slightly longer cranks = 36er love

[siafirede]

@nathan

After 1600km of riding recently on a geared 36, mostly in high gear which is the same leverage as using 100mm on a regular 36, I did a couple of rides last week on 125s ungeared. Man it felt bad. I was dying for shorter cranks. 100mm is the way to go once you’re used to it. But 110/114 is an ideal compromise. You actually can climb ok on them with practice. The first time I realized that was on the Alps Tour in Austria in 2005. Ken Looi climbed our first pass with 110s easily and said the descent down the other side was one of the best he’d done. It was 800m in the rain, kind of steep, and he just let it fly. That isn’t for everyone, but the idea holds: once you’re used to 110s they are fantastic. YMMV of course:)

—Nathan

I also love the 150s on my geared 36…but, after trying out 165s on roland’s geared 36, I think that the 165s make the high gear feel so much nicer. In low gear though…the 165s just felt silly to me. Also, shifting with the 165s was significantly harder than the 150s…I was only able to successfully shift to high gear once or twice.

I love the fact that I have two usable gears on the geared 36 w/ 150s, and that shifting is SO EASY. I may try putting on the 165s though because I almost always keep it in high gear and the longer cranks were a lot easier on my muscles.

[IUni]

@nathan

I urge you to keep trying the 114s. I have found them SO SO Much nicer and smoother than 125s. When you’re doing a ride without any steep climbing, slap them on. 200km is not enough of a trial. After 500 to 750km you will be loving those babies.

After 1600km of riding recently on a geared 36, mostly in high gear which is the same leverage as using 100mm on a regular 36, I did a couple of rides last week on 125s ungeared. Man it felt bad. I was dying for shorter cranks. 100mm is the way to go once you’re used to it. But 110/114 is an ideal compromise. You actually can climb ok on them with practice. The first time I realized that was on the Alps Tour in Austria in 2005. Ken Looi climbed our first pass with 110s easily and said the descent down the other side was one of the best he’d done. It was 800m in the rain, kind of steep, and he just let it fly. That isn’t for everyone, but the idea holds: once you’re used to 110s they are fantastic. YMMV of course:)

—Nathan

Nathan:

I took your advice. After about an additional 150 km I started to really enjoy the shorter cranks. Today’s ride taking me over 400k on the shorter cranks. The middle of my ride today (just over 60k), I really had the “floating” on the pedals sensation, and I did about 30k in heaven (virtually calm conditions and some fresh smooth paved road too!). The last part of the ride, I was getting a bit tired, but kept up with far less wobble (pretty straight most of the time I figure) in comparison to my initial 200k. In retrospect for the initial 200k, I realize that I was probably pressuring too much, thinking “circles” rather than “floating”. The climbing is still a bit of an effort in comparison to 125mm, but it’s coming along too.

Since the last post I also cranked the saddle a bit flatter in gradual increments, and extended the KH handlebar, so that handlebar is about 1/2" from max extension. I find that I’m riding with my hands on top of the barends, even at that, so I am going to move the bar to max extension for my next ride.

Thanks for the encouragement. I probably would have gone back to the 125mm without that prodding.

A smile or grimace arriving after 60k - not sure.

[nathan]

Way to go! That sounds awesome. It only gets better as time goes on…

[OrganicSteam]

I want to get a set of 114 for my coker. Terry talked about the qu-ax with zero Q factor, but I can’t seem to find them on unicycle.com. What cranks are everyone using (114’s).

[nathan]

I have one pair of Bicycle Euro 110 plus a couple of pairs of custom cut down aluminum cranks (100 and 110). 110 vs 114 is about the same although the difference is noticeable.