Various fit issues; any ideas?

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TheDarkInstall
Posts: 725
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:44 am

by TheDarkInstall

Alright.

Currently fine tuning my fit after getting injured last month, and have the following issues. Wondered if any of you had any ideas...

1. Left foot; smallest 3 toes have more pressure on them than the right, which increases with brutal wattage. Happens with 3 different shoes, so not a shoe issue. Thinking this is perhaps me supinating my left outwards. If it is this, how could I fix the issue?

2. I am using a 110mm stem, flipped so it is pointing skywards, with a stack of spacers under it. Before you correctly spit on my back for riding with such an horrific set up, know that the injury I sustained was a fractured C3 vertebrae (yeah, I broke my neck), so this position was me being very conservative while getting back into riding. I am now getting a pretty tight and sore upper middle of my back though (which I have been assured by the doctors is not related to the fracture); could this new stem position be to blame? I used to get slightly tight and sore in the same general area when using a 120mm, 6 degree negative stem mounted lower on the steerer, but this is a new level of soreness.

Cheers for any insights and advice anyone can give me.

sungod
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:37 pm

by sungod

1 - there can be so many things, some ideas...

maybe you need different arch support, pressure should not really be on the toes

aside from that, maybe a wedge to adjust the angle, there are some that go inside the shoe under the footbed, easy to experiment with but they cost you volume so they're not good if shoes are snug, the better ones go between cleat and sole but obviously these are not so easy to experiment with

2 - you had an injury last month, with time off the bike i assume, then you made a massive change in position and now you are getting pain, who'd have thought! seriously though, did you calculate the reach new vs. old? maybe you've simply got the bars in a higher but actually worse position

edit: btw glad you are on the mend and riding! i had a bad injury a couple of years ago, the target to ride again kept me going

by Weenie


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TheDarkInstall
Posts: 725
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:44 am

by TheDarkInstall

Thanks a lot.

Yeah, I realise pressure should not be on the toes. I tend to point my toes down a lot when riding, which affects both feet on the big toe. The left foot has this other issue with the small toes too...

I was off the bike for about 10 days, and have been not riding much since I got back on the machine. Maximum 60km, at very conservative speed / efforts, due to wanting to take it easy, plus all this aching going on.

I have been using the Bike Fast Fit app on my phone (which is actually pretty good), and found that at the top of my pedal stroke, the upper to lower leg angle was too small. Put my seat up, getting the angle just over 70 degrees, and that seemed to help with lower back ache I was having. The mid and upper is still there though...

Cheers for the well wishes. Was really hardcore, and has been a full on nightmare ever since. Getting slowly better now, but it was very scary getting told I had broken my spine.

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dj97223
Posts: 822
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2005 7:27 pm

by dj97223

I would suggest you have an experienced fitter help you, particularly with the neck/back issue.

Regarding the toes, I had a similar issue which I sorted with a few of those thin angled wedges between the cleat and shoe (I don't recall the brand at the moment). I put the thicker part of the wedges to the outside of the foot. Of course, you will need to add some wedges to the other shoe to maintain equal stack.
“If you save your breath I feel a man like you can manage it. And if you don't manage it, you'll die. Only slowly, very slowly, old friend.”

mattr
Posts: 4671
Joined: Fri May 25, 2007 6:43 pm
Location: The Grim North.

by mattr

http://www.bikefit.com/c-1-cleat-wedges.aspx

I've used those to correct my (slight) problem. Only needed 3 on a pair of sidi.

Edit:- if you actually have a physical impairment, you'd be better off speaking to a proper expert. I only had a niggly issue, which is now all but fixed. I've also spent several years studying various bits and pieces of biomechanics, so i have a (vague) handle on what the pros and cons of various changes are (as an interested tinkerer, there is almost always something else that will become a new issue once you fix the last issue!).

TheDarkInstall
Posts: 725
Joined: Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:44 am

by TheDarkInstall

mattr wrote:http://www.bikefit.com/c-1-cleat-wedges.aspx

I've used those to correct my (slight) problem. Only needed 3 on a pair of sidi.

Edit:- if you actually have a physical impairment, you'd be better off speaking to a proper expert. I only had a niggly issue, which is now all but fixed. I've also spent several years studying various bits and pieces of biomechanics, so i have a (vague) handle on what the pros and cons of various changes are (as an interested tinkerer, there is almost always something else that will become a new issue once you fix the last issue!).


Thanks mate. Your last point is very true indeed!

by Weenie


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leandrofresh
Posts: 43
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2015 12:45 am

by leandrofresh

Usually toe numbness is related to misplacement of the cleat. Too far forward. Using your fingers to push down suggest that you should run a more rearward position to disengage toes and push more with the metatarsal joints. Try to find the middle point between the first and fifth metatarsal and place the cleat in the midpoint. In the bike fit hierarchy feet is the priority. When you have stable feet then you can move to the hip, and ultimately to the upper body. If you have large feet like I have (46,5) the most simple explanation is that your cleats are too forward. If you get a bike fit they can use pressure mapping technology from geobiomized and check the pressure in real time.

My advice is forget wedges or shims, you might do worse and there is a high risk of injury.

As someone pointed out, the fact that you get numbness in the 3 last fingers and the outward part of the feet suggests that you might be indeed supinating. Supinating besides being an indicator of varus knees is also an indicator of excessive saddle height.

Regarding of the position. Yes. It might be. Too upward position on cyclists with back injuries sometimes are worse. You should be rotating from your hips, if you had an injury and you are currently riding too upward or too short position may cause excessive spinal flex and nerve pinching and compression in the nerves between vertebraes.

Looks to me like you never had a bikefit. Now that you have an injury you need it more than ever. You don't want to get your condition get worse or develop new injuries in time. Maybe it's time to look for a new bike that suits better your new condition.

I hope I helped and I explained myself the best I could. I am Spanish and english is not my main language. Im currently studying bikefitting.

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