New chainset sizing

[Martin p]

Hi there , been looking at a new groupset & fancy Sram Apex . The problem is that they only do a 172•5 chainset & ive got 170 's on my 2 bikes . Looked on a chart this afternoon that for my size I should be running a 165 ! Does that amount make as much difference as the artcle suggests? Thanks for any advice
Into advance :-)

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Just for clarity, do you mean you require 160mm cranks. If so where did you obtain this information.
170+ mm cranks are pretty widespread in the cycle industry and fairly common. You will only find that you are able to specify crank length on higher end group sets and cranks.

 

[simon.r]

Assuming you have no particular knee issues I doubt you'll notice any real world difference between 170mm and 172.5mm

 

[Martin p]

Cheers Simon , good to know .got a bit paranoid reading that artical :-( T.m posted pretty much same reply on another thread , wasn't sure wether he was joking or not! :-) Any thoughts on Apex v Rival ?

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Any thoughts on Apex v Rival ?

Lots of thoughts on them none of which are positive, horrible company with even worse customer service.
If you get any issues you will be stiffed by the company.

 

[Old Plodder]

The old way of knowing your crank length is to take one fifth of your inside leg measurement.
I am between 165mm & 170mm, but having ridden 170mm for a long time, any change in length is very noticeable if you 'spin', I can't ride 175mm for much more than 40 miles without discomfort, & didn't like 172.5mm on a road bike that I had, (changed them to 170mm & all was well again).

 

[Martin p]

Just for clarity, do you mean you require 160mm cranks. If so where did you obtain this information.
170+ mm cranks are pretty widespread in the cycle industry and fairly common. You will only find that you are able to specify crank length on higher end group sets and cranks.

Apologies Mr Haematocrit , no idea how i missed your post yesterday i just put crank sizing into the search bar & a calculator said i should use 160 mm cranks , then read a few articles that seemed to support this .
The question was to do with me running 170 mm cranks & the new groupset only offering 172.5 mm . I know its not much of a difference in size so why have different crank lengths .

 

[Martin p]

Lots of thoughts on them none of which are positive, horrible company with even worse customer service.
If you get any issues you will be stiffed by the company.

Sound like you have had a rough deal mate , hope you get it all sorted out soon , the apex groupset seemed to tick all the boxes for me as i would be changing from a triple & was a bit worried about climbing hills with a standard double .

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Sound like you have had a rough deal mate , hope you get it all sorted out soon , the apex groupset seemed to tick all the boxes for me as i would be changing from a triple & was a bit worried about climbing hills with a standard double .

Yea I've had the rough end of the stick so to speak, the estimated time from start of my issues till the end Is currently nine months (not finished yet and we are nearly five months in).

I have SRAM on my MTB as well and its a good bit of kit, but I will never buy the brand again as I can't trust the company to look after customers.

The question you should ask imho is what you would do if SRAM took your components for five months and gave you nothing in return? - and that answer should determine if you should take the risk.

 

[Martin p]

The old way of knowing your crank length is to take one fifth of your inside leg measurement.
I am between 165mm & 170mm, but having ridden 170mm for a long time, any change in length is very noticeable if you 'spin', I can't ride 175mm for much more than 40 miles without discomfort, & didn't like 172.5mm on a road bike that I had, (changed them to 170mm & all was well again).

Blimey Old Plodder , its getting worse . That makes me a 152 mm crank ! The problem is the groupset is fixed to a 172.5 & i cant change it to a 170 mm . Its on at a really good price but not if i have to start changing cranks ect .

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Apologies Mr Haematocrit , no idea how i missed your post yesterday i just put crank sizing into the search bar & a calculator said i should use 160 mm cranks , then read a few articles that seemed to support this .
The question was to do with me running 170 mm cranks & the new groupset only offering 172.5 mm . I know its not much of a difference in size so why have different crank lengths .

I use specific length cranks and find they work better for me. If you want a set lightening cranks can provide them but they are not cheap. They make the s-works carbon cranks for specialized

 

[Martin p]

Yea I've had the rough end of the stick so to speak, the estimated time from start of my issues till the end Is currently nine months (not finished yet and we are nearly five months in).

I have SRAM on my MTB as well and its a good bit of kit, but I will never buy the brand again as I can't trust the company to look after customers.

The question you should ask imho is what you would do if SRAM took your components for five months and gave you nothing in return? - and that answer should determine if you should take the risk.

That

No wonder you are miffed fella , I would be too , that c**p service . What put me on to Sram in.the first place was that a mate had it on his mtb & really rated it .so on the stength of that ( although not that alone ) I bought a F / B road bike fitted with Apex . What put me off Sram before was the huge price of the road shifters (£160+) compared to others , but Merlins deal of £300 all in seemed spot on . Not do sure now :-(

 

[Martin p]

I use specific length cranks and find they work better for me. If you want a set lightening cranks can provide them but they are not cheap. They make the s-works carbon cranks for specialized

Thanks for the offer mate , but probably worth more than my bike :-) :-)