Shims and Wedges - Where to buy

Ryaner

Is there anywhere that sells these that will ship to Ireland cheaply? I'm looking at getting some LeMond style wedges (small ones) and then about 8-10mm of normal flat wedges.

FrankGrimes

I got them from here: http://www.cyclefit.co.uk/lemond.html . They were pleasant to deal with and delivery was only a couple of pounds, though yeh the product isn't cheap at £20 for basically 8 slips of plastic.

That said, they're easily worth it: I have some pretty drastic forefoot varius which is related to a major lower legs problem I recently had major surgery for. Net result was my knee was kicking inwards during pedalling (and running) and it was both straining the knee and losing a fair bit of power transfer.

IrishFit recommended 3 degrees of wedges and this has really made a difference. That said, I also changed from SPD pedals to Look Keo Sprints and some Viper Carbon shoes (looks like I got the last pair of 45s at the sale price of €78 I think) so a lot of the significant power increase I am perceiving (power meter currently damaged so can't confirm) can be attributed to all 3 parts of the new combo. It's pretty clear that my knees are moving inwards a lot less though so even if there was no power gain (which I'm convinced there is), they are still easily worth it.

warrfla

FrankGrimes wrote: »

I
IrishFit recommended 3 degrees of wedges and this has really made a difference.

Just wondering how you found the fitting by Irishfit, I have been thinking about going for this, it would mean travelling up from waterford specifically for the fitting so I suppose thats why I keep putting it off.

Ryaner

Thanks Frank. I've the same foot thing although main reason I need them is my left left is a whole 20mm shorter than the right one. The fitting, while giving me more power has made the difference much more noticeable on the bike.

FrankGrimes

warrfla wrote: »

Just wondering how you found the fitting by Irishfit, I have been thinking about going for this, it would mean travelling up from waterford specifically for the fitting so I suppose thats why I keep putting it off.

It was excellent - I noticed an immediate improvement in comfort and power output and have been consciously trying to improve my pedal stroke based on the feedback given (keeping foot flat at the 6 o'clock position has really helped get better at pedalling all the way around). That's all even though the changes made were relatively minor (saddle up 2cm and forward 1.5cm I think), though the stretches for the hip muscles he showed me are fantastic and made a massive difference to my comfort on long rides.

Hard to describe the stretches but here it goes: kneel on the ground and then cross your left leg so your ankle is behind your right knee. Then stretch your right leg straight back behind you. Lean chest forward into the left thigh with hands stretched out onto the ground in front of you. Fully straighten the right leg (with only your toe tips touching the ground) to further increase the stretch. Hold for 30 seconds then repeat on opposite side. It really does a great job of stretching out the back of the hips and lower back.

There's another thread on here with positive feedback from several posters. If you are doing a lot of cycling I'd guess you'll find at least some form of benefit from it. Takes a fair while though (I was with him for nearly 2 hours which was great but plan your journey accordingly).

FrankGrimes

Ryaner wrote: »

Thanks Frank. I've the same foot thing although main reason I need them is my left left is a whole 20mm shorter than the right one. The fitting, while giving me more power has made the difference much more noticeable on the bike.

Holy crap.....20mm difference! Did you get a bit chopped off a few years back without noticing or something? That must be some form of record

lukester

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Holy crap.....20mm difference! Did you get a bit chopped off a few years back without noticing or something? That must be some form of record

Up to 25mm difference is in the 'normal' range apparently. I have a difference of about 16mm.

warrfla

FrankGrimes wrote: »

Holy crap.....20mm difference! Did you get a bit chopped off a few years back without noticing or something? That must be some form of record

I actually got a physio to measure my legs (from hip bone to ankle bone), I'm having some pain in my right ankle after long rides, no pain while walking or cycling but its juts tender to touch afterwards.

He sadi that there was a 18mm difference and my right leg was longer.

FrankGrimes

lukester wrote: »

Up to 25mm difference is in the 'normal' range apparently. I have a difference of about 16mm.

Sweet, that's today's 'new thing' learned...guess I can just kick back for the rest of the day so!

Lumen

There's some interesting stuff on leg length discrepancy in Arnie Baker's "Bike Fit" book.

Apparently the body partially adapts to leg-length differences, so you only need to correct by one third to one half of the difference, and that can be done without using anything inside the shoe, e.g. cleat shim, fore-aft cleat position, different length cranks.

lukester

Leo of Irish Fit said the same, apparently if you adjust for the full discrepancy it's worse than doing nothing at all. I have a 6mm shim for my shortie.

Ryaner

Hearing the other lengths makes me feel a little more "normal"

Leo did recommend me to do a max of half the difference but to start small and work up.

PHILI007

Did Irishfit supply and fit the wedges/shims during the fitting service, or was that something you had to do yourself after the fitting.