I remember reading that the 155 was Hope's best selling crank length so there must be loads of them out there. I don't think I've seen any in real life. I also can't find any used ones for sale so people are probably keeping them.
Who's enjoying them? Who's hated them?
I want them for my bikepark/uplift bike which doesn't really get pedalled around on big days out. Pure curiosity really but I'm hoping a squarer stance on the bike might help with a motobike related hip injury which aches when I'm squatting on big descents all day long. Also, I built the bike with some old OEM 175mm SLX cranks which are perfectly functional but I never would have chosen that length.
Also, this is a good price isn't it? I've never seen them discounted this much.
I've got Hope 155's on my eeber.
It's hard to say if they've made a difference or not* as I switched from 160 and after about half an hour they felt the same.
After all 5mm difference is more than covered by my feet never being in exactly the same position when descending on flats.
Might be tempted to try some on one of my other bikes.
See if the difference is more noticeable going from 165 on a pedal bike and also enable me to adjust my frame and lower the BB by 10mm.
* Apart from pedal strikes while cranking.
I've been thinking of some short cranks for my Cotic Rocket Max. Would love the Hope one's but can't really afford them at the moment. Found these Cube own brand ones while searching the web the other day. 160mm not 155 but cheap enough and will give me chance to see if I like them. Come with a 32t chainring but take a Sram 3 bolt, so can be swapped easily enough. Can get a 28t from bikeparts.co.uk for £15. Worth a shot if anyone's curious and doesn't want to spend a load. Might be a bit meaty though...
https://www.tradeinn.com/bikeinn/en/acid-pro-cl53-mm-crankset/141851189/p?
I've got some on both my mtbs. Other than cost, haven't found a downside.
Pedal strikes much reduced and it is possible that a narrower stance when descending is a benefit though could well not be significant.
Whilst expensive the hope ones are very nicely made and the bottom brackets are very durable.
I've got Hope 155's on my eeber.
+1, switched from 165mm and I do prefer them, had the odd kom on strava previously but since fitting them a couple of months ago I've had around 25 more, both up and downhill. It does feel slightly harder going uphill in eco mode but obviously being on an ebike it's not a problem. Not sure I'd bother with a normal bike if its used on big days out but as op intends mainly uplifts/bikepark stuff I'd say go for it
I remember reading that the 155 was Hope's best selling crank length so there must be loads of them out there.
they were one of the first to offer that length, dont think any adult bike or ebike comes stock in that size (although maybe some ebikes do?) so while they may be popular for the upgraders and tinkerers, its probably a very small number of riders total that have hope cranks of any size, let alone 155.
dont think any adult bike or ebike comes stock in that size (although maybe some ebikes do?)
All Whyte ebikes now come with 155mm cranks
Me, I’m old and short. I dropped the levo from 29 to 27.5 wheels in winter (*as fully jammed both 29 wheels against the mudguards a few times) and used 155 to reduce pedal strikes (not good for e-bikes) on the 27.5 Also on my trek exe, in this case as the motor is better at higher cadences so the shorter cranks seem to help. They work for me , less ground strikes etc, and they seem better on vehicle rutted tracks.
Me, I’m old and short. I dropped the levo from 29 to 27.5 wheels in winter (*as fully mud jammed both 29 wheels against the mudguards a few times) and used 155 to reduce pedal strikes (not good for e-bikes) on the 27.5 Also on my trek exe, in this case as the motor is better at higher cadences so the shorter cranks seem to help. They work for me , less ground strikes etc, and they seem better on vehicle rutted tracks. I never noticed any stance/ position etc changes (but only went from 165)
I'm tempted by some 155s for the ebike to reduce pedal strikes. Only downside is the only real 155mm option for Fazua's ETOR interface is E-Thirteen. I put E-Thirteen in the same 'just don't' category as most Crank Bros stuff...
Miranda sell some reasonably cheap 155mm ones. I’ve only looked into their ebike ones so far. I think you can get 155 GX cranks as well.
I’ve recently fitted 160 cranks. Moved from 170.
they are great when peddling out the saddle and have great ground clearance.
initially the higher cadence felt odd, but I soon got used to it. People talk about using a lower gear to make up for the shorter leverage, but I’ve actually found myself riding in a higher gear to compensate for the faster cadence. I don’t notice any downsides.
I’m pleased with the move and would recommend them.
@sharkattack, i think balfes have a discount code in the members discounts as well
“People talk about using a lower gear to make up for the shorter leverage, but I’ve actually found myself riding in a higher gear to compensate for the faster cadence.”
Doesn’t that mean you’re going even faster, or do you have low and high the wrong way around?
Looks like Balfes realised how cheap those cranks were and removed them!
This experiment has been postponed.
Doesn’t that mean you’re going even faster, or do you have low and high the wrong way around?
I wouldn’t say “even faster”, but I found the sensation of the faster cadence a little odd, so to slow it down I put the bike in a higher gear.
now you’ve questioned it, it sounds like nonsense, but since fitting the shorter cranks I’ve been climbing in higher gears.
Had them on my e-bike to help with pedal strikes and they were good for that. Can’t really say I noticed any of the touted handling differences.
Put a set of Hopes on my enduro bike, but never really gelled with them on that. Can’t really put it down to one particular thing but for me on a purely pedal powered bike 165 were the sweet spot. I also hate Hopes chainring interface and the need for specialist tools to replace anything. In contrast to above I found the 30mm bb rubbish. My nds bearing failed after 6 months.
“now you’ve questioned it, it sounds like nonsense, but since fitting the shorter cranks I’ve been climbing in higher gears.”
I don’t think it is nonsense! Viewed simplistically the shorter cranks mean lower torque so you’d need to use lower gears. But human legs don’t work like that - you can always squat or deadlift more over a partial rep than a full rep. So a shorter crank may keep your legs within a higher minimum force at max effort range, hence being able to push a bigger gear.
I have 165mm cranks on my singlespeed and it climbs so well when I’m standing and my legs are pretty long.
Nope, 170mm road and CX (three bikes) and 175mm for MTB. 155 or 165mm too much change when swapping bikes. I don't follow the latest fashions ! Just waiting for oval chainrings to go back out of fashion - certainly looking like it in the pro peloton circles.
Tried some 155mm (Unite not Hope) cranks on my Squatch thinking that as a 172cm rider they’d be a revelation but I just felt they made pedaling feel like more work. The ground clearance was an improvement though.
I've got 155mm on my ebike and on my full sus and 160mm on my hardtails - as people have said, benefits are less pedal strikes, can put stokes in when climbing where I wouldn't have otherwise and (for me) it feels easier to get a nice circular pedal motion rather than stamping down - when I went from a 160mm to a 175mm crank on a borrowed bike I just couldn't get on with it AT ALL.
The only downside of the hope cranks is the 30mm BB - the Hope 30mm BB doesn't last as long as their 24mm (I've got one of those that's done 7 years and is still running smooth but the 30mm only last a max of 2 years so far).
I forgot about Unite. Unite canks combined with a Dub BB would be hundreds cheaper than switching to Hope.
I might give that a try.
Just waiting for oval chainrings to go back out of fashion - certainly looking like it in the pro peloton circles.
Love mine the theory makes absolute sense and reflects how it feels, I'm not, however, looking for every last Watt as I bike for fun so there maybe some science reasons. Or it may just be that there's not enough real gain to offset the sponsor's requirements for only fitting the latest kit to the bike.
I forgot about Unite.
I'd not buy them again. Spindle was oversize compared to the SRAM cranks I have so needed a little touch of emery cloth and spacing wasn't similar to the instructions you get with a SRAM BB either which wouldn't be a problem if there was some sort of advice on this with the cranks. Having the audacity to chase up the order didn't appear to go down well either. So in retrospect, I'd buy something else
That's a shame but I have heard he can be a bit difficult to deal with.
I've only ordered from them once and after the dispatch confirmation six weeks passed and I totally forgot about my order. When I emailed them I assumed it had gotten lost in the post but it arrived the next day so maybe it was sitting on a shelf somewhere.
The best option for me would be a Shimano crankset in 155mm but at their speed of development I'll be retired before they come out.
i've fitted unicycle cranks to msWife's ebike (Trek Powerfly)
cheap, 140mm, isis spline - so fitted the bosch motor with no trouble.
it's a mystery why these things aren't available from bike companies / shops... ?
My daughter (176 cm) runs 150 cm cranks on her Stumpy EVO. I wanted to get her 155’s but they were sold out, so went with the 150’s.
She runs a small chainring (28t, while the rest of the fam has 30t) and has been very happy with them.
She has 160cm on her gravel/commuter bike
I have Hope 155 on my ebike, 2019 cube Bosch Gen 2
i think the theory is that increasing your cadence improves the efficiency of the motor assistance
Anyway I prefer them to the 165 I took off and I get less pedal strikes as a bonus
There's a Polish company called Alugear that makes lovely cranks that go down to 145mm. Pricey like Hope though.
The Cube own brand "Acid" 160mm ones AI bought use a 24mm Shimano axle.
I tried 155mm cranks on my kenevo but really didn’t like them. Having better ground clearance was great, but I felt much more like a passenger as the motor was doing more work, and it took away some of the pop needed to clear obstacles. Overall, yes, great solution to low bb woes, but robbed some of the experience.
I'm looking at some Ali Express options for the teens bike, not sure I'd trust them on my own MTB but for lighter riders and/or road/cx bikes it seems worth a punt given the price. There does seem to be some known decent brands available if you hunt around on Chinerbikes for recommendations. Anyone got any experience?
I run 155mm on my Whyte elyte 150 RSX. Pedal strikes are reduced and cadence up. I hadn't really noticed the difference until I rode my Whyte S120 with the 165mm cranks. They felt "longer" but that sensation disappeared after a few minutes of riding. 🙂
I literally just managed to get all my bikes down to 165mm, too slow, now 165 is outmoded and long and I need 155 🙂
Unite are just plain weird as a company, they somehow forgot to debur my chainring and cerakoted it with burrs still on it. Someone had to pick that up, coat it, then someone else put it in the package and somehow was careful enough not to bend the little bits of metal that were hanging off it. No worries, they gave me a full refund and I just knocked the burrs off and fitted it but they said "oh we had a batch slip through like that". A batch! One would be daft enough. They must waste a fortune.
I'm looking at some Ali Express options for the teens bike, not sure I'd trust them on my own MTB but for lighter riders and/or road/cx bikes it seems worth a punt given the price. There does seem to be some known decent brands available if you hunt around on Chinerbikes for recommendations. Anyone got any experience?
@tenacious_doug, 150mm Goldix cranks via Aliexpress on both mini-a11y's bikes. 24mm HT2-style axle and they they take a standard 3-bolt SRAM chainring so plenty of cheap options (28t SRAM steel N/W for us). Been in use >12mths inc 2 weeks in Les Arcs last summer. Even my eldest is still only about 50kg though so not exactly hard use.
From memory they do 155mm and 160mm too.
Great, these were top of my list so that's a great endorsement!
What do we reckon? 80+ kg munter on an uplift day. Guaranteed snapped ankles?
So a shorter crank may keep your legs within a higher minimum force at max effort range, hence being able to push a bigger gear.
this makes it make sense! They feel more natural. I’m surprised that Ive gelled so well with them
What do we reckon? 80+ kg munter on an uplift day. Guaranteed snapped ankles?
Well, nothing's guaranteed.. I'm happy to trust them on my kids who don't send it (yet), but not sure I'd venture there for my own use.
I got pnd 150mm coming
@sharkattack - try them and find out for everyone. In the name of science.
I took the plunge and went for it. I bought the cranks and BB from Slam69 with a discount code and the price was unbeatable. Aided by a brand new credit card, the price is a problem for future me.
They look cute.
I've pedalled them around the street and honestly didn't notice a huge difference. Any change in the crank length is completely dominated by the sensation of the Rimpact bouncing back and forth. That is going to take some getting used to.
I tried my usual 'street wheelie' test and I couldn't make it up with the sprocket oscillating. This will be embarrassing when the kids are playing out.
It'll be the weekend before I can take it off road.
p.s. new chain is arriving today to replace this grotty one. Then this bike is "finished".
Any change in the crank length is completely dominated by the sensation of the Rimpact bouncing back and forth. That is going to take some getting used to.
I'm beyond sceptical about these things - let us know how you get on and if you see any real world benefit. (other than a bit more "weight in the right place".
I'm beyond sceptical about these things - let us know how you get on and if you see any real world benefit. (other than a bit more "weight in the right place".
I've read everything I could find and watched every YouTube video. I'm convinced it'll do what I expect it to do which is not to magically fix a duff suspension design or reduce 'pedal kickback'.
Chains are heavy and they whip around all over the place. If this can prevent some of that (which it appears to do quite well) it should remove the last bit of noise from my bike and I'll be a happy bunny. If it also reduces some of the tugging on the pedals which I think most people wrongly attribute to 'kickback' it'll be a nice bonus.
I plan to try riding it back to back with a solid chainring on the same day or over a weekend at an uplift venue. I'll report back if I can be bothered with the carpark spannering.
