> >i'd like to trade my 165mm campy pista cranks (record)
> >for some 170mm. I'll consider 167.5mm too.
>
> I was under the impression that 165mm was the correct length
> for pista
> (track) cranks so as not to ground the outside pedal on the
> bankings, no
> matter how big the rider (but I've been wrong before).
>
> Back when I started riding and noticing these things (early
> 1950s) I
> thought all cranks were 6.5" (165mm) but never really paid
> that much
> attention. When I resumed serious riding, my 1978 Nishiki
> came with 165mm
> Apex cranks and I thought that might be appropriate for a 21"
> frame. I
> later upgraded to a Shimano 600 crankset which was 170mm,
> which was the
> most common size, but I didn't notice any difference. There
> was always a
> lot of discussion over crank lengths in Bicycling magazine,
> but no real
> agreement. The only conclusion I could draw was that longer
> cranks were for
> larger people.
>
> Anybody have any wisdom on this pertaining to bikes and
> riding styles over
> the years?
John, I think that for pure match sprinting, people generally always used - and continue to use - the 165mm (6.5") cranksets. It's worth noting though, that under the "right" circumstances, you can still have the outside pedal strike the banking. [Parenthetically speaking, I did this last year on the velodrome near Dallas - i.e. Frisco Superdrome - and the gritty surface abraded my tights, shorts, gloves and knuckles... I imagine the London, Ontario 'drome could also pose the possibility of pedal strike, even with 165s.] It seems to me that - after the mid-1970s - people started using the longer cranks for pursuits and time trail events; i.e. those events where you're generally going a constant speed, staying low in the bankings and staying perpendicular to the track surface. I imagine that on a track with shallow bankings - e.g. a place like Kissena Park in NYC, Hern Hill in London or Penrose Park in St. Louis - you could use 170mm cranks in the Points Race. Anyway, that's how it seems to me... cheers, Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)
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