• Feeling a Bit Cranky

    Guitar Ted 8:19 AM
    Yo! Today's rant is about something that has stirred much debate in the past, right up until now. Cranks. The "levers" that make your cogs go 'round. Specifically, we're going to discuss the length of your cranks. If'n ya don't like it- then I say, "throw them to the lions!".

    I really enjoy debates about crank length. Studies have been done. Some even scientific. Most contradict another study. Leonard Zinn, of Velo News fame, did an extensive study on this subject. His findings were inconclusive. ( see more at www.velonews.com )

    So, what do we know? What is the right crank length? Nobody can tell you! It amazes me that somehow we arrived at some of the "standards" in the bicycling community that we have. Check out most MTB bike cranks. You will find a very large percentage of them are 175mm. long. Now, check out a hybrid, comfort, or road bike crank. Most of these are 170mm. in length. Of course, you will find other lengths- 172.5mm on road bikes, or 180mm. on a very few mountain bikes. But the industry "standard" is 170mm. or 175mm. Why? Hmmm. I think it "just happened" that way, really. Common knowledge says that a MTB rider needs "more leverage", thus a slightly longer arm length. Easier for manufacturing purposes. Costs less money to produce two sizes, instead of many.

    Let me ask you this. If there were only two shoe sizes, would you just accept that, or demand a change, more suitable to your feet? Why should you accept that whatever came on your bike is right for you? I have experimented with various crank lengths. While I cannot recommend what's right for you, I do have a better idea of what is right for me. I would encourage any serious rider to try a couple of different crank lengths. Give it a couple of weeks to a month of serious effort. Try borrowing another bike, or purchasing cheaper cranks for your experiments. Do it in the off season, so as not to throw off your training for races. Maybe even trying different gearing combinations, while your at it. Your "motor" is different than anyone elses, so you should really try this if your a serious competitor.

    What I Say: Has anyone been to Menard's lately? Wood, nails, tools, and.....COFFEE! Yeah! and CHEAP too. While it's not up to par with my favorite, which is Seatle's Best, "Henry's Brew", it's not bad. It definitely has that "cheap truckstop, non-filtered heater" taste going for it though! Hey, I'm an addict, so whatever, dude! This weeks musical clue is a little tougher! Jeff and Carlos are excluded from the competition, as this weeks submission is from Europas shop music collection, and they have a heads up on this. Bear, are you ready? Later! Hug your family on Saturday! Have fun! It's not about the goofy man in the red suit! Guitar Ted!