I’m a little torn between getting the Koxx 125s and 140s so I need some opinions from you brilliant experts out there.
Ok, I’ve a trials-ish uni which I use for hops and street stuff. I’d like something that I can use to learn flips and spins with. I’ve read about how some people find the 125s too tiny to place their feet properly on but I don’t think it’d be a problem for me - my feet aren’t that bit. As for height distribution and all, I’m 171cm.
My current cranks are 140s and although I am fine with them in general, I find it a little unresponsive when I do things like air-pedal (for lack of a better term. I mean trying to pedal in the middle of a hop). Also, I tend to miss the pedal further out when I jump mount sometimes and I think I’d prefer my pedals to be closer together. Of course, this could mean a lack of skill on my part so I’m not too sure what to interpret of that.
I haven’t tried 125s before because no one has them. Any opinions, guys?
125s are generally better for more street stuff, flips etc. 140s have more leverage and are generally better for trials. but it’s really all personal preferance.
125 is at the long end for Freestyle. I use 110 or 114, and some riders use 89s. For your mix of riding I’d use the 125s. 140s will be hitting the ground all the time and though I don’t do flips (yet), I can imagine the longer the crank, the more work it would be.
I prefer short cranks. But if you get 140’s it’s gonna take bit more force to get a flip but not much but doubles you’ll really notice it. When I rode a 05 KH at my local shop the other day doubles were hard and that was 135s. Somone smarter will pop in and tell you somthing better this is just my opinion.
I’m leaning heavily towards 125s at the moment but am just afraid I’d not be used to them. Are they significantly faster/responsive/etc? I’ve tried out my friend’s Miyata which is probably either a 105 or 115 and it was kinda freaky at the first attempt. Very smooth and the wheel was lots harder than mine. My current cranks aren’t the smoothest of creatures either so new cranks + new length makes me a little wary…
I’d just like to say, I put 175mm Cranks on my 20" before, just because there is two bikes the same in my house. It was the worst feeling ever, but you get so much leverage in trials it’s not even funny, it was easier to ride up a really steep hill than it was to walk…
Shorter cranks are definetly better for freestyle and street stuff, 125mm is the normal 20" length, shorter for freestyle/street and longer for Trials.
Get the 125mm because you already have the 140mm and you can compare the two side by side and if you really don’t like the 125’s you can exchange them for new 140’s.
Hi Fluxus Maximus, I’m Andy.
Around 6 months ago I was deciding between 140mm and 125mm cranks too.
(I was upgrading a nimbus trials)
The difference between 140mm and 125mm cranks is definately noticable but to be honest, it's not THAT crazily different. If you wen t to 125mm cranks you're [B]not[/B] going to have to learn again, it might take you a week to adjust though. Generally, you're going to adjust pretty quickly.
Are they more responsive? Yes.
Are they faster? Yes.
Is it ever a problem? No. Whatever you have, like I say a trillion times, you're going to master. It's not going to limit you. They might be too sensitive at first, but you'd definately learn to control them and then you'd definately enjoy the benefits of shorter cranks (A smoother, faster, quicker, more nimble ride).
You might have guessed but I decided for the Koxx 127mm cranks and I've never regretted my decision. Someone once told me: [U]"You can easily do trials on 127mm cranks but you can't as easily do street on 140mm cranks".[/U] 127mm cranks are versitile, you can do anything on them and really, street is where it's at.
My Koxx cranks (127mm) are smooth, fast and I can zoom around all over the place as much as I want. They make my uni glide around the place, they just push it along. They also help for rolling hops which rock (they let you get speed easier so you can get more height).
I digress
I always like to think about the Z-Boys. They were the first advancing skaters after the 60s. They rode on awful, heavy, solid boards and the smallest stone would throw them off. In spite of this they went on to create the first real advances in skateboarding by basically inventing half pipe boarding by skating in people’s pools.
The moral of the story is that you unless you’re setting out to be the best in the world, you’re going to basically work with whatever you’ve got and it’s Not going to hinder you that much.
PS. PM me when you make a decision.
PPS. Get 125mm cranks!
To throw my 2 pence in here, I ride with 137’s (and used to ride with 140’s). I can crankflip, I can doubleflip both ways and do other flip tricks. I think (am pretty confident) that Shaun uses 137’s too. They won’t effect your flip.
Are you really tall swabrim? I have real short legs for some weird reason that might be why longer cranks are real weird for me. And long cranks arn’t slowing you down either like geez man that doublflip of yurs is purdy nice and you did em with metal pedals.
But dude you know how 140’s feel go for the 125’s.
You know what? That’s exactly what I thought with the Z-boys as examples mostly because we had a documentary screened about them in college 2 years or so back and that left a huge impression.
I’ll PM you for sure and will do that again when my cranks arrive and I try them out.
