strife

What if a person was looking to get into cycling and had an abnormality such as two different length legs, I have seen this and the difference sometimes varies by inches. Would you have to mismatch crank arm lengths for the perfect fit?? What shoes would fit if you decided to go clipless?? These questions may seem stupid, but I have been up for quite a long time. Any thoughts, just curious???

Boogs

I think checking in with a Doctor, and maybe getting a quick Physical Therapy consultation might be in order. I would guess that using a platform on the shorter side (if it was significant, everyone has SOME degree of discrepency), and using a crank size appropriate for the shorter side might be in order. I'm a Therapy Aide in my Senior year at Nursing school, though, not a Doctor or PT, so my guesses are not adequate.

cooker

I'll take an uninformed guess at the answer. If the leg difference is in the shank (below the knee) then a thick shoe sole or a block pedal would tend to correct the difference without causing too much assymetry in the upper leg movement. If the leg difference is in the femur (above the knee), it would be much harder to correct and some kind of custom frame and offset bottom bracket, where the spindle was lower on one side than the other, or some type of clever reciprocating crank extender might need to be crafted, to allow longer leg extension for one leg compared to the other.

Simply using a short crank on the short leg side might work for a small leg difference, but for a large leg discrepancy, it's hard to imagiine that a crank 1-2 inches shorter than normal would allow efficient pedalling. Lengthening the crank on the long leg side could also help, but might bring the knee up too high at the top of the stroke.

Guest

Orthotics and a good bike fit.

Koffee