resurect once more…
I have seen training wheel not required (I watched it the evening after our woodhill ride with Andrew Carter (which will have some footage your new movie "Inner Balance) however i wasn’t looking for the uber short cranks so i must have missed them)
I"m also looking for them.
SadFace.
That’s one of those DVDs I’ve never ended up pinning down. I’d love a copy to add to my collection, and now to look out for those short cranks!
Holy thread resurrection though - is 16 years a new record?
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Yeah a lot has changed. This was an actual coker. These days, people trying this would have an every so slightly easier time. After all, a carbon rim and light tyre would make spinning easier (assuming no blow outs of course). 
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Yeah, over 1kg saved in rotational wheel weight would make quite the difference!
The addition of decent brakes (primarily disk) also makes the concept a little less scary - not needing to use the cranks to slow down really improves the usability of shorter cranks in my experience.
I imagine the commercially available 75mm VCX cranks would be rather nice on a carbon 36er if you live in a flat part of the world.
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We had one guy participating in the europemarathon with 64mm Cranks on his 36". He was the second slowest in the race, slowest was a small girl on 24"
Maybe @vookash can tell more about him?
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LOL Yeah I guess this a good example of not being able to shorten cranks forever and keep getting a better result. On my 24" (yes that is a lot smaller) I have gone down to 75mm before but for me at least and in the areas I cycled there was no real gain over 89s or even really the 100s that I usually run. I suspect it might work with a lighter wheel/tyre combo (I have a fairly wide rim and not the lightest tyre) but with what I had and with the hills in my area, anything gained on the flat is lost as soon as I meet a hill. Also if I have to slow down for any reason (e.g. a commute with roads to cross) it takes too long to get back up to speed. With 36 this would be much, much more extreme.
On my 36er I currently run 117mm. Perhaps one day I might try 100 but I can never really imagine getting below that (at least where I live). Hats off to those who can make it work.
Yeah, we have one Polish fan of short cranks. I think he uses 70s and 58s depending on the ride and definitely he is slower on them then he would be on longer ones.
Anyway… if it was easy it would not be called unicycling 
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I run 110s as the shortest Spirit cranks they sell, and have done for a long time.
I can do hills, even decently steep ones, but if I was doing serious hills regularly I’d go a little longer as it’s not great on the knees.
I think @rogeratunicycledotcom rides something around 90mm, and keeps beating me at the UK road race so must be pretty fast. I imagine he’s probably also tried silly short lengths over the years.
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For anyone in the US:
A bit steep postage wise to get it over here.
Hopping on the short crank bandwagon. I’ve been using 90/100 on my 29 and have settled on the 100s for where I live as I still like having a bit of control, the 90s have moved over to my 24" and the short cranks are some of the most fun to ride. I find they don’t work as well on long days for me (anything hilly over 40km) as they makes hills much harder closer to the end of the day. On uneven terrain you can ride them but you slow down so much that 125s or something would serve you better.
I picked up a set of the VCX 100/125/150 for a ride I’m doing next year with some friends. It’s a 4 day trip on rail trails around central Ontario Canada on a brakeless 36 and I’m curious how these will perform as I’ll have more speeds to choose from. For commuting around the city though teeny cranks are my favourite.
I found the 90s on the 24 quite good for speed and it makes climbing still fairly easy as it’s similar to the 125 on my 29. Pending my wife’s thoughts (for budget) I want to try a pair of the 75 for fun but I fear they may not get used as the lack of control on my 24 much be better compensated for by just learning to spin the 90s better.
I also like 90s (well 89mm but that is basically the same) on a 24 for cruising around the city. While not as quick as a big wheel you can get a nice little tempo on a very compact unicycle. I sometimes commute like this even though I now own two 36ers. It is just a nice bit of variety.
5m 04s into this will get you the 40mm cranks in “Training Wheel Not Required”…
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That looks pretty nuts. I see what people meant about looking like a BC wheel.
yes, 50mm. They are silly, but fun.
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The only thought I have there, talking about such small cranks: use clipless pedals to have much more force 
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I think climbing speed is more important than downhill. Riding muni, I think my top speed was a little faster with my 27.5x3.0 145mm crank combo than with the 24x2.8 148mm, but I know for a fact that I could climb better on the 24", and if you’re having a UPD, walking up a hill and then remounting, well that is going to slow your overall trip time down way more than the extra mph that shorter cranks might deliver on the downhill or the flats. Maybe if you live in Florida or the Netherlands that’s not an issue though.
Also, I think that just like there being a point where shorter cranks stop being a speed advantage, there’s also a point where longer cranks stop being a climbing advantage. I think that point is probably around 160mm for most wheels and maybe 170mm for a 36er.
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I am tempted to flag this post because it is so disturbing to me.
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I mean… isn’t that just unicycling generally? 
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