TriFit LA 3 Bike Fits – April 9 & 10, 2011

Erik
Left 4     degrees varus    1 VV1
Right 6   degrees varus    1VV1 & 1 CW
3 degrees of External Wedges   -     Wider left stance

Kris
Left 0     nuetral                1 CWs -1/8 short spindle
Right 2   degrees varus      2 CWs -1/8 short spindle
3 CWs    -    Superfeet

Steve
Left 8       degrees varus       3 CWs 1/2 longer spindle
Right 13   degrees varus       3 CWs 1/2 longer spindle
6 CWs    -    Wider left stance

Total wedges installed = 12 (all varus, 10 CWs & 2 VV1s).
Average number of wedges per person was 4. This is just below the typical average of wedges used in good bike fits.

No one preferred the ITS wedges. We suggest trying both solutions for several fits (probably all fits) and you will be able to see that Cleat Wedges will be the preferred choice by far.

2 of the fits displayed wider left stance width.
Out of 6 feet (3 people) only 2 feet fit on standard width pedals.

Not enough Cleat Wedge

Not long ago we talked about pedal wear and how to see if more wedges are needed. We mostly focused on Look style pedals because for that system you look more toward the pedal for signs of wear. Here is a Speedplay cleat with Cleat Wedges and yet it was not enough. How can you tell? Look at the wear mark which is shown more on the out side (lateral part) of the cleat. If the fit is even between the shoe/cleat/pedal you will not see uneven wear like this.

This foot clearly does not want to be flat and needed just one more Cleat Wedge. Note ITS (In The Shoe) wedges do not always help this situation. This foot was a great example to compare ITS vs Cleat Wedges. No matter how much ITS went inside this shoe the foot did not meet the pedal flat until we went with Cleat Wedges. If you are unsure which wedge to use your odds are significantly better if you use Cleat Wedges only.

Bike Fitting done right in Texas

http://www.stuartwight.com/2010/11/12/bike-fitting-with-durata-trainings-dave-wenger/

I was just reading about David Wegner of  Durata Training. David has not been a customer of ours for all the long, only a few years, but he has certainly taken his job seriously and is becoming noticed. He is also a Retul user who clearly shows us that it is his knowledge that allows him utilizes its benefits.

Both David and the company Retul are customers of BikeFit. We are proud to showcase BikeFit.com customers who themselves are getting a long list of happy customers using our products daily. 

To all - please send us your stories and articles so we can share them with others.  

LOOK - under the front toward the inside

A small wear mark. Are you looking here to see the uneven wear?

Connection of Excellence – for the feet!

Super is right!  They aren’t the world-leading insole for nothing.  Their cycling insole has features beyond most people’s understanding.  Built into the design is more thought and energy than any insole on the market.  This includes a heel support with a slight varus tilt- perhaps the most overlooked part of the foot in bike fitting today.  Superfeet also had the insight to design their insoles to work perfectly with the world’s leading in-the-shoe wedge, BikeFit ITS.  Super indeed!

What can we say the Best working with the Best!

Nice FIT!

Cleat Wedges - rumor has it something "Big" is coming soon

Biomechanics of Human Gait “When the Feet Hit the Ground…..Everything Changes”

I had a treat today of being able to sit in on a couple courses about feet. I was quite surprised to see some of my own information/literature referenced. The kicker happened when the instructor held up a Cleat Wedge and an ITS Wedge – without hesitation she said the Cleat Wedge is most likely the better solution for most feet…...I had to say to myself I agreed. After all we have known that for years.

With that…..drum roll…….it looks like a Big One is coming on board with that same idea/solution. I hope I am not jumping the gun as I have not seen it myself but I believe real soon Cleat Wedges will be reaching an entirely new world.

Stay tuned.

BikeFit in the news - Japanese style

I can’t read Japanese but apparently things are going Bonsai in Japan

Articles:
July 13th http://www.cyclowired.jp/?q=node/35830
April 6th http://www.cyclowired.jp/?q=node/28755

ITS vs Cleat Wedge

First of all this is not one wedge against another – as long as you are talking about BikeFit branded wedges. Both of the Wedges offered from BikeFit.com work very well. Each wedge however has its place.

In most cases it is my preference to use the Cleat Wedge. In fact this is what most bike fitters should also find when they approach this issue at the foot. Bike fitters more and more should be able to assess this area and find the preferred product to be the Cleat Wedge.

So when should the ITS be used?

The ITS often is a “fill in” product for types of cleats that are not compatible with cleat wedges like Crank Brothers – however Cleat Wedges under the Crank Brothers shoe shield is often a good cleat wedge solution.

Perhaps more of a hyper mobile foot would be a good place to use an ITS in combination with the Cleat Wedge. This type of foot needs more support. A stiff or rather a more rigid foot tends to be more responsive with less wedging and the Cleat Wedge is really a better solution for most rigid feet (this is important to know so please keep this information in mind when you are doing bike fits)

ITS wedges are also great for diagnostics. Throw it in and see how it affects the cycling mechanics.

When you are short on time you can quickly get some needed wedging in place (probably only a temporary solution) for the foot.

ITS wedges are also good to have in your arsenal for situations when a cyclist is “in-between” or it is tough to tell if 2 cleat wedges or 3 cleat wedges is the better solution. In other words the cyclist looks good with 2 or 3 cleat wedges. Let the cyclist go with 2 cleat wedges installed and give them an ITS as the 3rd wedge. Instruct them to spend some time with the ITS in the shoe and some time with it in their back pocket. Over a period of time you will usually find the preferred amount of Cleat Wedging to settle on for the cyclist.

Bike Fits recent growth in the industry is a good thing. However with growth we must also be careful to grow properly. There is a huge amount of misinformation that is floating within the bike fitting world. Be aware of this and learn the difference. Many people have been mislead on this issue.

Just like pedal platforms got wider with world leading companies does not mean their approach was the correct one. Perhaps it was needed but it was done so with complete disregard to the reason “why” outer pedal wear was occurring. Think about this when you look at other leading companies with other products….are they really steering us in the right direction?

Happy Cleat Wedge Pedaling

Swifty

Can you think of some well known names in the bike fitting world that are a big fans of the Cleat Wedges?? An example of one is John Cobb