Crank Arm Length

[TomWood]

I've been riding 170mm cranks on my road bike, hard tail, and earlier full sus bikes. Last full sus came with 175s, and they always felt too long from the first ride to the last over two years. More pedal strikes, too much "throw" for lack of a better word to describe the feeling. Back on 170s on my new bike and they feel great. Rode my friends bike with 165s and had absolutely no complaints about it. I'm 6ft tall, and while my legs are a bit short for my height, I wouldn't consider myself or my legs short. Starting to see more click-baity videos on youtube about how cranks are better shorter - trending towards the 165mm.  

Looking at upgrading my street trials bike now and seeing that cranks are pretty consistently at 175mm on the Inspired bikes. I'm wondering if there's a reason for going for longer cranks on bikes that have smaller wheels and typically want more clearance anyway. Anyone who's been in the game for a while have any insights? If 165/170 cranks feel more comfortable, am I missing anything by not using longer cranks? Is there a reason the default has become the longest standard for these relatively small 24" bikes?

[Matt24.]

Try this 

If you do a search on it been quite a lot of topics in the past in some detail on people's opinions 🙂

[SergeL]

I feel like 170-175 cranks are easier for fakie stuff and spinning tricks. But shorter cranks positively affect straight jumping, because you are launching from both feets rather than only rear. They also improve balance a bit and give more room for barspins and obstacles.