Actually it's so they don't hit their pedal on the wall during pursuits.

Reducing your crank will make spinning easier, but crank length is usually determined by the height of the rider.

Actually, it's a bigger concern during mass-start events, if the pace drops (eg: the riders position is more upright, rather than parallel to the surface normal of the banking).

You could go screaming through a turn with 180s if you are up to speed, but when you're going slow it'd be a recipe for losing some skin.

I wouldn't track stand on the wall with long cranks.

Pursuiters don't track stand, EVER during their event. You are obviously thinking of sprinters. Sprints are pretty much the only event where anyone trackstands.

Sprints:

Pursuit:

Team Pursuit:


Any questions?

I am using 175's and I know that slows me a bit however they just work better for me for climbing and such so I will accept a bit slower RPM. I can hold 165 RPM for 25 seconds fairly often now. I have also worked on my sprint on the road by sprinting downhill to give me speed and uphill to improve my power and acceleration. I think this will be a very interesting race season for me! Thanks for all the replies

Yes, that's true, but I am not talking about radical reductions as they do. Only 2,5 - 5 mm. Just makes it easier to spin faster. Although the "perfect" crank length as has also been pointed out is determined by height and leg length etc. when you consider the infinite variability of the human form all riding the relatively very limited range of crank lengths available, you will see that (a) "perfect" is a crock and (b) there is a wide range of tolerance. I myself ride 2 bikes with differing lengths, for no other reason than I got a huge bargain on a new D/A 7800 set which were allegedly too long. They are great. No hassles from either 172,5 or 175.

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