Do you have a brake on your 36”? I expect everybody experiences with shorter cranks. I did on the 29” and 32”. After having ridden with the for a few months, I came to the conclusion that 150s were the most comfy in the end, both with mounting and riding. I know many prefer shorter.
Generally I only ride with a helmet, but running out of riding fast with 36” is not so easy. I mostly ride the Nimbus 29 at cruising speed of 14/15 kph. That is easier to run out of at a UPD.
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Yeah I have a brake, though in the moment of the UPD I didn’t think it would’ve helped much being that I was already leaning too far forward. In hindsight I would rather have fallen off before I tried catching myself by going faster lol
That is one of the reasons for me to stay with relatively long 145mm cranks on the 29er, for the moment. The chances of being able to catch myself by accelerating are in my experience higher, thanks to the additonal torque provided by the longer cranks. The flipside is that the max speed is a bit lower. There’s no free lunch.
Or maybe I should train to be able to run faster, then I could outrun something like a 29"/110mm combo 
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Yeah, I did that as a joke because it seemed nuts that anyone would actually use toe clips. But then I saw riders in the German team (in the Lobster race) using them; they were incredible to watch. Unfortunately, a racer from a different team was also using toe clips (and he wasn’t remotely fast, so I’m not sure why), and he had a terrible fall on the final day. He broke his patella and/or femur, if I’m not mistaken. He and his wife had driven all the way to Nova Scotia from Alaska (5000 miles!) with their dog, and now she had to drive them all the way back. I’ve never seen an angrier person than her on the day another rider and I helped her pack up their station wagon. For him, that was a level-5 UPD, but for their marriage, it might have been level 6!
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This is perhaps the distinction between newer and more-experienced riders. I have been riding almost continually for 42 years, so it would never occur to me to wear a helmet on a standard 36" (geared, yes). I also don’t use shin- or wrist-guards. And I don’t have a brake (but I do like my extension). I think newer riders probably opt for some of that equipment, and for good reason. I use 125s, too – 145s and higher have wrought havoc on my knees in the past. I used to use 110s, but I had some nasty UPDs and opted for 125s, and I’ve had no UPDs (or knee problems) either.
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