Into thy hands

[DavidCH]

So... I find spinning fast created too much body movement so I feel less inclined to go faster than 50kph.

So after a bike fit a couple of years ago... the fitter said... you need to find a specialist to see what's up as the pressure on the saddle and the power on the pedals was considerably out of true.

The night before the bike fit I did have a grueling game of tennis with my brother on a hard court So i was well stiff... (note for others... it helps to be flexible when you have your bike fit).

Did I follow it up with a specialist? Nope... I just stuck a wedge between my inner sole and the bottom of the shoe and thought nothing much about it until the other day.

I watched the Barón Low Racer spin at 130 rpm and I thought that looked so effortless!

So I laid myself out on a tiled floor. I had Juani standing over me making sure the line of the tiles was running straight down the centre of me whilst lying on the floor with my ankles in a heeled position so that my archillies tendons were extended and then I told Juani to stick the tape on the floor at the ends of my heels.
She did this three times and three times both legs were offset by 8mm. My left leg is considerably shorter.

So I have been a little creative. I went and got a plastic for sale sign and cut it up into many bits and clamped them all together and used a soldering iron to insert three holes.

The theory worked quite well. The prototype though is a little rough as I haven't got the right cleat bolts but it's good for a feasibility test. The screws are quite long so not sure where to get them from.
Won't test until the wet weather has disappeared, so may be a couple of day. The soldering iron operation was done outside as the smell is pretty awful. The good thing though is the heat moulds all the pieces together.

 

[Doug Burton]

I buy metric cap screws in bulk (though they'll sell you any quantity you want) from these folks:
https://www.boltdepot.com/Metric_socket_cap.aspx
I usually buy the typical sizes for bicycle work and keep them stocked.
You may also be able to get something from Home Depot/Lowe's, but I find they are really poor at maintaining stock levels and keeping the product in the right bins.

Interesting story; I bet a lot of us have some "bias" in the way our bodies are constructed.

 

[jond]

Finally I understand why I walk in circles.

be most interesting David to see if this works for you with an increase in cadence. A smoother pedal style and better feel and increased fitness....

of course Juani may be exacting revenge for all your cycling.

 

[Andrew Wilson]

several years ago I went to a chiropractor for lower back pain. He x-rayed me without shoes and had me come back a few days later. He had the x-ray drawn up with lines through all my joints, vertebra and hips with measurements and angles. The engineer in me was impressed.
Long story short he recommended a 7mm lift in my Left shoe for all of my shoes.
After a month or so he took x-rays of me in my shoes with the lifts and my back was ram rod straight and hip angles were perpendicular to my back. I even drew up and 3d printed 7mm cleat spacers. I hope it gives you as good of results as it did me.