colorondo

I have a leg length discrepancy and shim about 6mm under the right cleat.

I want to put some platform pedals on my mountain bike for bikepacking.

I figure there must be 2 different platform pedal models out there that have different thicknesses, to get close to the 6mm difference needed. Probably even just 3+mm difference would be ok.

Downside is I've got to buy 2 sets of pedals to make this work, put a thicker pedal on the right side and a thinner on the left side.

Any recommendations on relatively thicker platform pedals and relatively thinner ones, decent quality, that might make this work?

Thanks!

70sSanO

In the late 80’s I went to a weekend bike rally and put on a lot of miles. I had to drive home using my left leg, thankfully the truck was an automatic, because my right hip was in such pain.

Had my legs measured and found out one leg is about a cm shorter. Added a shim under the cleat and it worked fine.

Fast forward 25 years and for my mtb platform pedals, I went to Walmart and bought some marked down super light EVA foam flip flops in the largest size they had. Took out the thin left shoe insole, cut the flip flops to fit and never had an issue.

It does help to have shoes with a bit of a larger toe box since you are lifting your foot higher in the shoe. At 69, I’ve had to put one in my hiking shoe since decades of walking with a tilted hip took its toll. But with it I’m pretty pain free.

John

Happy Feet

Curious, have you ever tried using two different crank arm lengths? Like 170 and 175.

Moisture

Before you do any of that, how do you know that what you're describing isn't just some sort of muscle imbalance?

Happy Feet

People don't usually shim their cleats just upon a whimsy. Let's assume the OP is an intelligent adult and just answer the question.

For reference my Race Face Chesters are 15mm's.

Kapusta

Just keep in mind that to simulate a 6mm cleat, the pedal is going to have to be 12mm thicker.

I like your thinking outside the box. I am rocking a 2" leg length discrepancy, here. Gotta get creative sometimes

Moisture

Thats exactly what I am doing. This sounds like an issue which can be rectified with the right amount of resistance training, not trying to work around it with different size equipment alone.

Kapusta

You know nothing about the OP’s LLD, yet it “sounds” to you like an issue that can be rectified with resistance training.

Oh, do explain. This should be interesting.

Kapusta

Another thing that comes to my mind (you may already have thought of this) that for what you are needing, it is really the thickness in the middle of the pedal (axle) that matters the most. One pedal may seem a lot thicker than another due to the thickness at the front and back, but be very similar in the middle.

I am thinking of my TMAC pedals. Due to their true concave nature, they are pretty thick at the ends, but about average in the middle.

And for an unsolicited suggestion: have you considered getting a shoe lifted the 6mm you need? My situation is far more extreme than yours, but I got a pair of Ride Concept Hellions lifted. (Then again, in my case I get all my shoes lifted)

freeranger

Have you tried an insole in only one of your shoes? Some are thicker than others-maybe a local shoe or sports store might have a selection.

colorondo

For reference, I've shimmed the right cleat since about 2009. There are two possibilities for leg length discrepancy (LLD), either structural (bones are longer in one leg vs the other) or functional (some sorta muscle imbalance, pelvis SI joint twist, foot issue (pronation/supination), etc. Structural is usually confirmed with a full leg xray, from what I've been told. I arrived at my 6mm shim with the help of a physical therapist friend who does bike fitting. Part of it was experimental - your body also has to readjust to the shimming.


From what I have read, using different length crank arms is not ideal, b/c although you get more extension at the low point of the 6 o'clock position for the longer leg, you are higher in the 12 o'clock position on that side, and the 3 and 9 o'clock positions are also extended fore and aft. I believe longer cranks are more acceptable if your LLD is due to different femur lengths vs. different tibias.


Shimming with a thicker insole is not ideal for me - I think there would not be enough room inside the toebox and I'd wind up with issues on long rides.


I have had good luck with shimming under the cleat. Speedplay road pedals are so easy to shim to any height. SPD pedals are less straight forward b/c the lateral stability of the shoe depends on the pedal contacting the sole of the shoe. Just stacking 6mm's of shim under an SPD cleat would be horribly wobbly side-to-side.


For mtn bike shoes, it's probably best to get a shoe repair place to build up the sole of the shoe to the proper height left and right of the cleat, then shim under the SPD cleat as needed.


Here is a really good article on options for shimming: https://www.velonews.com/gear/techni...screpancies-2/


But, what I'm really looking for is some real-world recommendations for platform pedals that are generally thinner and generally thicker, so I can ride in trail shoes when bikepacking. Would like some hard data, like the actual thickness you measure on your pedal would be nice. This pedal review gives thicknesses of most of the pedals listed, with a max of 17mm and min of 10mm, so that would be 3.5mm "shim" equivalent : https://bikepacking.com/gear/flat-pe...g-bikepacking/


Maybe there's a pedal thicker than 17mm?


Another option is to buy a platform pedal that is really flat (rather than concave-ish) and screw on some 1/4" aluminum strips to the upper and lower faces, presumably using the traction pin holes. This may be the best option?

colorondo

Yes, getting some trail shoes modified by a shoe repair place is another good option. I guess I'm just focused on the pedals so I can use different shoes since I don't really know what shoe model I'll like yet.

Kapusta

Good point. I guess you have a choice or which route to go: get shoes that work with any pedals, or pedals that work with any shoes.

Happy Feet

The point about crank arms makes sense.

I measured my race face Chester's after reading your op and they were 15mm. I also have three other similar design pedals wide platform that all have different thicknesses from 20mm to 27mm but the names are rubbed off. They are wellgo or Evo brands.

With those you could remove the pins and sand/grind one thinner by some mms easily without hitting the spindle. I'll try to take a pic tonight.