So I was checking out Remco riding to his second gold medal in these Olympics and started to wonder, "Is riding shorter cranks really better?". I saw Pogacar ride to victory in the Tour de France and Giro de Italia and thought to myself, "wow, he's going good on these short cranks!" I've also seen all the stuff online about "opening up your hip angle" and so forth. There are a lot of pros for cranks length.
We've also seen all the studies showing that crank length doesn't really affect power output. A lot of "expert bike fitters" have thus concluded that you should fit a rider for comfort, and therefore "shorter is better."
But what if you are more comfortable riding longer cranks? 🤔
I feel, for me, that short cranks (165 mm and maybe even 170 mm) aren't the answer. I'm 5'11" on a good day and don't have particularly long legs but I still feel that the short cranks might be too short. I'm a 175 mm kind of guy, but am I that different from Remco or Evenepoel?
In terms of riding ability, "yes", but in terms of the proportion of their saddle height to their crank length, we aren't that different.
Both riders, Evenepoel especially ride with a toes down, flat back approach, indicating a high saddle height for their particular leg length. Their saddle heights are:
With my source being the internet. Dividing crank length (in mm) by saddle height (in cm) we get:
Taking my saddle height at 75.4 cm (for the same leg angle) with a crank length of 175 I get 2.32, the same as Evenepoels and close to Pogacars.
I think you want a comfortable crank length and longer might be better for you especially if you don't like to ride super low. There's about as low as I can go (independent of crank length) and I think 175 fills more of the gap.
"Filling the gap" might actually be more aero as it keeps helps close an aero pocket.
Another consideration could be muscle usage. Your muscles get a fuller range of motion using longer cranks and this might work them in a way that is more optimal for yourself.
A final consideration I'd like to add is stress on your knees. If you're pedaling at the same cadence in the same gear you'll have less torque going into your knee joints on a particular pedal stroke. I feel longer cranks may be better on some tendon issues in your knees.
Anyways, when you setup a bike fit maybe you should think for yourself and not follow the latest trend in cycling.