Anyone has experience on using cleat shims and wedges? Please share whether do they help alleviate the posture problem.
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This is a really detailed subject âŚ
Direct answer: yes Iâve used a shim. Simple flat yellow shims (will this iPhone stop autocorrecting shim to shim pls). I used them on road only.
My specific use case is Iâm tilted forward on the right hip and up a bit.
Which results in the right leg being âeffectivelyâ longer. Of course it isnât longer but itâs an effect on the bike given the lower back/hip imbalance.
So I shimmed the left shoe by a small amount thereby lifting the left shoe a little to encourage a more balanced pair of hips and back.
Took them off eventually changing cleats and never put them back on.
Never noticed any difference in when I get pain. Still happened after a period of hard riding.
Maybe it does help balance things a bit (it seems like logically it should) and help but it was hard to tell.
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You know ⌠now youâve mentioned this again ⌠and thanks to @Abi (need Abi on this forum) Iâm probably in slightly better balance than I was ⌠o wonder if I should see if I can find some thin yellow shims to our under my left Speedplay cleat and try again. Thanks for posting this question.
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I got a bike fit 2 years ago and got a yellow shim under my left cleat. I donât know if these are standard thickness shims or if they are wedged at all, but with the shim I feel my fit is spot on and I can ride long distances with no issues. My cleat fore-aft position is slightly different left to right, but part of that was âif it ainât broke, donât fix it.â My right foot was fine but I was having pain in my left (or was it right) knee. So shim and slight cleat adjustment and now Iâm pain free. I really think itâs black magic.
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I have a very mild scoliosis and have a shim under a cleat. Only a few mm. I cannot confirm whether it itself has helped but I suspect itâs the shim and a combination of a better fit that had helped. Iâm still not perfect, if I look down when on the bike I see the right side of the down tube a little, and not the left, but I feel comfortable which is the most important thing.
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On the TT bike I always feel my left leg is shorter than my right, but when standing up theyâre the same length. So I put a shim on my left cleat to see if that would help, and it sort-of helped, but then I started getting bad saddle sores on the right side⌠Then I figured out that my legs were the same length, I was just preferentially putting more of my weight on the right side of the saddle, and my hips werenât âsquareâ. So then I put the shim on the right shoe - forcing my right hip up and allowing my left hip to come down. Seemed to work for awhile, but I started to notice I would âlose controlâ of my left leg during really hard efforts. Now I believe my issue is more likely related to having a hip angle that is too âclosed offâ, and a significant dead spot in my left pedal stroke. I still donât know if the dead spot caused, or was caused by my hip angle.
TLDR; All of this to say that shims may help and they may not. It is probably best to first accurately diagnose your issue before trying to treat it with shims or anything else. You could inadvertently make things worse. Good luck!
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I have 2 thin wedges on my left cleat. I was getting numbness in my pinky and 4th toes. After some of my own testing I found that my foot was slightly angled so all the pressure was ending up on the left edge of my cleat. The shims helped me keep my foot angled, but even out the pressure all along the bottom of my foot and I no longer get that numbness in my 2 toes.
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I have shims under my left leg and various wedges on both to fix my âwonkyâ legs. Was a bicycle fitter for years so figured a way to set up cameras, lasers, etc (with some help) and get the info I needed. I made the switch from SPD-SL pedals to custom length Speedplay. Would never go back. Game changer. I just need to figure out how to make the same kind of corrections on my gravel bike because mtb shoes and pedals donât play as nicely.
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The way to install a cleat properly is by marking a straight line running between the marks on each shoe. Adjust the cleat position forward or back, and bolt it in place enough to keep the cleat in place.
Both my wife and I had fits from very good professional fitters. We both got shims and wedges, differing between left and right feet. They def made a positive difference for both of us.
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I worked in a bike shop and was trained in doing basic cleat fitting. The alignment of the longitudinal axis of the cleat was determine by the physiology of the rider and in almost all cases cases the longitudinal axis of the cleat winds up at a angle to the shoeâs longitudinal axis or the shoeâs cleat mounting slots. The starting point for longitudinal position was midway between the ends of the outer and inner metatarsals. Cleat bolts were tighten to specified torque, usually 5Nm, using a torque key. Itâs important that cleats are tightened to spec so that they donât come loose. A loose cleat can be nearly impossible to unclip from the pedal and can lead to a fall and possible injury.
It makes a massive difference, but you need to see a physio to understand what is going on. Some people need positive, some need negative, some need it at the forefoot, some people need it in the rear foot, some need arch support, some people have a leg length discrepancy. A good physio who understands bike fit will add wedges / shims and then see how it affects posture and then change as necessary. It also depends on your shoes as specialized shoes already have these built in. I use wedges (in shoe) rather than shims (under cleat). The bolts for cleats are a specific length. As you wedge the bolt can become too short. (I use forefoot +ve wedge left and right, medium arch support left and right and rear foot wedge right foot only, in specialized shoes. I have significant knee damage post climbing accident.)