Cleat Spacing UPDATE

Cat Dailey wrote:
:: Hi all...just wanted to give you an update after our
:: interesting posts about how far apart feet should be
:: spaced. After receiving lots of replies telling me that
:: my seat was too low, I had the brilliant idea of emailing
:: Lennard Zinn at Velonews. His reply to me was that most
:: women should have their cleats set so that their feet are
:: as close to the crankarms as possible without rubbing. He
:: didn't give me the why, as it is evidently a subject he
:: is convering in his upcoming book.
::
:: SO....I moved my feet inboard a bit. I actually moved the
:: cleats out about 4mm or so (which as you know has a big
:: impact on foot position.) Lo and behold, NO KNEE PAIN and
:: I rode another century today just to make sure ;> And as
:: an added benefit, my feet felt better, too (and that's at
:: about 93 degrees today).
::
:: The funny thing is, I had already moved my feet in closer
:: early in the season and ended up moving them back out a
:: bit again. I think it was just too early in the year and
:: I wasn't feeling "one" with my bicycle as I am now. I
:: think the farther out position had me rolling my feet
:: outside a bit on the downstroke. I had a lot more power
:: at the bottom of the stroke today.
::
:: I think I have about another 3mm to spare yet. Now the
:: question is, do I move them even further together? (I
:: think Lennard would say yes). Perhaps I will wait a week
:: or so before I experiment again.

As someone who apparently can ride centuries any day of the
week without a moments notice, it's clear that you must be
at "one" with your bicycle. I'm green with envy....

You rock.

On Wed, 9 Jun 2004 20:27:02 -0400, "Roger Zoul" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Cat Dailey wrote:
:: Hi all...just wanted to give you an update after our
:: interesting posts about how far apart feet should be
:: spaced. After receiving lots of replies telling me
:: that my seat was too low, I had the brilliant idea of
:: emailing Lennard Zinn at Velonews. His reply to me
:: was that most women should have their cleats set so
:: that their feet are as close to the crankarms as
:: possible without rubbing. He didn't give me the why,
:: as it is evidently a subject he is convering in his
:: upcoming book.
::
:: SO....I moved my feet inboard a bit. I actually moved
:: the cleats out about 4mm or so (which as you know has a
:: big impact on foot position.) Lo and behold, NO KNEE
:: PAIN and I rode another century today just to make sure
:: ;> And as an added benefit, my feet felt better, too
:: (and that's at about 93 degrees today).
::
:: The funny thing is, I had already moved my feet in
:: closer early in the season and ended up moving them back
:: out a bit again. I think it was just too early in the
:: year and I wasn't feeling "one" with my bicycle as I am
:: now. I think the farther out position had me rolling my
:: feet outside a bit on the downstroke. I had a lot more
:: power at the bottom of the stroke today.
::
:: I think I have about another 3mm to spare yet. Now the
:: question is, do I move them even further together? (I
:: think Lennard would say yes). Perhaps I will wait a week
:: or so before I experiment again.

As someone who apparently can ride centuries any day of the
week without a moments notice, it's clear that you must be
at "one" with your bicycle. I'm green with envy....

You rock.

Admit it Roger. You hate her...with a passion. <eg>

I know I do.

-B
(j/k)

Cat Dailey said:

I think I have about another 3mm to spare yet. Now the
question is, do I move them even further together? (I think
Lennard would say yes). Perhaps I will wait a week or so
before I experiment again.

Cat

But.. but... no references??? No solid physiological
reason backed by research??? Oh my... see how low we have
dragged you!! 🙂

Glad you found an informed, if unsubstantiated, answer that
has solved the knee problem. When I have found a position
that solves a problem like yours, I pay attention and stick
with it for a while. If everything feels good after a few
days or more, I tend to forget I even had the problem so I
stop worrying. But I am not riding with the same intensity
as you. If I was, I would probably end up moving the cleat
outwards after a week of adjustment just out of curiosity.

"Dan Daniel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Cat Dailey said:

I think I have about another 3mm to spare yet. Now the
question is, do

I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

move them even further together? (I think Lennard would
say yes).

Perhaps

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I will wait a week or so before I experiment again.

Cat

But.. but... no references??? No solid physiological
reason backed by research??? Oh my... see how low we have
dragged you!! 🙂

Glad you found an informed, if unsubstantiated, answer
that has solved the knee problem. When I have found a
position that solves a problem like yours, I pay attention
and stick with it for a while. If everything feels good
after a few days or more, I tend to forget I even had the
problem so I stop worrying. But I am not riding with the
same intensity as you. If I was, I would probably end up
moving the cleat outwards after a week of adjustment just
out of curiosity.

Actually, I will probably buy his book to find out the
reasons why he makes this recommendation, so hopefully it
will be more substantiated then. And I think I am going to
do exactly as you suggested....wait a week and then go
slightly farther and see how it feels.

Thanks all, Cat and I don't get to ride centuries every
day;> but I do have off on Wednesdays and Saturdays,
so...what the heck? The hub was off in Mississippi so I had
no one to rush home to ;<