If you adjust gear ratio at the same time as you adjust crank length to maintain the same gain ratio, crank length selection becomes arbitrary over quite a large range, far larger than the range offered on mainstream commercial product in adult sizes. Some very small adults, or people with range of movement problems, need shorter cranks but nobody needs cranks longer than 175. They might select them based on preferred cadence, and Zinn might keep telling them they need them because he manufactures long cranks, but all the good science* on the matter points to crank length within a wide range having no measurable effect on overall biomechanical efficiency.
*Not that there actually is much good science, if we want studies where trained cyclists well adapted to crank configuration pedal for realistic durations.
You might think that, but you are wrong
Yes it is.
If you adjust gear ratio at the same time as you adjust crank length to maintain the same gain ratio, crank length selection becomes arbitrary over quite a large range, far larger than the range offered on mainstream commercial product in adult sizes. Some very small adults, or people with range of movement problems, need shorter cranks but nobody needs cranks longer than 175. They might select them based on preferred cadence, and Zinn might keep telling them they need them because he manufactures long cranks, but all the good science* on the matter points to crank length within a wide range having no measurable effect on overall biomechanical efficiency.
*Not that there actually is much good science, if we want studies where trained cyclists well adapted to crank configuration pedal for realistic durations.