Cale's Crank

There is a cool article on the paceline.com site today.  In it, Adam Mills of Carmichael Training discusses the compact crank versus what has become the traditional.  What is remarkable is that the only “con” in Adam’s mind is for a stud sprinter.  Here is a summary:

 

• Pedaling economy would be an obvious place to make gains. – Easier to stay in a 90-95 cadence
• Climbing is probably the best application for compact cranks.
• I am going to say that the compacts are good for nearly any rider who is not a sprint specialist.

 

You can read the article here.

 

The benefits have to do with creating a better match between chain rings and cassettes.  This leads to an interesting conclusion:  Was Hammerson fast this year due to fitness or compact cranks?