Cleats and q factor help

fludey

have been on shimano spd sl for a while, but have changed my bike to one with shimano 105 as opposed to sora.
My right foot is fine, but my left foot always feels like it's trying to push in a horizontal plane away from the bike.
With the fact right foot is fine, is it ok to just alter the q factor on one side with a spacer or two as I can't turn my left foot out any more with out it rubbing on the rear stays.

Help

Peddle Up!

fludey wrote:

have been on shimano spd sl for a while, but have changed my bike to one with shimano 105 as opposed to sora.
My right foot is fine, but my left foot always feels like it's trying to push in a horizontal plane away from the bike.
With the fact right foot is fine, is it ok to just alter the q factor on one side with a spacer or two as I can't turn my left foot out any more with out it rubbing on the rear stays.

Help

That's what I had to do. Now looking at pedals with longer axels.

sungod

hmm, might be worth geting a proper assessment of what's going on by a decent bike fitter

for instance, can you see what your knees are doing, especially the left, as you pedal, does your knee stay in a vertical plane parallel to the frame? or is it moving side to side?

if it's moving side to side, it might be natural for you, or it might be that something needs correcting, and without correction it's causing the foot position problem

fwiw i had something similar, eventually hurt my knee as a result, turned out i needed extra arch support and some wedges, everything sorted, but that's me, not you

no one on a forum can really be sure

the q-factor is properly the distance between the pedal mounting faces of the cranks, so that's constant unless you change cranks

but you can change the pedal-crank distance with a spacer (not too thick! you could tear out the pedal, risk of injury/death/etc.) or a longer axle, or switch to a pedal-cleat system with options for a wider adjustment range, whatever you need for correct fit for you

imho get a proper bike fit

fludey

Any ideas on a proper bike fit around Leicester / mkt harborough way that could tune to that level.
As far as knee goes it feels fine they go through a fairly vertical plane without twisting, left knee hangs out futher from top bar which is where the feeling of needing a wider stance on left pedal only comes from.
Don't have the problem on my mtb but that has a wider bottom bracket.

Might just try a 1 or 2 mm washer as that's all it feels like it needs, but if anyone knows any good fit centres in Leicestershire would give them a go.

hopper1

Not Leicestershire, but would highly recommend Epic Cycles, Tenbury Wells...

cyberknight

fludey wrote:

Any ideas on a proper bike fit around Leicester / mkt harborough way that could tune to that level.
As far as knee goes it feels fine they go through a fairly vertical plane without twisting, left knee hangs out futher from top bar which is where the feeling of needing a wider stance on left pedal only comes from.
Don't have the problem on my mtb but that has a wider bottom bracket.

Might just try a 1 or 2 mm washer as that's all it feels like it needs, but if anyone knows any good fit centres in Leicestershire would give them a go.

Adrian timmis in Barton under Needwood

Cadence Sport
32 Main Street
Barton under Needwood
Burton on Trent
Staffordshire
DE13 8AA

http://www.cadencesport.co.uk/contact.php

fludey

Thanks think I will book a visit come pay day, is it worth taking both bikes or just take the one and emulate measurements across?

Kneesaway

You could also try Bikedynamics in Warwickshire.

http://bikedynamics.co.uk/

Cameras, insoles, shims and all that sort of stuff.