Cleat Spacing UPDATE

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.

Cat

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"
wrote:

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)

On Wed, 9 Jun 2004 19:53:42 -0400, "Cat Dailey"
wrote:


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" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 9 Jun 2004 19:53:42 -0400, "Cat Dailey"
wrote:


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.

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 ;