Toes fouling front wheel. Suggestions gratefully received.
Toes fouling front wheel. Suggestions gratefully received.
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Discussion

Big Rod

Original Poster:

6,264 posts

245 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
I bought a Boardman CX Comp, (don't laugh!), late last year as a sort of transition bike to going full road a bit later on.

I do like the bike but in the summer I bought a road bike and relegated the CX to winter/off road duties.

Having hung up the road bike with the worsening weather, I dusted off the CX and noticed that my toes foul the front wheel on occasion.

Now I like the CX for what it is and having bought two bikes within 8 months, I reckon it'd be frowned upon to look into a complete replacement so I'm looking for a workaround.

I had thought that maybe a set of 'swept' forks might be just enough to afford the desired clearance but I've been told that it might affect the geometry of the bike and could ride like a pig. I reckon this may be the path of least resistance and might just be worth a try if I can find a suitable set of S/H forks.

The other thought I had was to maybe have a fabricator 'pie cut' the trailing edge of the forks, bend them forward a bit and fill the resultant gap with a filler piece but I appreciate this might adversely affect the structural rigidity if it's not done properly and I have doubts about the assembly being 'true' afterwards.

So, anybody got any better ideas other than buying a new bike?

TwistingMyMelon

6,506 posts

234 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
its called toe overlap, I get it occasionally most people modify their pedalling technique to accommodate it, I kind of do it subconsciously after a while

It should only happen at slow speed?

Big Rod

Original Poster:

6,264 posts

245 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
TwistingMyMelon said:
its called toe overlap, I get it occasionally most people modify their pedalling technique to accommodate it, I kind of do it subconsciously after a while

It should only happen at slow speed?
Yes, you're right it does only happen at slower speed when I'm turning quite tight but as the bike is used a bit off road too I'm figuring it might start bothering me.

It doesn't help that I have mahoosive feet. It's not an issue 99.9% of the time but as I'm a lumox at the best of times I want to try and avoid locking the front wheel and going base over apex. Not sure if that'll ever happen but I'm into mitigating against things like that. LOL


Edited by Big Rod on Tuesday 29th November 10:57

TwistingMyMelon

6,506 posts

234 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
Big Rod said:
TwistingMyMelon said:
its called toe overlap, I get it occasionally most people modify their pedalling technique to accommodate it, I kind of do it subconsciously after a while

It should only happen at slow speed?
Yes, you're right it does only happen at slower speed when I'm turning quite tight but as the bike is used a bit off road too I'm figuring it might start bothering me.

It doesn't help that I have mahoosive feet. It's not an issue 99.9% of the time but as I'm a lumox at the best of times I want to try and avoid locking the front wheel and going base over apex. Not sure if that'll ever happen but I'm into mitigating against things like that. LOL


Edited by Big Rod on Tuesday 29th November 10:57
I wouldn't worry about if it was me and just modify pedaling to accommodate it, CX frames are quite short by design hence the overlap, give it a few weeks to see how you get on

Big Rod

Original Poster:

6,264 posts

245 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
TwistingMyMelon said:
I wouldn't worry about if it was me and just modify pedaling to accommodate it, CX frames are quite short by design hence the overlap, give it a few weeks to see how you get on
Will do, thanks.

Matt_N

9,032 posts

231 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
That's one of the main changes to the geometry of CX bikes, shorter wheelbases to make them a bit more nimble.

How far back do you have your shoe cleats mounted, i.e. how much of your shoe is forward of the cleat?

You could pull them forward a bit to bring your foot back a touch but you don't want to make massive changes else you could start knee issues and the like.

I ride a 56.5cm top tube and have size 9 feet but even a slow speed turns get some toe overlap, worse is my commuter / winter which has mudguards that obviously shorten distance to feet.

upsidedownmark

2,120 posts

164 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
I don't have a single bike where this doesn't happen! if I'm turning tight I usually have the outside pedal down anyhow, better for control and avoids fouling your toes in the wheel..

ian996

1,228 posts

140 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
A pretty common issue with road bikes, it can be worked around most of the time, but can be a bit of a hazard when trying track-stands if your technique is less than perfect. (Cranks horizontal-ish...twist bars to balance...toe-wheel lock-up..."oh-fk"

Being a ste track-stander, I've had a few near-misses along the above lines, so I don't try track-stands at traffic lights any more.

Big Rod

Original Poster:

6,264 posts

245 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
I had thought on maybe pushing the cleat forward to compensate but as my knees are quite happy, I'm hesitant to do it.

So it's quite a common problem then?

My balance is crap at the best of times so I'll not be trying track stands any time soon, so it won't be an issue. LOL

I'll leave it for now and try and adjust my pedals to accommodate.

Thanks for the input guys.

Magic919

14,458 posts

230 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
I had a Boardman CX and got this. My 'normal' road bikes have never done it. I didn't ever fall off as a result, but it was disconcerting. I offloaded the bike in the end.

lufbramatt

5,665 posts

163 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
Stick a 650c front wheel on it ;-)

Big Rod

Original Poster:

6,264 posts

245 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
Magic919 said:
I had a Boardman CX and got this. My 'normal' road bikes have never done it. I didn't ever fall off as a result, but it was disconcerting. I offloaded the bike in the end.
Neither my road bike or my hybrid do it, just the CX.

I do like the bike though so I think I'll just put up with it.

Big Rod

Original Poster:

6,264 posts

245 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
lufbramatt said:
Stick a 650c front wheel on it ;-)
Now this strikes me as a good idea actually! (Unless you're joking!)

Is it a practical thing to do?

Other than having to carry two spare tubes is there a downside?

lufbramatt

5,665 posts

163 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
Have to say it was rather tongue in cheek smile but they used to run smaller front wheels on track and TT bikes back in the day.

Don't think it would work that well as it would tilt the whole bike forward and the brakes wont line up (unless you have discs).

Big Rod

Original Poster:

6,264 posts

245 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
lufbramatt said:
Have to say it was rather tongue in cheek smile but they used to run smaller front wheels on track and TT bikes back in the day.

Don't think it would work that well as it would tilt the whole bike forward and the brakes wont line up (unless you have discs).
The bike has discs so wouldn't be a problem from that respect.

I'll rub my chin a bit over it. Thanks.

Magic919

14,458 posts

230 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
It'll put the pedals nearer the ground too.

upsidedownmark

2,120 posts

164 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
Honestly, it's a terrible idea. Unless you put 650's in both ends, and even then it's a pretty bad idea.

IMHO either get over it, or change the bike for something else. fwiw I have some toe overlap even with my mountainbike, and definite overlap on my P2, S2, Scott CR1, Blue triad and even my clonky steel pub bike. It's pretty normal)

Big Rod

Original Poster:

6,264 posts

245 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
Magic919 said:
It'll put the pedals nearer the ground too.
Fair point, well made.

Saying that it's quite good for ground clearance but...

Big Rod

Original Poster:

6,264 posts

245 months

Tuesday 29th November 2016
quotequote all
upsidedownmark said:
Honestly, it's a terrible idea. Unless you put 650's in both ends, and even then it's a pretty bad idea.

IMHO either get over it, or change the bike for something else. fwiw I have some toe overlap even with my mountainbike, and definite overlap on my P2, S2, Scott CR1, Blue triad and even my clonky steel pub bike. It's pretty normal)
All things considered, I think I'll just suck it up. smile