Hogg Hogg Hogg…I mean Wedges, Wedges, Wedges
For a select few (actually I am sure everyone felt privileged) Steve Hogg showed just one of his techniques for determining the correct numbers of wedges to start with for a cyclist. On one hand I wish I could say more but I will say he clearly showed that most of us do not use wedges as often as we should and when we do use the wedges we often fall short. We will post a copy of his average wedge use again later.
When I first started with the wedges I will admit I allowed some (actually a lot of) criticism to reduce the number of wedges I wanted to use even though my customers were happy with the wedges. I am so glad Steve is helping reinforcing what I believed in the beginning and I will work hard to no longer let the misinformed and the ignorant hold me back anymore. I also hope the same for you.
And remember just because there is no apparent pain or discomfort does not mean a person does not need wedges. Over 95 percent of the population (Hogg says about 99 percent of the population) not only could use wedges but NEED wedges. Waiting for the pain to occur is a shameful disservice to our fellow being.
Wedge on!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posts
from cyclingnews.com Q & A (oct 7, 2009)
ReplyDeletehow should I monitor proper tracking and know when its right?
Steve Hogg says
If you are not performing better, it isn't possible to know how much of that is because of the wedges and how much of that is because of the other positional parameters that were adjusted at the time of the fit.
The several months that have elapsed since your fit is more than enough time for any improvement to be obvious if it was going to happen. Once you find some shoes that you are happy with, you have two choices.
The first is to find a high quality bike fitter who uses BFS wedges and enlist their help. The second is to try the self help route. That involves buying some BFS wedges and experimenting with some care and patience.
There is a definitive method to determine when you have got the wedging right but it isn't something that lends itself to email transmission, so trial and error will have to do for the time being.
What you should be seeking from wedges is the feeling of greater stablity of foot on pedal and a more fluent pedaling stroke with less pelvic movement and good knee tracking.. I've been doing a bit of research for my own purposes and at this stage this indicates that:
98.75% of riders need wedging under one or both feet
90.00% need wedges on the left side
96.87% need wedges on the right side
Average number of wedges per rider under the left foot is 3.12
Average number of wedges per rider under the right foot is 2.67
You may or may not be 'average' so exercise some care and patience and you should get a positive result. If you run into problems, get back to me.