Road Cycling - shoe touching front tire...

I noticed this when I stopped at the lights this morning and was trying to turn by handle bar. At 3'o clock pedal position, if I turn my handle bar, the front tire rubs against the front tip of my shoes.. Is this normal...? Can I fall due to this while riding.. the shoe hitting against the front wheel on a turn? Or do you think my cleats need adjusting...? Your opinions please !

Skiwolf.......do not lose sleep over this. This is quite normal, severity depending on frame size and geometry. Under normal riding conditions, chances are you would not turn your handlebar to such a degree where contact occurs. Of course, it'll most likely occur when you're making a very slow small radius U-turn or performing a track stand.......but you will learn to turn your cranks accordingly. All my bikes make wheel to toe contact.

yes it is normal that your tire brush your shoe a little at 3'o'clock when turning...

Fall? yes you can fall.. But normally, when riding, you do not turn your handlebar that much..

If you are really concerned about it, you can replace your fork with one with more rake..

yeah... but that'll open up a whole new can of worms....

The faster you're going the less you deflect the wheel to turn, so there won't be a problem except at walking-type speeds.

With 700c wheels and racing geometry, toe overlap is fairly common in smaller frame sizes. I wouldn't go changing your cleat position, which presumably was set up after painstaking calculation and experimentation so it's perfect for you, right?

Toe overlap IMO isn't sufficient reason to make changes, but it does present the opportunity to ask some questions and take a second look at issues you may not have given a lot of thought to. Is your cleat position perfect? Why are you using that particular crank length (whatever it is) and would shorter cranks be better for you? Would shoes with boxier toes fit you better?

RichC

Originally posted by George
Skiwolf.......do not lose sleep over this. This is quite normal, severity depending on frame size and geometry. Under normal riding conditions, chances are you would not turn your handlebar to such a degree where contact occurs. Of course, it'll most likely occur when you're making a very slow small radius U-turn or performing a track stand.......but you will learn to turn your cranks accordingly. All my bikes make wheel to toe contact.

Sigh..! Thats what I was hoping to hear... :)

I almost didn't buy my Bianchi, until I was told that this is normal. My toe laps about 3 inches past the wheel.

Aside from having someone run into me all my roadbike accidents have been slow-speed falls due to toe-overlap locking up my front wheel. It usually happens while I'm pedalling around a tight turn and usually at under 3MPH. My foot will just jam itself against the wheel and I'm unable to free it before going down. Generally toe-overlap's not a big deal even if one's trying to do a track-stand. You just need to be a little more conscious of your pedal position.

what is a track stand?

Originally posted by princebaal
what is a track stand?

Stop your bike and stay clipped in while balancing the bike. It.s not so easy ;)

I find it easiest to do with the front wheel pointing up a slight hill... you balance gravity with pedal pressure and rock back and forth for a few cm.

Track riders do it (sometimes) to force the rider in the back to take the lead. It's awesome to watch if it goes on for more than a few seconds... usually gets the crowd cheering too.