Question: Arnie Baker’s recent article on saddle sores mentioned that a rider may experience discomfort on one side if a that leg is shorter. A possible fix is to shimmy the shoe of the shorter leg. Since this may apply to me I am curious if the shim should run the length of the shoe or just needs to be more in the area of the ball of the foot, where the foot contacts the pedal? Or does it not matter? Thanks. Bill S.
Coach Rick Shultz replies: There are 2 types of leg length discrepancies, (a) structural – someone has broken a bone and has healed short, and (b) functional – caused by muscle tightness, usually hip flexors causing the pelvis to be slightly higher on one side than the other.
What Bill is looking for is this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bike-Fit-Leg-Length-Shims-Road-Look-3-Hole-Keo/112587713001?epid=2254467937
But, he can also use wedges back to back, plus they are a lot cheaper.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4PCS-Universal-pedal-cleat-WEDGE-shim-Fits-3-hole-cleat-road-bike-shoes/252585494805
I am showing the Shimano / Look 3-bolt hole pattern, but manufacturers also make them for SPD as well as Speedplay.
But, (I know, a lot of BUTS), Bill should make sure he in fact does have a LLD. Just prior to testing for an LLD, Bill should do some stretches such as those that RBR published with Amy Schultz, PT, DPT, CSCS showing hip flexor stretches. Most cyclists hip flexors are so tight that a false-positive LLD can be shown and, once warmed up, goes away.
A quick and easy way to check is to:
1) Warm up stretching.
2) Have someone grab both feet and pull a little.
3) Measure ankle bone to ankle bone.
If there is a difference, then a shim might be in order.
Do you have a cycling question? You can submit it here.
I have a LLD. Left leg is measured at a about an 11cm shorter than my right leg. My Left foot is a half size smaller than my right. I made a shim out of a poly cutting board that is a half inch thick. Works great but i have to use mountain bike style pedals and cleats. Adding this shim though enabled me to get a proper bike fit, which took care of a LOT of problems (numb hands, numb feet, uneven leg strength etc). The biggest thing it did was allow me to have a cadence above 75rpm and NOT wobble.
You mean 11 MM? 11 cm is a LOT!
I’m an above knee amputee and my prosthetic limb is not the same length as my sound leg. I get very sore on the same side of my prosthetic. I can’t use clipless, I use a toe cage on the left pedal to keep it securely in place. After reading this I’m wondering if I can loosen the strap a bit and somehow secure some kind of shim to build it up a bit. I’ll gladly do whatever to increase my comfort even 15-20%. My LBS and I are going to look at it on Saturday to see what we can devise. Thank you for this article, I’m hopeful that it will make some degree of difference.
I have a 16mm discrep as I.D. by a prosthesis doctor I used to work with. My right leg is shorter then my left. 8 mm in my tibia and 8 mm in my Femur. To shorten my left femur I run a 170mm crank arm on the left and my normal 175 mm crank arm on the right. I then shim under my right foot 8mm for the tibia discrep.
Without this it’s really hard to get both knees to line up over the axle and one knee is always off and in pain. Also I believe this caused me to tear my left glute muscle while racing and I still experience pain in the left glute but It’s gotten better with some changes are more awareness to use that muscle.
5’11”. Cat 1.