LeMond LeWedge - any experiences?

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Hello, I tried asking this in the fitness section but it just doesn't get the same traffic as here and I suppose this also fits into the equipment cat. as well. Has anyone tried these shims? After reading about them I decided to check my feet. I lay on my back and pedal in the air. I go for the most comfortable pedal stroke that keeps the knees more or less straight. I can notice that my feet are not flat when I do this. So, when I straighten my feet so that they are flat....I notice that it stresses the knee. Ah ha, maybe there is some truth to this. But, while cycling, there is a different force on the foot than the 'natural' resting position. So, I ask the people that have tried the LeWedge what they think. Today, I talked to the customer service guy at speedplay and asked him about the LeWedge and he says that he uses it and likes it....this means something to me. Here are a couple links for the shims:

http://www.lemondfitness.com/products/lewedge/cycling_biomechanics.html

http://www.lemondfitness.com/products/lewedge/forefoot_measuring.html

You must have your feet measured to know the exact tilt. I had a 10% slope in my right foot and now wear 2 shims(4% each) under that cleat. This stops the inward rotation at the bottom of each pedal stroke which is the whole point of getting them. There is no chance of damaging any of the 3 leg joints. After first using them it felt a little tighter underfoot but that has since disapeared.

I've been using the Lewedges for a leg length discrepancy. It really helped the stress in my left patellar tendon(longer leg). I'm a true believer in trying an inexpensive trial and error before shelling out big bucks for custom fitting. I purchased mine for $17 at: http://www.critracing.com/lewedge.html


Hello, I tried asking this in the fitness section but it just doesn't get the same traffic as here and I suppose this also fits into the equipment cat. as well. Has anyone tried these shims? After reading about them I decided to check my feet. I lay on my back and pedal in the air. I go for the most comfortable pedal stroke that keeps the knees more or less straight. I can notice that my feet are not flat when I do this. So, when I straighten my feet so that they are flat....I notice that it stresses the knee. Ah ha, maybe there is some truth to this. But, while cycling, there is a different force on the foot than the 'natural' resting position. So, I ask the people that have tried the LeWedge what they think. Today, I talked to the customer service guy at speedplay and asked him about the LeWedge and he says that he uses it and likes it....this means something to me. Here are a couple links for the shims:

http://www.lemondfitness.com/products/lewedge/cycling_biomechanics.html

http://www.lemondfitness.com/products/lewedge/forefoot_measuring.html

I've been using the Lewedges for a leg length discrepancy. It really helped the stress in my left patellar tendon(longer leg). I'm a true believer in trying an inexpensive trial and error before shelling out big bucks for custom fitting. I purchased mine for $17 at: http://www.critracing.com/lewedge.html
Yup, paid about $30 for mine. I ended up taking them back out and just use them to take a bit of my leg length difference out.

You must have your feet measured to know the exact tilt. I had a 10% slope in my right foot and now wear 2 shims(4% each) under that cleat. This stops the inward rotation at the bottom of each pedal stroke which is the whole point of getting them. There is no chance of damaging any of the 3 leg joints. After first using them it felt a little tighter underfoot but that has since disapeared.

Where do you get measured for that? I've check several LBS, and none of them seem to have the tool for measuring the foot tilt.

You must have your feet measured to know the exact tilt. I had a 10% slope in my right foot and now wear 2 shims(4% each) under that cleat. This stops the inward rotation at the bottom of each pedal stroke which is the whole point of getting them. There is no chance of damaging any of the 3 leg joints. After first using them it felt a little tighter underfoot but that has since disapeared.

Bah, you don't need to be measured, just start with 2 of them and play with it.

I started using them a couple of weeks ago because I'd been getting occasional pain in my right knee after rides and the small toes on my right foot kept going numb on long rides. I stuck two shims under my right cleat with the thick sides toward the inside and my knee pain is completely gone. I still get some numbness in my small toe (not nearlys as much though) so I'm thinking about popping a 3rd shim in.

Dean

you should get mesured it is the only way to get it right. any good bike shop should have the tool. btw lewedge is a great solution to many problems as you can tell by the other posts. they helped me a lot worth more than they cost

This spring I went and had a spin scan done at a local LBS.
Basically its a trainer that you ride and the cranks are set up with strain gauges to measure the pedal force from each foot. I was asked to ride the trainer for 10 minutes to warm up than they icreased the force to get me to almost peak out. After, they decreased the force to get me to spin and they watch the monitor for how much force I am exerting on each pedal. The lemond wedges were put under my cleats to correct the imbalance of strength on my weaker side. I went form 75-80% efficiency to almost 92%. After I could feel a major difference in my pedal force. My feet felt like they were planted more on the pedals. I ended up getting one shim under each shoe one was shimmed in and the other out.

Question for LeWedge users: how thick is the thickest part of the LeWedge and how many come with a kit?

Thanks

It's about 1 mm thick and you get 8 shims per kit.

Lets clarify some stuff her lying on your back with knee bent or fully extended will not flatten your arch in any manner. You would need to exam the function of the foot/arch by standing to see if you are not one of these functional flat feet person and secondly you will need to squat in place and see if there is any drastic internal rotation of the tibia upon the ankle joint. If this condition exist then you will need most likely some sort of medial arch support with some medial posting to combat that dysfunction, which normally will be seen during pedaling (pushing) and mostly standing/out of the saddle.

Regarding using a heel lift, this support will not help with patellar problems. It only helps with achilles tendonitis and reducing leg length discrepancies.

I have a leg length discrepancy, too. Mine is due to bilateral total hip replacements. I had to use two whole boxes of LeMond LeWedge shims to make up for a half inch. I purchased them at The Bike Lane thebikelane.com (http://www.thebikelane.com/) in Springfield, VA. To find screws long enough I had to go to Bolt Depot www.boltdepot.com (http://www.boltdepot.com/). I ended up using 4 phillips flat head, stainless A-2 (18-8), 4mm x .7 x 25mm screws (#5116). I also use a KneeSaver™ www.kneesaver.net (http://www.kneesaver.net/) because my right leg is outwardly rotated, as well. Now I can ride my spin bike and road bike in comfort without straining my knee, and clipping in and out is not a problem anymore. You should see what I had to do to my ice skates to make them work…

I've been using the Lewedges for a leg length discrepancy. It really helped the stress in my left patellar tendon(longer leg). I'm a true believer in trying an inexpensive trial and error before shelling out big bucks for custom fitting. I purchased mine for $17 at: http://www.critracing.com/lewedge.html