seat height when your legs differnt length

[mercalia]

seat height when your legs different length. There must be many people here who dont have the same length legs?

so how do people deal with this?

[Dynamite_funk]

Insoles?

[Vorpal]

I think most people have slightly different length legs. I'd say set saddle height for the shortest leg, but if they are very different, an adaptation (I.e. one crank shorter or one pedal or shoe sole thicker than the other) might be appropriate. Maybe one of the folks with experience fitting bikes for others will come along with some other suggestions.

[Audax67]

I have 11 mm difference in my legs. At the bottom of the pedal stroke my left ankle is extended, whereas my right foot is still at 70° to the leg when it is down. I also have the right cleat moved further to the back of the shoe.

This is not ideal, but it's the only real solution I've found. It found itself, really: I just tried this and that until one combo felt less bad. Nonetheless there is more pressure on my left buttock than on the right. Not really a problem, though, even over long distances.

[Brucey]

seat height when your legs different length. There must be many people here who dont have the same length legs?

so how do people deal with this?

In the old days you could buy pedals that were made up to different thicknesses to allow for it.

These days packing under the cleat and/or insoles will help.

Speedplay pedals are designed to accept packing pieces, but others will too.

In any event if you have a certain leg length difference, packing of 1/2 to 2/3rds of that is a good place to start.

If you carry on without any packing then the outcomes can be

-poor leg muscle development (which can lead to (say) a bad knee on the longer leg) and/or
-back pain on the bike.

You may get back pain anyway i.e. when not on the bike; see a professional to get this sorted out.

cheers

[531colin]

http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/?s=leg+length

[breakwellmz]

seat height when your legs different length. There must be many people here who dont have the same length legs?

so how do people deal with this?

A friend of mine has one leg 3/4" shorter than the other after a motorcycle accident.He has some shoes with an insert.
I recently added the cages from an old pair of pedals(Which happened to be the right depth)to either side of one of his via blocks of wood.
This turned out to be a very satisfactory solution.

[531colin]

Cages bolt onto these pedals, so its easy...



See here..http://www.flickr.com/photos/52358536@N06/sets/72157624571269648/..page 2

I have 2 pairs, open to sensible offers

[james01]

The logical answer is different crank lengths. If you can get it right you should end up with each leg having identical deflection at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

[531colin]

The logical answer is different crank lengths. If you can get it right you should end up with each leg having identical deflection at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

I'm not sure you are right.
Consider @Audax67, with 11mm difference in leg length. (call it 10mm, for easy numbers)
To make that up from crank lengths, he would need 165mm one side, and 175mm the other side......that just about covers the commonly-available size range for cranks, but those cranks usually cover a rider height range from say 5'4" to 6'4"......with much more than 10mm difference in leg length.....?
Not sure there is any "science" behind it, but crank length varies by a very small amount compared to frame size, stem length, etc.
So on the one hand it seems to me that riders don't really seem to need exactly proportional length cranks for their height/leg length, that is you will often get 2 riders with obviously different length legs using the same crank, but on the other hand, riders with relatively small differences in length between their left and right legs are driven to find a way of compensating, because they experience pain etc.
Its all a bit of a puzzle....as if we are sensitive to where the bottom of the stroke is (otherwise we "dip" the pelvis on the "short" side) but it matters little where the top of the stroke is...?
I wouldn't be surprised if its all in Steve Hogg's website that I linked!.......

[Brucey]

The logical answer is different crank lengths. If you can get it right you should end up with each leg having identical deflection at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

as discussed (IIRC) in previous threads, yes if one thigh is shorter than the other, no if the lower leg is shorter one side than the other. In the latter instance spacers are arguably a much better arrangement.

cheers

[mercalia]

atleast no fanatics suggested have an operation ....

[531colin]

atleast no fanatics suggested have an operation ....

Well, only some pedal surgery.........

[ferrit worrier]

I'd go for packing out the cleat by 10mm and fitting longer screws. Much cheaper than having to buy two sets of cranks, and if you have more than one bike, your already set up.

there is seller on ebay that might help http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aluminium-Fla ... 25802e3bd4

Malc

[mercalia]

http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/?s=leg+length

oh dear how does any one ever get it right? I think best have an operation.