For leg length differences in the femur do you prefer to shim the cleat or offset the cleat positions?

Thanks for your question. In general I would shim the cleat first.

Do you currently have a lift or shim in your walking or running shoes…..if not, why do you think you need it on the bike? Keep in mind it is possible you may need this for one modality and not the other.

The amount of difference and how it affects your cycling gait needs to be considered. For example, you may already compensate some for this difference so building it up we might start with only a small amount of shimming. After a period of time does your pedaling change or stay the same? If you have never addressed this before you may need to try a certain amount of shimming and check again over time and repeat this process more than once adding or perhaps taking some amount of shimming away.

More than a few millimeters of difference and I would probably start with a small amount of shimming. Not sure where but depending on the situation…maybe around 5mm difference or more (which is really not easy to know) I would also consider moving the cleat back on the longer leg....or maybe slightly forward on the shorter....

Keep in mind your femur is a lever so if one is shorter than the other you are potentially losing leverage. Moving the cleat forward on the shorter leg may help the shorter leg gain a bit more leverage.

Then again I have only moved the cleat back on the opposite leg of a few cyclists and we did not actually shim......rare but it has happened.

Make sure you have the correct amount of wedges. Lack of wedges can cause and addition need to extend the leg.