Toe out?

[TAW]

Sadly, logging time on the trainer makes you analyze everything you do. I usually make some position changes during the winter, albeit small ones. However, during the last boredom fest on the trainer, I noticed that my left foot is more "heel in" than my right one when I'm pedaling. My cleats are set up correctly, but my feet/legs just seem to fall in those positions.

Anyone else have this problem? I've noticed some people who wear the cranks on one side at a certain spot. Discussion?

[William]

Everyone is different. I tend to toe in/heel out a little bit to varying degrees from left to right. That’s also why I like pedals that have some float to allow my feet/knees/legs to fall into place. As long as it’s not causing injury or a large loss in efficiency, I don’t worry about it too much.




William

[Z3c]

My thought would be that you might want reconsider what correctly means with respect to your cleats. If your feet do not naturally align,most folks don't, your cleats probably should not be the same; they should support the natural position. Moving your cleats to support it might yield some comfort..

Scott

[Dave]

Andy Pruitt says to dangle your legs over the edge of a table and duplicate the natural angle of your foot, on the pedals.

My left foot sits straight and my right has a small amount of heel-in toward the chainstay. I don't see this as a problem. I use Speedplay X-2 pedals with full float that don't limit the foot angle. I place the cleats as far to the outside of the shoe as I can, to keep my foot close to the crankarms. I thought about trying the Zero model, so I could dial-in and limit the inward tmovement of my heel, but I've been riding this position for the last 10 years and it doesn't cause any problem.


I've seen some people with such extreme duck foot that they have the shoe at least an inch from the crankarm, creating a large tread width, but their heels still touch the chainstays on occasion. Now that is a foot alignment problem.

Another common problem is feet that wobble significantly on the downstroke. I see that a lot. My foot may angle a little, but it doesn't wobble.

[darylb]

Both of my feet are heel in/toe out. I got it from my dad. It may not be ideal or look perfect but I dont think it causes any harm if that is how your feet fall naturally. I dont think it is something to try to correct with cleat position. If you force your feet to be straight it could cause knee issues.

I dont think it is anything to worry about at all.

[Mike748]

Heel in on the left, heel out on the right. Right angle changes throught the pedal stroke probably from an old injury. Speedplay X2's and Frogs make it all alright.

[Volant]

My knees told me long before I noticed that I had a foot-alignment issue - moving to X2's fixed that.

If you really want to get analytical, set up your trainer in front of your TV and place a video camera on a tripod and wire it into your TV so you can watch yourself ride - once you're warmed up, hit the record button (use the handy-dandy remote) and record yourself on the hoods, flats, drops. THEN, export that recording to your computer and overlay lines at different points in your pedal stroke and check those out. Is your hip-angle right? Are you extending too much? Not enough? How is your reach? etc. If things aren't right, now you've got something to play with all winter. Marry this with a power-meter and a HRM and you can see if the changes you make are doing anything to improve your output. Or course you could go to a fitter/lab and have all this done for you, but what fun would that be?

[dauwhe]

Lots of toe-out on the right; can't use some cranks because my heel hits them.

Dave

[Mikej]

Don't fix it.