Short cranks are awesome. I’m 6’3” and I went down to 165 cranks on all my bikes due to hip issues. I found the pain relief I expected, but I was surprised at all the positive side effects I encountered. Ground clearance is the most obvious one. The ability to pedal through sections where my riding buddies have to ratchet leads to me clearing a lot more technical sections. I haven’t noticed any issues related to leverage.
The bike feels better on the jumps too. There’s something about having your feet closer together that just feels better in the air.
On the aerobic side, I’ve found that having a less closed-off hip angle allows me to set up my bike more aggressively without cutting off my breathing. Admittedly, this is more of a benefit on my road bike. The few times I’ve ridden with a HRM, I’ve noticed that I’m doing the same pace/time on my regular 40k road loop with a lower heart rate.
I think everyone should try 165 or shorter cranks for at least a couple weeks.