Discussion
@gbargoud asks:
Q6. Is there something that may not usually come standard on a bike that all of your bikes have in common or that you would basically require on any new bike that you buy?
#BikeNiteQ #BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes #BikeNite46_2026 cc @bikenite
@dgodon @ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite
shorter crank arms
completely got rid of my knee pains 🥳
PS: there’s a formula for this
inseam (edit: in cm) * 2.08 = ideal crank length (edit: in mm)
(find the closest ones available)
> inseam * 2.08 = ideal crank length
??? My inseam is about 60cm. A crank length over 1.2m seems... wrong?
just your lack of imagination and creativity 😜
🤣🤣🤣
you’re right of course 🤣 the result is in millimetres.
My bike came with 175mm crank arms and after a few months, I nearly had to give up cycling, I couldn’t even go like five kilometres without knee pain anymore. It was peculiar though, I clearly didn’t have pain inside the joints - what hurt was the patella tendon!
It took me a while to find out what might cause it, because all those standard parameters were correct (saddle hight etc) but in the end someone pointed me towards those crank arms, and it was this formula that saved me. My inseam is 79,5cm. So:
79,5*2.08 = 165,36
It does seem wrong to multiply cms and get mms as a result but it’s not meant to be proper mathematics, just bike-fitting 😉
Fortunately that 165mm length was available for my bike. I had to have a break of maybe four weeks (which was haaaard) until the tendinitis was completely gone, but then I had installed those shorter crank arms on my bike and the pain never returned.
@nellie_m @bobjonkman @dgodon @ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite I mean, multiply 79,5*0,208 = 16,536 which is the result in centimeters. The times 10 to get to millimeters is just rolled into the 2,08 value. So it is proper mathematics!
Are you sure it’s not magic? 😳
As long as you’re aware of the importance of crank arms, and arrive at the best length for your body, it’s all good 😇
(dyscalculia sometimes makes my life...interesting 😂 I’m so glad my mobile has a calculator on board)
@ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite #BikeNite A6. VERY LOW GEARING FOR HILLS. Most bikes do not have low enough gear for where I live!!!!! Now that I know how to change these, I have changed some of my gearing... GRANNY GEAR FTW!!!
@ai6yr @ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite louder for the people in the back -- BRING BACK THE TRIPLE
@rowmyboat @ai6yr @ascentale @bikenite
Louder for the people in the front, it's those of us in the back who are yelling it
@gbargoud @rowmyboat @ascentale @bikenite Bwahahahaha indeed.
@ai6yr @ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite my road bike has MTB gears for this reason. I have 28/38 chainrings and an 11-40 cassette. This in theory should give me 5kph at 90 rpm in lowest gear. Modern bike gears are all way too high. Fine if you're a pro racer. Crap for mortals.
@ai6yr
Oh yeah that is a good one. I need something at the front that will be bigg than the largest sprocket at the back.
Shimano finally added a 36 sprocket for the 105 and I found some aftermarket chainring that goes below 34 at the front. I have yet to install them though.
My SRAM rival 22 had enough clearance to mount a GRX crankset and that was optimal
@jfparis @ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite Bookmarked, thanks! I have Shimano 105's, albeit, they are Biopace at the moment and not sure how all that works together, lol.
@ai6yr
lol!
all my life, since being a kid!
always want lower gearing!
'granny gear' im(considered)o,
cadence: 72rpm
velocity: 5kph
A wide range mtb cassette? In the 90s they went bigger than road bikes, & we had triples, today they're dinner plates (with singles).
🤔 My mid 90s Giant roadie has a triple—& derailleur rub—but the cassette doesn't encourage hill climbs.
@ai6yr @ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite you just need bigger quads!
@ai6yr @tsherrygeo @ascentale @bikenite
Hopefully you put enough seam allowance in those new jeans
@ai6yr @ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite y'know of all of these answers ... yeah, this one
at least in hilly or mountainous areas
@moira @ai6yr @ascentale @bikenite
That was a requirement for me in Seattle but my first thing when moving to NYC was getting a single speed as a daily driver
@gbargoud @moira @ascentale @bikenite LOL amazingly different terrain, for sure.
@moira @ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite I mean, I am only buying vintage bikes, but the bikes from the 80's and 90's MOSTLY apparently designed for going very fast on flat ground. 😬 I need to see if I can get an even lower gearing on one of my road bikes, as it's just marginal for me to get up the hills here home on the lowest gear, and I don't imagine I'm going to get much stronger or fitter as I age....
@ai6yr @moira @ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite touring bikes from this era had nice low gearing, often a triple chainring. But yeah all the road bikes had a 52/42 chainring and a 14-28 rear, ideal if you live in Nebraska. (Or if you fancied yourself a racer, in which case you had a 12-19.)
FWIW non-indexed shifters usually fit a triple. You'll need a long travel derailleur, though, but a mountain bike derailleur would work fine with a non-index shifter.
@ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite A6. Used to be standard and it's awful that it's not - a kickstand. Except for the quad and trike and Brompton (built-in through rack) that didn't need one.
Should be standard equipment. I blame weight weenies that it's not.
Second would be a rear rack (except for cargo bikes or types of cycles that have it built in).
@ml @ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite A6: I'm on Team Kickstand but I have actually seen people be medium-key mad about a kickstand coming with their bike. I was like "just take it off?" but they were I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO and I'm like "'k"
@moira @ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite A6. Yup. Those are the people who made it so the rest of us have to pay extra for kickstands and pedals that used to come standard on every bike when I was a kid. #BikeNite
@ascentale @gbargoud @bikenite a6. Pedals, since many bikes don’t come with them. Also lights, bottle cages, seat bag, frame pump