one leg shorter then the other ... help

Scrag

So I ride my road bike with mtb pedals/cleats. Following a childhood multiple ankle fracture to my right leg, it is a good couple of inches shorter then the left, with very restricted movement in the ankle. Over the years I have learnt to deal with the imbalance and lack of movement in the ankle. However I am looking for a 'homemade' solution to the following problem ..... although I have my cleats adjusted in a unorthodox position (so that I can accommodate the lack of movement) it works for me except it is forcing pressure, on the ball of my foot below my little toe/outside of the foot. I figure if I can raise the ball of my foot under the big toe I can then get pressure onto that area also which should then evenly distribute the pressure. Question is, how to do this! Any ideas?

diy

You can get longer SPD screws on ebay. maybe run a washer under the outside screw to tilt your foot in slightly. The other option could be to tilt the sadle rail to the right slightly to improve your reach or (radical) switch the non-drive side to a longer crank arm and lower your seat a few mm.

Scrag

Thanks for you ideas. I think a specialist fit is required, I have had a bike fit but it was decided upon a compromise between both leg lengths, but really i don't think that is adequate.

andy_wrx

A guy in my club has one leg significantly shorter than the other, after an accident a few years ago where a section of bone had to be removed.

He has approx 2in block under his shoe, to which his cleat is attached.
He TT's at a decent level, including 12 and 24-hour events, so it must work for him !

Similarly he has ordinary shoes with a purpose-made built-up sole - he can move around in bare feet I guess, but needs these to walk properly, stand, etc.

There must be podiatrists who deal with such injuries, you just need to find one who understands about cycling.

ollie51

I would go and see a professional bike fitter, leg length discrepancies are a key part of bike fits (or at least looking for them). If the leg length discrepancy is tibial, they'll just use a series of shims, often under your cleat. If it is femoral they'll probably align your cleats differently, so your effective leg lengths are more similar/equal.

Don't worry too much, Eddy Merckx had a leg length discrepancy and he was alright at riding a bike, apparently riding was a lot more painless after he had it sorted though!