Inside of heel rubbing against chainstay.

[mick skinner]

Hi Everyone,

Since I started riding a bike with flat peals and wearing trainers instead of clip-in pedals and shoes I have found that the inside of the heal rubs against the back end of the chain-stay each time it goes round, and quite rapidly the paint gets rubbed off.

Is there an accessory I can buy to cover this part of the chainstay? I imagine a lot of other people have had this problem, so somebody should have already thought of it and marketed it.

[LollyKat]

Yes, you can get pedal extenders like these:


Cheap ones are available from Ebay, even in titanium, but no idea what the quality is like. If one failed you could have a nasty accident.

[Airsporter1st]

Hi Everyone,

Since I started riding a bike with flat peals and wearing trainers instead of clip-in pedals and shoes I have found that the inside of the heal rubs against the back end of the chain-stay each time it goes round, and quite rapidly the paint gets rubbed off.

Is there an accessory I can buy to cover this part of the chainstay? I imagine a lot of other people have had this problem, so somebody should have already thought of it and marketed it.

Just do a search for 'Frame Protection Tape' on the internet. Loads on eBay. I guess how long it lasts will depend on the quality and how hard you rub against it, but if you buy a roll, you can renew it as required.

[fossala]

Frame protection tape is known as helicopter tape. Apparently they also use it to protect helicopter blades.

[PH]

Some good info when I asked about frame protection tape here
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=123263

My heels also rub, even with cycling shoes, I ride a bit toe out. I found the pedal extenders a bit too much, on a bike with a single chainline I can manipulate it enough to make it a rare occurrence. On a derailleur bike it's a bit more limiting, different chainsets have different clearances and it's an expensive fix. If it's not a big problem, I'd just protect the paint.

[Cavemud]

Had a similar problem recently.

JTek pedal extenders were too much at 20mm, and they went red rusty within weeks.

I ended buying a pair of ISSI Flash pedals. They are SPD compatible and come in various spindle lengths (and colours)

Maybe you can find a flat pedal that is also available in different spindle lengths?

[mick skinner]

Some excellent advice, thanks folks.

I think I'll go with the frame protection tape. With the pedal axle extenders I'd worry about damaging my knees.

[TrevA]

Ive started using pedal extenders and if anything, they have saved my knees. I ride with my toes out and heels in and was getting similar problems with heels banging on the chain stay and crank. The pedal extenders have solved the issue. I can ride with my feet at an angle that suits my knees. And still have about 1cm clearance to the cranks and more to the chain stays. My knee problems have completely cleared up.

Disadvantage is that you can only use pedals that have flats on the axle, so I've had to change back from Look Keos to SPD-SL. Not a problem as I only changed to Look a couple of years ago and still have several sets of my old SPD-SL pedals. I get the odd comment from people I ride with about my high Q factor, but most people don't even notice.

[sebgreen]

It may be due to the heal of you trainers being wider than your older cycling shoes.

Try some trainers that are narrower at the back?

[sebgreen]

It may be the heel on your trainers is wider than the one on your old shoes.

Cycle shoes tend to have very thin heels.

[Cyril Haearn]

I would consciously try to position my foot so as not to touch the frame
After a while it would become automatic maybe, like ankling