Community > Muppets Threads! (And Anything Else)

Pedal width increase?

(1/4) > >>

ourclarioncall:
I’m going to try an explain this but might need a couple attempts

Here goes

When I’m riding my bike it feels like my feet want to be out wider but obviously they can’t or they will fall off the pedals

If I measured from the outside of the left pedal to the outside of the right pedal and got 15 inches (just randomly made that up) can I increase it to 25 inches ? (Hypothetically)

Can the length of the cranks or pedal platform where your feet rest by wider?

After a lot a squat exercise and analysis I’ve figured out I have long femurs/upper legs and I think shallow hip sockets.

In squatting people are often told to squat with their feet at shoulder width and feet facing forward but that is a one size fits all approach and just won’t work for everyone. I need legs wider and toes pointing out at an angle .

Knowing this now, I wonder how this transfers over into the cycling world and getting a proper bike fit .

Is this something that bike manufacturers or bike fitting experts take into consideration?

ourclarioncall:
I think that’s one of the reasons my bike doesn’t feel right

I also feel like my pedals go too close to the ground , there’s been times I’m pedalling and my ankles point down and my toes are almost hitting the pavement

My toes also feel like they are too close to the front wheel . I’ve never had panniers on the front low rack but it feels like my toes would get close to hitting them.

I think it’s a short frame and it came with drop bars . I’m about 6 foot tall , long legs shorter torso . My legs just feel a bit cooped up and cramped . Older Thorn bike

ourclarioncall:
I don’t have huge feet either. About uk 9 or 10

JohnR:
You aren't the first to discover that your feet want to be on the end of the pedals. Solutions are available https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/search/?term=pedal+extender. Our hip structures aren't standard sizes and are often asymmetic.

I first fitted extenders on each side, then only on the right side as it was over-correcting the left side and my current solution is to fit the widest bottom bracket available (131.5mm) with the chainring on the inside of the spider to give the required chainline for the Rohloff.  However, this is on a non-Thorn bike which uses a 68mm bottom bracket whereas my Mercury (and I think the other Thorn bikes) use a 73mm bottom bracket for which the biggest width I can find is 122.5mm.

Have you read the bike fit guide at https://wheel-easy.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/bike-set-up-2017a.pdf ?

mickeg:

--- Quote from: ourclarioncall on April 01, 2023, 04:07:54 am ---...
If I measured from the outside of the left pedal to the outside of the right pedal and got 15 inches (just randomly made that up) can I increase it to 25 inches ? (Hypothetically)

Can the length of the cranks or pedal platform where your feet rest by wider?
...

--- End quote ---

You can increase your Q factor by a small amount with pedal spindle extenders, but I do not recall exactly what the proper name is.  If you extended each one by 5 inches, such as you suggest, you would likely hit the ground every time you pedaled around a curve.  Also, if you extended them that much, you might put so much torque on your crank arms that they might fail.

I wanted my Q factor reduced on my Rohloff bike to match my derailleur bikes, thus my bottom bracket spindle is about 10mm shorter than it should be for optimum chainline.

Google Bicycle Q Factor for more detail.



--- Quote from: ourclarioncall on April 01, 2023, 04:13:29 am ---...
I also feel like my pedals go too close to the ground , there’s been times I’m pedalling and my ankles point down and my toes are almost hitting the pavement

My toes also feel like they are too close to the front wheel . I’ve never had panniers on the front low rack but it feels like my toes would get close to hitting them.
...

--- End quote ---

I do not understand your ankle and toe angles.

Toe overlap where your shoe toes touch the front wheel or front fender (mudguard) is somewhat common.  I have toe overlap where they touch on all of my 700c wheel size bikes that have fenders installed, but it only occurs at slow speed sharp turns where I have the handlebars turned enough to put the front wheel and fender far enough to the side where my shoes can hit the fenders.  When you make a short speed tight turn, you get used to not pedaling during the turn to avoid it.

But I do not have toe overlap on 26 inch wheel bikes.  That said, if I have been riding one of my 700c bikes recently, I also stop pedaling on slow sharp turns on the 26 inch wheel bikes too because it is a habit.

Bike frame designers I think try to design bikes to avoid toe overlap but just by a little bit for the average rider, and they do not seem to take fenders into account into their designs, even on touring bikes where fenders are commonly used.

I will be out of town and off the computer for several weeks, I will not be responding on any followup questions.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page