* * Chas
12-31-1969, 08:00 PM
"Chalo" <chalo.colina@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1183888017.574526.10670@57g2000hsv.googlegrou ps.com...
>
> I have been riding a number of different bikes these days, and one of
> the things I have noticed many times before has come to my attention
> again: I have a better, smoother, more natural pedal stroke on a bike
> with a large tread width (high Q factor).
>
> On a bike with a narrow tread, I tend to splay my knees outwards
> without thinking about it, I guess so that I can more easily aim my
> feet back towards the centerline of the bike; basically, I tend to
> pedal bow-legged. Also, my feet wander further and further towards
> the outer end of the pedals, until I feel them trying to tip off the
> edge and pull them back inwards. I have to maintain effort to keep
> from doing both of these things when I ride a narrow-treaded bike.
>
> When the bike has a very wide tread (and I have had a few bikes with
> BB spindles over 170mm), I don't have any problem with the
> aforementioned pedaling quirks. My knees stay in line with my feet,
> and my feet stay centered on the pedals.
>
> While I am a bigger than normal guy, I feel like I can't be alone in
> having an easier time with a relatively wide tread than with a narrow
> one. But I do understand that it's pretty uncommon for me to have
> used such a large range of tread widths on my own bikes.
>
> I know there are some small structural and handling benefits to narrow
> tread, and I know that most people who espouse any opinion about tread
> width generally say the narrower the better, no matter who's doing the
> pedaling. But my observed experience contradicts this
> generalization.
>
> So, is there anybody here besides myself who has tried both narrow-
> and wide-treaded setups and found that they like wide ones better?
>
> Chalo
>
I've had a similar situation. I suffered recurrent knee problems for 15-20
years. A friend suggested that I should change the position of my feet on
the pedals to have my heels inward and my toes pointing outward.
I removed my cleats to experiment with different positions and voilą....
No more knee problems.
I have several problems with this toe-ed out foot position. On bikes with
wide rear axles and short chainstays I frequently hit the stays with my
heels. The other problem, I had a total hip replacement a few years ago
and my right foot is splayed outward at 5° to 10° from my original stance.
These days I ride with toeclips and straps but no cleats. I've tried 1/2
dozen different pedal styles and I found that the old wide MTB pedals work
best for me. I've modified the toeclip mounting holes so that the clips
are at the far outside of the pedals.
I haven't been able to find clipless shoes that fit comfortable plus my
ortho told me no running, jumping, skiing, tennis, cleats or clipless
pedals unless I want to get my hip replaced again.
I have very wide feet - size 10 1/2 EEE. My hips are 16" wide and in a
normal stance my feet are 6" - 7" (150mm - 180mm) apart.
I was trying to adjust the Q factor using wide pedals. A while back I
noticed that I was much more comfortable riding one of my MTBs with an old
Shimano Deore XT crankset. I did some measurements and noticed that they
were wider than the cranks on my other bikes (I don't remember the
dimensions). I put a set of these cranks on an old cross bike and a
Colnago road bike and it made a world of difference.
I tried a set of 19mm (3/4") pedal extenders. I found that they were a
little to wide for me and that I didn't need the left one. I have the
right one on one of my road bikes with a narrow Q width and I'm going to
put extenders on the right crank of several other bikes. Have to remember
not to pedal through sharp right hand turns.
A Q factor of 170mm to 180mm is just about right for me (I think, I need
to measure my bikes again).
It seems to me that traditional cycling standards were built around skinny
malnourished European W.W.I and W.W.II survivors: what with the narrow
36cm and 38cm bars, narrow pedals, narrow Q factor, skinny round topped
saddles and so on.
Chas.
news:1183888017.574526.10670@57g2000hsv.googlegrou ps.com...
>
> I have been riding a number of different bikes these days, and one of
> the things I have noticed many times before has come to my attention
> again: I have a better, smoother, more natural pedal stroke on a bike
> with a large tread width (high Q factor).
>
> On a bike with a narrow tread, I tend to splay my knees outwards
> without thinking about it, I guess so that I can more easily aim my
> feet back towards the centerline of the bike; basically, I tend to
> pedal bow-legged. Also, my feet wander further and further towards
> the outer end of the pedals, until I feel them trying to tip off the
> edge and pull them back inwards. I have to maintain effort to keep
> from doing both of these things when I ride a narrow-treaded bike.
>
> When the bike has a very wide tread (and I have had a few bikes with
> BB spindles over 170mm), I don't have any problem with the
> aforementioned pedaling quirks. My knees stay in line with my feet,
> and my feet stay centered on the pedals.
>
> While I am a bigger than normal guy, I feel like I can't be alone in
> having an easier time with a relatively wide tread than with a narrow
> one. But I do understand that it's pretty uncommon for me to have
> used such a large range of tread widths on my own bikes.
>
> I know there are some small structural and handling benefits to narrow
> tread, and I know that most people who espouse any opinion about tread
> width generally say the narrower the better, no matter who's doing the
> pedaling. But my observed experience contradicts this
> generalization.
>
> So, is there anybody here besides myself who has tried both narrow-
> and wide-treaded setups and found that they like wide ones better?
>
> Chalo
>
I've had a similar situation. I suffered recurrent knee problems for 15-20
years. A friend suggested that I should change the position of my feet on
the pedals to have my heels inward and my toes pointing outward.
I removed my cleats to experiment with different positions and voilą....
No more knee problems.
I have several problems with this toe-ed out foot position. On bikes with
wide rear axles and short chainstays I frequently hit the stays with my
heels. The other problem, I had a total hip replacement a few years ago
and my right foot is splayed outward at 5° to 10° from my original stance.
These days I ride with toeclips and straps but no cleats. I've tried 1/2
dozen different pedal styles and I found that the old wide MTB pedals work
best for me. I've modified the toeclip mounting holes so that the clips
are at the far outside of the pedals.
I haven't been able to find clipless shoes that fit comfortable plus my
ortho told me no running, jumping, skiing, tennis, cleats or clipless
pedals unless I want to get my hip replaced again.
I have very wide feet - size 10 1/2 EEE. My hips are 16" wide and in a
normal stance my feet are 6" - 7" (150mm - 180mm) apart.
I was trying to adjust the Q factor using wide pedals. A while back I
noticed that I was much more comfortable riding one of my MTBs with an old
Shimano Deore XT crankset. I did some measurements and noticed that they
were wider than the cranks on my other bikes (I don't remember the
dimensions). I put a set of these cranks on an old cross bike and a
Colnago road bike and it made a world of difference.
I tried a set of 19mm (3/4") pedal extenders. I found that they were a
little to wide for me and that I didn't need the left one. I have the
right one on one of my road bikes with a narrow Q width and I'm going to
put extenders on the right crank of several other bikes. Have to remember
not to pedal through sharp right hand turns.
A Q factor of 170mm to 180mm is just about right for me (I think, I need
to measure my bikes again).
It seems to me that traditional cycling standards were built around skinny
malnourished European W.W.I and W.W.II survivors: what with the narrow
36cm and 38cm bars, narrow pedals, narrow Q factor, skinny round topped
saddles and so on.
Chas.