175 Centaur ATB Crankset Century Finish

[Jason Mansey]

Believe these to be fairly rare, not too sure.

46/36/26

Bought these for a rando build I'm collecting parts for. Starting to question if 175mm is too long? I've only ever ran 172.5 and 165. Would I even notice 2.5-5mm (if I ran the more common 170mm)

Any interested in these, or maybe a better question is anyone running 175? I rode a 57cm frame.

[tomm...@me.com]

Nice crankset. I have a racing triple in century gray finish, but I like the gearing on yours better.

Tom in Alexandria, VA

[Ian A]

I've used both lengths (I am approx 5'10", 177cm tall. 84cm PBH) and I think I prefer 170mm cranks, but I'm not sure I could really tell the difference. There are so many aspects to bike-fit that a 5mm variance crank length is a minor consideration.

I was surprised to discover that anything less than a 20mm difference in right and left leg lengths is considered so minor as to be irrelevant when considering leg length discrepancy. I know on my commuter I often wear hiking boots and if I wear a low profile shoe I might notice a difference for a few minutes until I start thinking of something else.

Those are such lovely cranks that I think I would use them for a few rides and see how they felt. 

On mobile. Apologies for any typos.

IanA Kitimat BC

[satanas]

FWIW I strongly disagree that <20mm LLD doesn't matter! This is according to whom???

Bike fitters certainly wouldn't agree IME. Back in the 80s a podiatrist in California sold "Biopedals" (pre-clipless  with toeclips and straps) and these could be adjusted to compensate for LLDs, and the cages could be tilted laterally to adjust for varus or valgus. He reckoned I had a 6mm discrepancy, and adjusting for this helped; I later adjusted for this with Speedplay road pedals too. More recently I had a fit session with Steve Hogg who arrived at 5mm LLD and adjusting for this plus other tweaks resulted in my sitting evenly on the saddle for perhaps the first time ever, more (perceived) power, and very definitely drastically improved saddle comfort; finally finding a suitable (SMP) saddle also helped with the latter. (Saddles are super individual though, and the one I ended up with was wider than suggested on SMP's website at the time - don't put too much faith in their width recommendations based on waist size. Also, some might not get on with SMP at all.)

As for crank length, some notice and care, some neither notice nor care - this varies pretty drastically and figuring out where you fit in requires individual testing; rules of thumb don't cut it here IME. There are no easy definite answers to a lot of bike fit stuff- sorry, thought is required! - just testing, aka individual trial and error. Good bike fitters can get you close, saving lots of time and trouble, but you're usually shooting at a moving target, and your results will vary based on ageing, fitness, flexibility, past and present injuries, etc.

Later,

Stephen

[Shannon Menkveld]

First and foremost, those are some very rare, and very pretty, Campy MTB cranks, and they deserve to be on a unique and neato bike.

Second, count me among those who can, or thinks he can, which are the same thing out here in Subjectiveland where we all ride, feel the differences between 170, 172.5, and 175. (I haven't turned a set of 165s since I raced the track as a junior... back before Presidential candidates went on late-night TV... and sat in with the band.) I find that I prefer 170s for a sporting road bike. All my MTBs have had 175s, so I don't actually know if that's right or not.

Still, the differences are small. I'd expect the longer cranks to be at their best in a 1x gravel/ATB-type situation, but I doubt I'd hate 'em on a road bike, especially a loaded one. And, like I said, they're too gorgeous not to be on a bike. Just be careful. That Century finish, as beautiful as it is, is really fragile. Why Campy ever put it on mountain bike parts I'll never know, but I'm guessing it involved lots of wine and gesticulation. I had a buddy back in the mid-Naughties who had Century C-Record on a JB-painted Ti Holland. The finish still looked great, and Randor rode the tears outta that bike, but he also took care of it the way I tell myself that I would but know I wouldn't.

--Shannon