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Leg Imbalance Fitting Advice

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Leg Imbalance Fitting Advice

Old 08-15-21, 03:26 PM
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BCPilotguy
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Leg Imbalance Fitting Advice

Long time lurker first time poster.

I've been riding for a couple years and have recently started having some serious adductor and knee pain as well as some arch pain on my right side that's kept me off the bike for a few days now.

When I examined my cleats (SPD-SL) I found that the left one was in good shape, but the right one is very worn so it seems my right leg is fighting against the pedal and cleat more.

It's clear that I need to make some adjustments to accommodate whatever imbalance I have going on with my right leg but I have no idea where to start.

Can anyone point me in the right direction as far as some adjustments I can make to get myself back out there pain free?
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Old 08-15-21, 09:55 PM
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Not having seen you, my guess is that the adjustments need to be to your body rather than to the bike, assuming that both your legs are the same length. Muscle imbalance issues can usually be sorted in the gym, but one needs a coach, someone who knows something about cycling.

The other thing you can try doing is simply pedaling with one leg, alternating them every minute or two, the lazy leg being propped in the frame triangle. Rather obviously, this is best done on a trainer, though it can be done on the road. One would want to notice whether or not the two legs pedaled the same, and if not, what was the difference. Then try to correct that difference consciously while pedaling one-legged. Warning: one-legged pedaling is not easy, but is a skill worth acquiring. It's possible for one leg to make a mess of the other's pedaling.

Muscle imbalance can simply stem from one's muscles not firing at the correct time, thus firing at an incorrect time, which makes a mess of things. It's a problem with neuromuscular coordination. It has to rather be beaten into your spinal ganglia.

Hard to know what went wrong. Usually it's some minor injury which caused pain, which causes the body to avoid the pain by doing something else. One's muscles often cover for each other.
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Old 08-16-21, 10:10 AM
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Might be that your saddle is too high and you are correcting that on the bike by favoring one side or leg. And of course if you aren't attentive to what your body is telling you, then maybe the cleat itself on that side is just not at the proper angle for that foot. If you tell me that both are the same angle, then I'd say that's probably the issue. One side of our body is not the mirror image of the other.

There are plenty of other reasons though. Some solutions might range from physical therapy to a professional fit to get the right foot angle on the pedal.
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Old 08-20-21, 03:26 AM
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When I did a bike fit, they started with the cleats and feet. Almost everyone can do with shims under the cleats and replacing the standard soles that come with the shoes.
The shims make the surface of your shoes level with the natural angle of the bottom of your feet.
The soles provide support for the arch of the foot. Standard shoes provide very little support as they also need to fit people with very small arches.
I was not feeling pain, but before the adjustments both my knees were moving a bit left to right. After these adjustments this was solved. What I noticed is that my feet are now much more stable as I apply force during the pedal stroke, even though this was not something that was bothering me before.
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Old 08-23-21, 06:14 PM
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Have you considered that the drive side is on the right side of your bike?

I subconsciously tend to push harder on the right side than the left, since it is more directly connected to the drivetrain.
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Old 08-23-21, 07:23 PM
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"the right one is very worn".
Is the worn spots where it clips into the pedal, front and back? Or wear on the bottom of the cleat? That could be from pushing off with just the right foot. Which foot unclips at stops?
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