Track track training – Day 3:
I actually managed to get to the track today although it was not for very long as I had to go to my parents house as they were going out and my son and myself were dog sitting for them.
Although the session was pretty short it was long enough to know that 170mm cranks is the best option for me for now. My knee felt really good, with no pain, my pedal strokes felt much better and smoother and manuals felt much better too which was a surprise.
The only issue I had with the Promax cranks was that the right crank arm felt a bit floppy like i was bending it when I pedalled. I am not sure if this was due to the crank arm actually bending or if it is just the fact that I am used to Shimano DXR cranks that are super stiff but it felt weird all the same!
I got 6 max speed first straights in which was enough to make me realize that 170mm cranks are the way forward for me for now. I also found that pedal manuals were way easier with the shorter cranks compared to the 180mm cranks that I had been using in my previous sessions.
I then remembered that my 4x bike that was stored at my parents house so I took them off while I was there to fit them to my Curtis only to find that the cranks were a different standard and the spindle was too long for the BMX!
After putting the Promax cranks back on I decided to buy some 170mm DXR cranks to use permanently for the rest of the season. I had a look online and CrucialBMX had the best price by far on Shimano DXR MX71 cranks with only sizes 165mm and 170mm left in stock (I got the last set of 170mm’s as there are only 165mm left now).
DXR’s were down from £320 to £289 and everywhere else they were still selling for £320 so not a bad saving 🙂
Once the new cranks are here I am going to switch the Promax cranks to my Son’s ftb and the sell the 180’s as they are obviously too long for me and cause injury so I may as well sell them to get back some of the money I have just spent on the new 170mm cranks.
The new cranks will be here early next week so I will then be able to compare the 180mm to the 170mm like for like and see which is better although as the 180mm cranks hurt my knee and mean that I can not ride properly, the 170mm cranks are winning out. I am going to stick to the 170mm for now as when I was riding 175mm DXR cranks I also got a fair amount of knee pain so I want to see if the 170mm’s will alleviate this.
I checked online and ALL road bikes that come in my size come with 170mm cranks so I think that the 170mm may be the perfect size for me although I am a little worried how it will affect my gate which I will find out at gate training at Bristol BMX tomorrow.
I am going to start the gates session with the same shoes as I use for training (SHIMANO AM45 shoes) so that I can compare how the bike feels compared to the last few days of riding. I will then switch to my sidi shoes which are way lighter and stiffer than the Shimano shoes and see how the cranks feel with them. The Sidi shoes also have a much better foot position compared to the Shimano shoes so always make me ride faster as your are kept on your toes by the shoe.
I am just hoping that the cranks last the gates session as I can do without snapping cranks! To be honest I think that it may just be that I am used to Shimano cranks as I have them on all of my bikes and they are all pretty similar so I am guessing that the angle of the crank arms may just be a little different which makes it feel like the crank arm is bending. But it could also be that I am bit heavy for the cranks at 106kgs!!