Keep LOOKing even at other pedals like Shimano and Speedplay

More marks on the inside - but is this exclusive to LOOK. Nope, you will find this on others as well.

Shimano road is made from tougher material and may not show it as easily but you will find this. Speedplay may show it on the sping in an X series pedal and inside the circle of the cleat on the base plate. Just as with LOOK the wear marks will be more often near the outer edge.

Remember to check out George Hood who is still pedaling. World Record in progress for Gunnar Hotchkin Memorial Fund http://www.ustream.tv/channel/hood-s-guinness-world-record-attempt  Don’t forget to send him a note – info on the link above.    Host facility – http://www.urbantrigear.com/

Leg Length Discrepancies - Are they common?

The question is how common are leg length discrepancies? So far this week I have seen a 70% of fits requiring the use of leg length shims. I want to thank Steve Hogg for thinking out of the box and making a solution to address this common problem. What do I look for and what does jump out? What really jumps out is how uneven the saddle is; one side is usually more compressed/lower than the other.

In the even the saddle is brand new the other clue I look for is leg extension ... especially when the saddle is new and the client is complaining about lateral lower back pain and or hip pain.
While the Gmeter is marked with a nice green area indicating the range for an ideal saddle height, when the difference is 5 or more degrees I start to thinking about a possible discrepancy.

Testing the assumption is easy; just put a leg length shim under the shoe and ask for feedback. The words you can hear a client scream or utter are " ... I feel even and balanced" or "I feel as I am not reaching as much now" or "I went out for a long ride and for the first time my lower right back and hip has not hurt" or "I am now feeling the same amount of pressure on the saddle !" One client this week had such a good feeling of being balanced that he said "maybe now I can ride without my hands as I have never been able to do so because my bike would veer to the right!" which then led me to think why did he not mention this during the pre-fit interview?

Let's hear how you test for leg length discrepancy on the bike!


Wedge average count thus far this week: 15 wedges in 4 fits = 3.75 wedges/fit

Compare for yourself

I get a lot of questions about Steve Hogg and why he suggests the BikeFit Wedges and Hogg Shims.

The link to the article below has been sent to me a few times. First – Steve Hogg does not work for us. We are friendly and have agreements and even some disagreements (but not about what you would think we might disagree about). We do sell his Leg Length Shims.

We at BikeFit have been working with the foot/pedal interface a long time and have been addressing things that are still often over looked in bike fitting. We have refined our approach to this area and are more than willing to show others how we do it. Our information is not considered confidential, it is for all to see and use. You may forward and or print our emails and share our tips with anyone. I ask if you make money off it you remember us…that is all.

Why does Steve go further and why does he have the opinions he does? I am not the one to answer that question. I will say I have yet to disagree with his approach to Wedges of Shims. Whereas I absolutely disagree with John Howard and his use of wedges yet both are featured on our web site.

So if interested in comparing our Wedges or Shims with others send me an e-mail about the situation you are working on and we will send you some samples for you to try and see for yourself what happens. Please share your findings with others when you do.

The articel most recently sent to me by several fitters 
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/cyclingnews-fitness-q-and-a-december-4-2009


Swifty

A phone call

This morning we received a call from Bud Kemper and he wanted to order some cleat wedges to be shipped overnight. Before the end of the chat he mentioned they were for his son Hunter Kemper. I felt a bit uncomfortable for some reason not realizing why I should know this name. Then I realized Hunter is on the new Wheaties box.


http://www.hunterkemper.com/hunterkemper.com/News/Entries/2009/9/9_General_Mills_Unveils_Wheaties_Fuel_-_The_New_Breakfast_of_Champions.html


We did not charge his dad for the wedges.

A new world champion at the horizon?

This is the lovely Noemi Cantele, recently fitted by Candian super fitter out of Germany www.cyclefit.de Mr Lloyd Thomas! She is sporting a smile for one simple reason: Noemi wants to win Gold at the 2010 Cycling World Championships in both the TT and Road race. This is what she recently told me after having been fitted with the wedges: "The feeling I have since the first time I used the wedges is to pedal more compact and in a better symmetric way. I feel I have better use of all the the muscles, especially the back muscles of the leg. I have a better power transmission onto the pedals and the feet are more stable."