I need a husband

[wordbuzz]

Okay, so maybe this is the wrong forum for that but I really want to get your attention, because what I need is advice badly. The husband I once had was very good at giving advice, but he is no longer here, so I'm asking for some advice-giving volunteers. Seriously. I really need help.
What do you do if you get fitted for a bike by a shop that specializes in SICI fittings, seems to have a fabulous reputation, and it turns out the one thing you specifically said you didn't want on the bike exists in the extreme?
I'm short--5'1 (almost) and getting this bike was my dream. It was a reward I gave to myself for making it through some very difficult times (health and life issues), and also because I was turning 60. (Yikes!)
Anyway, I chose a Serotta--you all know the reasons--what's not to love? I now have a beautiful Serotta Legend Ti, and it's beautiful to look at, but whenever I ride it, I have a gnawing fear in my gut that I'm about to be thrown. The one thing I said I absolutely didn't want, and that I was assured wouldn't be a problem, is toe overlap. I know the theory--toe overlap isn't supposed to be a problem unless you're going really slow and making a really sharp turn. Well, that's wrong. This afternoon, I was out on a less than perfect city street (the winter really tore up our streets this year), I swerved to avoid a huge pothole, hit another one that took control of my wheel; my foot was in the wrong place in my pedal stroke, the wheel turned and hit my foot, and I almost went down. Yes, I know, I ALMOST went down, but I caught myself. However, the "almost-fall" made me turn slightly out into traffic, and I almost got hit.
I know, lots of almosts, but this has happened to me too many times, not necessarily the same scenario, but once I got "doored" by a guy getting out of his parked car, once I swerved to avoid some road debris that I saw too late, etc.
And then there's the other very aggravating thing and that is when I'm going up a very steep hill, I sometimes weave a little, usually involuntarily because I'm getting very fatigued. And when this starts happening, I really don't have a lot of control as to where my foot is in the pedal stroke when the wheel turns into it and hits my toe. I hate hate hate worrying about the hills because of toe overlap! I should only be focusing on the challenge of the hill, not my stupid pedal hitting my toe. I love riding, and I live in an area of hills and mountains. And when I go away on bike trips, it's usually to a place with mountainous terrain. It's one of the reasons I ride. I like the challenge. I ended up borrowing a friend's older bike most of last summer--a bike not as nice as mine, but at least I could just focus on pedaling instead of worrying about whether or not the wheel was going to hit my foot.
So this the deal: I've had the bike for two years. I almost didn't pick it up after I first tried it outside. I was horrified. I actually thought of letting the guy keep my $2000 deposit, cutting my losses and going to my LBS and buying off the rack. I should have. I could have gotten 2 bikes for the balance I ended up paying. So the fitter kind-of shamed me into picking up the bike. He said I just needed to practice, and that I would become a better and stronger rider and that the overlap wouldn't affect me then. He also said that I told him I liked the fit when I tried it out. Well, yes, I did, but that was with the bike on a stand! I wasn't turning the wheel! Yes, it was comfortable, but not functional for ME.
BTW, the bike has 650 wheels--the fitter had assured me that with 650 wheels, I would have no toe overlap. The off-the-rack bikes I've borrowed have all had 700 wheels (except for 1 cross bike I tried).
I'm probably rambling here, so I'll stop. Here's a picture of the overlap. I think it's dangerous. The guys in my bike group think it's dangerous. They tell me to get a new bike and get rid of this one. I hate the thought--I paid all that money--shouldn't I have the bike that I wanted?
Please, I hope someone can come up with some ideas....
Thanks very much for reading this, but I'm hoping this is an issue that other people might have (actually I do know of one other woman that had an unhappy experience with this bike fitter, but she just cut her losses, sold her bike and bought a new one. I'm afraid my bike might be too small and have too much overlap to be worth anything to anyone.)
Thank you all for your advice. Here are 2 pics:

[ultraman6970]

[chuckroast]

I think it already has 650B wheels from her description.

This is kind of off the wall but could you put on shorter crank arms?

[TMB]

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

The frames at your size are so small that you will have toe overlap all the time wanted or not. No way to avoid it.

Maybe doesnt make sense to you but for you to think it over, the frame size changes but the wheels are kept the same size all the time.

You have a solution tho. Get a bike with 650 wheels or maybe do as it was done in the mid 80s when some manufacturers came with a 700C wheel in the back and a 650 in the front, then the frames get smaller and kind'a more proporcionated.

Sorry girl, it is what it is, at your size u can't avoid it. Ever with 700C wheels.

Hope this helps.

This is utter nonsense.

Btw, if you read the OP again you will see that she has 650's.

Waiting for Smiley or Mr. Kirk, or one of the many other fine experts to chime in.

[Louis]

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

You have a solution tho. Get a bike with 650 wheels .

The bike in question already has 650 wheels.

[Jangles13]

Edit: I was slow, already said above.

[martinrjensen]

Probably has a lot to do with having a small frame. I ride a 58 cm and I just went and measured my frame. I have about 3in clearance measured the same way you did. I have slight toe over lap (all my bike do) but I have never had an issue with it.
I suspect you are just going to have to buck up and get used to it, or change bikes. Having street pedals means that the position of your foot varies so there will be times where it's a worse problem than others but still, that's not much clearance.
I suppose cutting off the front half of your foot is out of the question? How about running a 100mm crank length? OK, I'll go away now....

[ultraman6970]

Personally is not unsafe but after the 1st toe caught in the front wheel she will learn how to turn, is just practice, like parallel parking.

[Dave Wages]

Originally Posted by TMB

This is utter nonsense.

Btw, if you read the OP again you will see that she has 650's.

Waiting for Smiley or Mr. Kirk, or one of the many other fine experts to chime in.

Without seeing the complete bike or the geometry of the bike it's a bit hard to comment, but I will agree that this bike seems really tight, especially considering the 650b wheels. Front wheel overlap depends on how long the top tube is, and what the designer did to the front end geometry, (HT angle and fork rake), to try and deal with the issue.

We should probably wait for more info before anyone condemns the fitter or Serotta on this one.

Dave

[Louis]

How long are your cranks?

If you're very short then you should be using short cranks. If the ones you are using are on the long side, then you might be able to shorten them a bit and gain a few mm there. (not much, but every bit will help)

One solution is to shame the bike shop into giving you as big a discount as possible on your next frame. Except that you might have to deal with the same fitter, which may not be what you want to do.

You could then have them move all the components over to the new frame (for free, of course). With the correct warnings, you then sell your existing frame for as much as you can and forget about the money you've lost.

Good Luck

[wordbuzz]

I could probably live with some overlap, I always have.
I DO have 650 wheels.
I can get shorter crank arms, but they have to be specially made. My thought about them is that I will have to be spinning faster to keep up with everyone. Is that right? I'm in pretty good shape, but I'm more of a hill climber than a fast spinner. And it seems that my spinning is getting slower and slower. I do work at it, but it's those fast twitch muscles (or is it slow twitch) that you kind-of start losing when you get into my age cat!

[martinrjensen]

Not necessarily. everything else being equal, you will simply be in a higher gear then your riding buds.

Originally Posted by wordbuzz

I could probably live with some overlap, I always have.
I DO have 650 wheels.
I can get shorter crank arms, but they have to be specially made. My thought about them is that I will have to be spinning faster to keep up with everyone. Is that right? I'm in pretty good shape, but I'm more of a hill climber than a fast spinner. And it seems that my spinning is getting slower and slower. I do work at it, but it's those fast twitch muscles (or is it slow twitch) that you kind-of start losing when you get into my age cat!

[bmeryman]

I've got a couple thoughts that I'm sure you've considered, but just to check:

What length crank arms are you riding? At this level of bike fit I'm sure they fitted you with an appropriate length, but that's always something to consider.

Another question: do you find that overlap occurs when you're riding with cleats and without cleats? I know that I find myself riding with my foot more forward without cleats. If you know that overlap occurs both with and without them, have you looked at your cleat placement? I had my mountain bike cleats back too far a while ago and it caused some overlap issues.

Anyways, that's all I've got for quick answers. Good luck figuring this out! I'm sure you'd rather be out there enjoying the bike than worrying about things like this!

[wordbuzz]

I meant to say I could live with some toe overlap--certainly not this much--but I would prefer not to. I'd rather be doing a combination of perhaps stretching slightly more with a longer top tube? But I guess it's too late for that. I wish someone had asked me what sacrifices I was willing to make to not have toe overlap.

TMB: when you said "this is utter nonsense", what did you mean?

[TMB]

Originally Posted by Dave Wages

Without seeing the complete bike or the geometry of the bike it's a bit hard to comment, but I will agree that this bike seems really tight, especially considering the 650b wheels. Front wheel overlap depends on how long the top tube is, and what the designer did to the front end geometry, (HT angle and fork rake), to try and deal with the issue.

We should probably wait for more info before anyone condemns the fitter or Serotta on this one.

Dave

I was condemning neither the fitter or Serotta.

I quoted a previous post, my comment was directed to the nonsense in that post.