make this discovery in my position, but also upset that I had not  know about this sooner, oh well at least I didn’t ride the next 20 years like this on the road bike.

My bike looked really messed up with the seat post turned around and I went to the bike shop the next day looking to see if they had post that was either straight with no set back, and also to air my frustration with the lack of proper fitting they made when they sold me the bike.

I went to a different local bike shop and they suggested I do a fitting with them, they spend at least an hour, and have been doing fittings for 20 years, and since they build bike frames they had to know how to fit with an above average “bike shop” knowledge of fitting. It was the best $45 I ever spent, I think that they where not charging what they should for their fitting as it was night and day treatment compared to where I originally bought my bike.
They fixed a number of issues in my position, in general they found that I was too far back and way too stretched out, as I have long legs in relation to my torso.

They fixed

1. My left cleat had be worn way down from dabbing at stop lights, I didn’t even notice, but I did notice that it felt like my left pedal felt lower or I had a leg length issue or something.
2. They moved my cleats back a little, they turned my seat post back around, but a different seat on it and moved me forward and up from where I originally had been but not as far forward as in my test.
3. put a shorter stem on
4. rotated the handle bars up slightly
5. dropped the handle bars on the spacer 1cm
6. Suggested that I move my break levers up the bars more towards me, thus shorting my reach to the hoods.
7. Tilted the tip of the seat down a little bit as this new seat wasn’t comfortable tipped down.

I was excited and went for a test ride when I got home in the cold and dark.  Riding in this new position I could tell that it was a big step in the right direction, but that I still needed to make some changes, but we where 90% there I think now.

Changes I’m working on

1. This fitting position still felt like I was back to far and my legs weren’t getting used optimally, so I’ve moved myself forward about 1cm yesterday with the fore-aft position on the bike, that seems to be getting closer, but I still think I need to come forward 1-2cm more to be in my strong spot. I think this will put my KNOPS at +1-2cm, my kneed over the pedal axle. I’m just going to make small changes until I feel the strongest and most comfortable. Even if in theory I should be right over the pedal axles with my knees, for some reason it feels weaker to me, not sure why though, might be ratio of my upper to lower leg, or the way my tendons attach etc. or I’m just use to that position more, I’ll have to test it out for a couple weeks both ways to rule out adaptation. But I think they big clue you should notice is when one particular set of leg muscles consistently get sore first. I think when you’re fitted right, your legs burning is an overall feeling not just isolated excessively to one muscle, or one area of a muscle, when pedaling there should be a contribution to the pushing phase by both the front and back of leg muscles. And incorrect position could mean either the one side of the leg’s muscle are more sore and stiff then the other, or they’re both sore because the leg is being used wrong. I think that correct position on the bike is a bit of an art as everybody is built different so it takes an expert fitter and your own experimenting to find your sweet spot.
2. Since I’m more forward, I think I’m going to move the saddle up a little bit, I prefer my leg bend at the bottom position to be as shallow as possible so I’m up as I high as possible.
3. I need to put a different seat on, the seat I’m currently testing out sucks, it’s the worst one I have I have out of the three saddles I brought down. I’m going to try my two other saddles and replicate my fit to what the fitter had me at. I just have to measure what he has and transfer that over to the new seat, as each seat has it’s own thickness and fore-aft sweet spot.
4. With the new seat I need to adjust the seat to be more level as I was sliding down off the front of the crappy seat I have on now, and it’s putting much more weight on my hands as I’m holding myself back.
5. I need to rotate my brake hoods back as suggested I think that will be better.
6. Just for the heck of it in a couple weeks or so I’d like to throw my 175mm cranks back on for a few days and see what it’s like going back to them. I think the 190mm fit me good and I like them and everything, but I just want to double check, as I can’t believe more tall pro riders don’t ride longer cranks, it baffles me. I’ve only heard of Indurain using I think it was 180mm or 185mm? And only on his TT setup?

Conclusion:

Get a fitting, even if it costs you hundreds of dollars, get a real expert fitting, in fact get a second opinion. Fit is a very very important thing that’s often overlooked, and could be the key to why you’re having discomfort or lack of speed on the road bike etc. You’ll be faster, more comfortable, ride more miles and enjoy cycling a whole lot more.