Chainstay Rub

mtbjunkie08

Hi,

On my Boardman Team Carbon bike occasionally my heel on the drive-side catches the chainstay. This doesnt happen on every pedal stroke but definitely happens during every ride.

Fortunately there arent any visible rub marks yet but I want to do something about it before it gets worse, I use Shimano M520 pedals. I wreckon I would only need an extra 5mm clearance to ensure no more catching. I looked into the Specialized BG Pedal Axle extenders but they were recalled by Specialized last year due to some of them failing and are therefore no longer available to buy.

I have just tried moving the cleat slightly further inward by a couple of mms to see if that will help, will see if this helps on my next ride, I'm reluctant to move it anymore as I doubt I will be able to engage the cleat properly into the pedal.

I've also looked into maybe adding an extra pedal washer but these are only 1.5mm thick and im not sure how safe it would be to use several of them together.

So my question is do I have any other options that could help without moving away from Shimano SPD type pedals?.

Thanks.

ElectronShepherd

Suggestions and questions:

1) Change the shoes. Maybe the current shoes have a particularly wide heel?

2) Put a Lizard Skins or similar chainstay protector on. That, if anything, will make matters worse, in that the chainstay is now actually fatter, so you're more likely to hit it, but at least you won't be damaging the frame when you do.

3) How old and worn are the pedals and cleats? Have you tried with new cleats, which might have less float? If your foot can rotate less on the cleat, that might also solve the problem.

mtbjunkie08

Thanks for the suggestions.

My shoes are Shimano so generally quite narrow so I doubt its that. Pedals are quite new but the cleats are very old and I do have some new ones I could try.

Any other suggestions appreciated.

sebbyp

clearance is quite tight on that frame if you have big feet like me. are you hitting the cable lug on the chainstay?
you could move the cleat backwards also. Or if you are using the yellow shimano cleats, swap for blue as they do not have the side to side play of the yellows. I using the blue, no issues compared to yellow.

mtbjunkie08

I have Size 10 feet so pretty big. I thought it was the actual chainstay I was hitting but you could be right it might be the cable lug, will have to see on my next ride.
Havent tried a ride yet with the cleat further inwards, both the new and old cleats are SM-SH51 which I believe give the most float. I also have the pedals slackened right off because I like to be able to get out of them easily, maybe I could tighten them up a bit though.

keef66

mtbjunkie08 wrote:

I have Size 10 feet so pretty big. I thought it was the actual chainstay I was hitting but you could be right it might be the cable lug, will have to see on my next ride.
Havent tried a ride yet with the cleat further inwards, both the new and old cleats are SM-SH51 which I believe give the most float. I also have the pedals slackened right off because I like to be able to get out of them easily, maybe I could tighten them up a bit though.

Tightening the release tension won't change the amount of float.

Bobbinogs

sebbyp wrote:

...
you could move the cleat backwards...

Cleat position should be set dependent on the relative location of the ball of the foot. I would not get into moving cleats around to solve this problem but it may be a good opportunity to check that the cleats are set up correctly in the first place and then see if the problem still exists. Plenty of clips on Youtube on how to do this.

JesseD

+1

Cleat alignment is critical if you want to avoid injuries in the future so get them set up properly as moving them to resolve this issue will only cause you knee or ankle issues down the line.

FWIW I noticed on the weekend that my foot position on my left foot has changed recently and I am riding more heel in on occasion which is causing some rub on the crank arm, upon inspection the cleat is worn pretty badly so needs changing, this will bring the foot position back to how it should be I am sure.

mtbjunkie08

I've been using SPDs for 20 years so i'm pretty sure my cleat alignment is fine. I've never had this heel rub issue before on previous bikes.
Been a ride today after adjusting cleat position, didnt feel any different and was still catching chainstay occasionally.
Will try the new cleats next as these old ones may allow my foot to move too much.

Was hoping someone might have suggested some other SPDs by another brand wellgo/VP/exustar etc that would have longer pedal axles than the Shimanos. I have looked into this but cant seem to find pedal axle length in any of the dimensions online.

Garry H

You could try speedplays. They come in an extra long spindle version, or you can at least buy longer spindles for them.

mtbjunkie08

Garry H wrote:

You could try speedplays. They come in an extra long spindle version, or you can at least buy longer spindles for them.

do they work with SPD cleats though? - as i'll need to use the same shoes on my MTB.

webboo

No.

giropaul

mtbjunkie08 wrote:

Garry H wrote:

You could try speedplays. They come in an extra long spindle version, or you can at least buy longer spindles for them.

do they work with SPD cleats though? - as i'll need to use the same shoes on my MTB.

So are you using the two bolt mountain bike type cleat then?

You aren't alone in this problem; the great Ray Booty used to catch his heels as well, as does an ex-UK national road champion I know. Ray used to file his (steel) chain stays!

If you are on the two bolt cleats, they come in two types - one which releases both ways and one only heel out. If yours are the former, the latter type might help.

mtbjunkie08

Yeh as mentioned I'm using the SM-SH51 cleat which is single release (heel out) only.