Itty-Bitty Cranks

My cranks are short. Like super short. The average size large bicycle will often come with 175mm cranks. Compared to the 135mm cranks on all of my bikes, 175mm feels like a mile. So why the hell are my cranks so short? It all has to do with knee flexion. While wearing my prosthetic, I can't bend my knee more than about 90 degrees. During the pedal stroke on 175mm cranks, someone's knee bends way more than that 90 degree limit. The shorter the crank arms, the less knee flexion is required to complete a pedal stroke.

That is why I have those 135mm cranks. However, to adjust for the decrease in leverage these shorter cranks need to be paired with an easier gear. This comes in the form of a smaller front chainring. A 28t ovalized chainring from Wolftooth is the perfect pairing for my personal setup.

So where does one find such short cranks? There is always the custom route! Fabricators like Appleman make amazing product and can even mix and match crank arm lengths in the set. Otherwise, some main stream brands are offering super short cranks as stock options. Hope and 5Dev both offer the magic 135mm crank length that works well for me. Maybe someday we will even see brands like Sram and Shimano joining the short crank party!