How Tadej Pogacar Won the Tour de France Riding 165mm Cranks

Short cranks win bike races! Tadej Pogacar has recently changed to riding 165mm cranks, shifting down from 172.5mm cranks, and in doing so has extended his margin of superiority over his competition. Riding on shorter cranks is not a new concept but is only now starting to gain mainstream favour, as Filippo Ganna, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Alex Dowsett and other current and retired pros have clearly demonstrates that moving to shorter cranks delivers substantial performance gains.
There is mounting research evidence creating a clear rationale for moving away from the traditional 170mm/ 172.5mm and 175mm cranks to 165mm, 160mm and even shorter!
In this video I present the Aerodynamics, Biomechanics, Physiology and Comfort gains from riding with shorter cranks on a road bike and share some of my own experiences, as a 192 cm rider using 160mm cranks on my bikes.

Contents:
00:00 Intro
00:24 Aerodynamics, Biomechanics, Physiology, Comfort
00:53 Raise the saddle the same distance as the cranks shortens
01:48 Keep the open hip angle
02:25 Reduced Knee Out-flare
02:48 Reduced Pelvic Hitching
03:16 Less Spinal Curvature
03:28 Better Breathing
03:39 Reduced Heel Drop
03:53 Keeping the Hip Angle Open - Summary
04:04 Make the Upper Body more Aero
04:37 More Muscle Force and Endurance
06:03 More Power and Mechanical Advantage
07:26 Metabolic Efficiency and Better Stability
08:25 Quicker Accelerations
08:43 Summary of Benefits Riding Shorter Cranks
09:05 What is the Downside?
09:28 My Personal Case Study

My Previous Videos Demonstrating Benefits of Shorter Cranks:

[rokker]

That's it! It was his cranks. How could I not think of that.

[arthurd]

randomly got recommended this. I switched from 172.5 to 165. my knees and hips feel much better.

[WildernessMusic_GentleSerene]

I am a full time cyclist, no car, ride 5000K a year. Over the last 56 years of serious cycling, I discovered my body recovers and does better riding different positions on the bike from day to day. I now have 5 road bikes all set up with different seat heights, saddle tilt, handlebar height, handlebar width, seat fore/aft changes too. And ride different shorts manufacturers and saddles also to keep skin wear in check. So now I get to feel fresh from day to day and choose a bike for the condition of my body for the day. All these changes are just a few millimeters in change, but some are more drastic like seat fore/aft which actually changes seat tube angles and reach. I go far forward to all the way back and in between, for all my bikes have aero-bars for a major position change option and the aero-bar position tends to demand steep seat tube angles, or, the max forward position. Bicycles are very limiting to our body, too confined, which makes out-of-saddle riding very important, and so I can remain out of saddle for long periods and alternating between seated and standing every few minutes if desired. All of this is to give the body recovery while on the bike.

[jayziac]

Thank you for pointing this out about Pogachar. I switched to 152mm (I'm 172cm tall), for relieving knee pain on longer rides, I'm not going back either. Hope the bike industry takes notice, it's also less weight.

[nadx]

I changed to smaller cranks two decades ago. Shorter crank and using an oval chainring for my triathlon bike allowed me to get more watts out at lower RPMs which helped with all the issues noted in this video. It also helped with friction. The RPMs were closer to that of my run pace, too.

[daviduranie]

Mate thanks for this fantastic video! Well edited, well researched, and informative.

I recently went from 175mm on my old triathlon bike to 165mm on a new one. Cadence increased naturally, and there seemed to be no learning curve. The less realised advantages are having no pedals hitting the ground in sharp corners, and a more relaxed transition to the run thanks to higher cadence. Makes a huge difference.

[carlosflanders]

Some good stuff here. My fitter, who is a big fan of short cranks, said that I have long femurs and am not really sensitive to crank length - so he didn't recommend going to shorter. Was having some breathing problems in my position a few years later and went from 175 to 165 mm and it certainly helped the lungs and power was normal. I felt that I was missing a bit on the hills - couple of 1-2 min steep hills on our regular TT course and I was always a few seconds slower than I expected on these segments. I'm a rouleur on the heavier side who does better than average when climbing - think the long femurs help. Went to 170s to get back some punchy climbing power. Will experiment with shorter cranks on a couple of local crits coming up to help with accelerating out of corners.

[timgroves]

I just installed 100mm cranks on my bike. I’m sure I’ll win the Tour next year.

[l.d.t.]

Pog also won in clothes size small and shoes size 42. I will cut a part of my toes and squeeze my feet in those same shoes. Clothes are stretch so no problem.

[noelbrown]

I can't believe the new trends in cycling- first, wider tires. Now, shorter cranks. It's the old saying " If it feels good do it!".🤙

[mahabkhatib]

I hope shorter cranks become more optional from bike manufacturers. I’ve been using Rotor 155 mm crank on my SWorks Aethos for years. This is the future of cycling. Thanks for explaining the importance of using shorter crank.

[dlckddyd]

Ppl are so naive. It's not about what is best crank size. But rather what crank size is for you. It's determine by leg strength, leg length, type of riding you like to do and what rotation size feels the best. It's not 1 thing or another but overall. Someone who is 183cm+ with long legs on 165 crank is probably not good fit. Just like someone who is 170cm short leg probably shouldn't be using 175crank

[edwinwong]

Informative, thanks. New SRAM Red now even available in 160mm🤩 (previous shortest was 165mm). Wouldn't be surprised to see some pros experimenting with 160mm next year. Went to 165 on one of my three bikes last year. To be honest, can't tell much difference between 165 and 170mm. But appreciate being able to raise the saddle. At some point on other two bikes will switch to 165 to raise saddle. Also might avoid some rock strikes and be able to pedal out of corners faster, or even pedal through corners with shorter cranks.

[teecee]

Best discussion of this topic as most people fail to mention that you will be required to make corresponding changes to saddle and handlebar height which are major considerations to take into account when shortening crank arm length.

[g.fortin]

I did it on my mountain bike.. knees were happy and I have not looked back. It's cool to know Tadej did this.. bet there will be more to follow once the word gets out !!

[jeffs]

Brilliant analysis and explanation. Best I’ve seen, subscribed. Just got 165mm cranks on a new frame instead of all the 170 and 172.5’s I now have. Like the feel and speed so far.

[roquelitojessedelosreyes]

Very well explained, Im 173cm tall and tried between 172.5 and 170 crank. But i find the shorter 170 comfortable. Thinking of going down a bit maybe 167.5/165 mm crank. Thank you

[luiscolon]

Pogi has made Lance’s and Pantani’s greatest exploits look natural.

[ucdcrush]

I recently went from 170mm to 165mm, and agree, it's more comfortable. My performance hasn't changed, but I've never really pushed it to find out. I'm certainly not any slower and might be a little faster. I'm 5'9.5", so about Poggies height. I raised my saddle (by 5mm) but made no other changes.

[Jin_KX]

Thanks for making a video about this topic and I too was intrigued when I found out Tadej Pogacar won the GIRO on 165s!

To share about my own experience with shorter cranks..
Am 176cm or 5ft 9 with an 820mm or 32 inch inseam.

Used 175, 172.5, 170, 165 and running 145mm at the moment. Before settling on 145s, I've shuffled between long and short cranks multiple times over the past few years while figuring my fit.

What I've noticed is that the shorter cranks allows me to deliver much smoother pedal strokes and this was the most significant with 145s. The pedaling just feels more granular and I feel that I can deliver power in the forward and down stroke more efficiently. I'm unable to replicate this same feeling with longer cranks. 165mm and shorter is when I start to feel this.

The loss in leverage felt significant when I went down to 165mm yet I kind of enjoy mashing more with shorter cranks. Surprisingly, I didn't notice any difference in leverage when I eventually went down to 145mm from 165mm. While speed may not be an accurate indicator, I do notice completing my usual loops with almost the same time compared to the longer cranks with a lower perceived effort. Recovery also seems easier when riding on consecutive days.

Riding with a power meter is insightful. Go to a lower gear and spin 10 - 15rpm higher and noticed that I'm able to easily produce the same power or higher on the same hill compared to the longer cranks. I think it could be the adaptation kicking in since I'm able to mash on my 145s better than when I started using them about a 1.5 months ago.

Highly encourage anyone who has chanced upon this topic to experiment. Here are a few brands for cranks shorter than 165mm
Sugino & Shimano 105 does 160mm cranks
Croder - Starts from 140mm (I'm using this)
Dixna La - Starts from 130mm.
Appleman Crank - Starts from 100mm
Rotor - Starts from 155mm