All I can tell you is I’m 5’11” and I was really worried about wasting my money by dropping from 175mm to 165mm. So I bought the cheapest 165mm cranks I could find.
Within months, all my BMXs were fitted with 165mm.
I much prefer it.
Alvinthf on
Honestly crank length is a personal preference, unless needed because of wider and shorter rear on your frame, the only real difference to shorter cranks can be the bike feel more planted, it won’t necessarily make your riding any better.
FrancisSobotka1514 on
Longer crank arms give you more leverage when pedaling and all that .170 should be fine for you ,The norm was 175 or 180 for anything non flatland until recently .What cranks do you currently have
aSharpenedSpoon on
At 5’11” I like my 165. I do pedal pressure tricks and don’t have issues. It feels appropriate for the bike compared to MTB where you’re actually pedalling up hills. Remember if you drop 5mm off the crank arm thats 10mm narrower total stance. I don’t see a big benefit for long cranks besides pulling out of the gates at a track or if you’re 6’+. Most BMX nowadays is style which doesn’t take much pedalling, and they’re lighter.
4 Comments
All I can tell you is I’m 5’11” and I was really worried about wasting my money by dropping from 175mm to 165mm. So I bought the cheapest 165mm cranks I could find.
Within months, all my BMXs were fitted with 165mm.
I much prefer it.
Honestly crank length is a personal preference, unless needed because of wider and shorter rear on your frame, the only real difference to shorter cranks can be the bike feel more planted, it won’t necessarily make your riding any better.
Longer crank arms give you more leverage when pedaling and all that .170 should be fine for you ,The norm was 175 or 180 for anything non flatland until recently .What cranks do you currently have
At 5’11” I like my 165. I do pedal pressure tricks and don’t have issues. It feels appropriate for the bike compared to MTB where you’re actually pedalling up hills. Remember if you drop 5mm off the crank arm thats 10mm narrower total stance. I don’t see a big benefit for long cranks besides pulling out of the gates at a track or if you’re 6’+. Most BMX nowadays is style which doesn’t take much pedalling, and they’re lighter.