Getting cranky

Posted on April 8, 2008 by je

As noted in my Extreme Makeover — Bicycle Edition post, I need to upgrade the cranks on my Tri/TT bike. For some reason, the bike came with short person crank arms despite being a tall dude bike. And I, being a newb, didn’t know this was something I should have corrected.

So, if anyone wants some barely-used Shimano Ultegra 172.5 mm cranks (53/39) lemme know.

In the meantime, I’m getting ready to order some new mashers.

I can get some Dura-Ace cranks for about $400 after my club discount — they’re 740 grams — or something else.

Any recommendations for a bike novice from the experts? 

Update: I went with an impulse — kind of like a lot of things in my life — and just bought these 177.5 cranks. Campy Record crank arms, Record BB FFFSA Aero TT 55/42 chainrings. Only $150.

I hope to have them on the bike in time for the next Saltair.

 

Filed under: Cycling

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5 Responses to “Getting cranky”

  1. UtRider, on April 8th, 2008 at 9:45 am Said:

    Save yourself some $ and buy them on eBay:

    http://cgi.ebay.com/2008-Shimano-Dura-Ace-FC-7800-Crankset-175-BB_W0QQitemZ160226525017QQihZ006QQcategoryZ56195QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

  2. je, on April 8th, 2008 at 9:52 am Said:

    Thanks for the link.

    I was kinda dismayed at the $400 (at best) price from Backcountry. I’m not interested in spending that much money — I know, I know, I’ve already spent way more than that — for new cranks.

  3. Facelessghost, on April 8th, 2008 at 9:59 am Said:

    Don’t worry–in a couple of years you won’t think twice about spending ridiculous amounts of money on your bike.

    That said, I keep hearing that Rival cranks are available in 180s (most recently here: http://velonews.com/article/74382/technical-qa-with-lennard-zinn—big-bikes-have-special). Jacques Maynes had them on his TT bike that was featured in VN last year, and I’ve seen Zirbel on Rival as well. You may want to look into that, because your only other options for long cranks are not cheap.

    Or, you could probably score 9-speed DA cranks pretty cheap, and they’d work fine.

  4. je, on April 8th, 2008 at 10:10 am Said:

    Do these cranks look workable?

    As a fellow tall guy what would be your honest recommendation for a Cat 5 guy hoping to eventually, but not too rapidly, move up to Cat 4 then 3?

    I’ll fork out the huge bucks in a couple of years perhaps when I buy the next dream bike.

  5. Facelessghost, on April 8th, 2008 at 10:52 am Said:

    I don’t see why those wouldn’t work.

    For the record, though, I’ve never ridden anything other that 175s (and I have longer legs than most riders my height). Cannondale doesn’t make their SI crank in a 180 for my road bike, and I can’t afford 180s for my TT bike (yet). If you feel comfortable on 180s, get them. If you can’t afford them, 175s won’t hold you back.

    Remember, crank length is a touchy subject. Fellow tall guy Lennard Zinn is all in favor of them, yet he did a study last year and found that crank length had no effect on power output. The study wasn’t rigorously controlled, but it suggests that crank length may only affect comfort. I felt much better when Hanseen put me on the longer cranks, but I’m not sure if I would have been much faster.

    Also, with 180s you’ll lose some cornering clearance. You’ll have to decide if that matters.

    I’d like to ride 180s; hoewever, I just ordered a new bike last night and it’s a Cannondale, so I’ll be on 175s for at least one more season.

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