Why You Should Consider (Really) Short Cranks

Short CranksA while back, I was visiting with my physical therapist and chatting with him about my aching hip flexors.  I had recently raced the Washington State Time Trial Championship and noticed right after the race that my hip flexor ached whenever I had to raise my thigh.  He mentioned that he was shifting a number of triathletes towards much shorter cranks– about 165mm or shorter.  In his experience, this made a lot of sense because it reduced the very acute hip angle at the top of the pedal stroke.  Given how my hip flexors were killing me from raising my knees up to my chest 5,400 times (90 rpms for about an hour) only a few days earlier, I couldn’t help but nod enthusiastically in agreement. Continue reading