snafs

I have a leg length discrepancy of about an inch and a half I found out from my doctor and he recommended a specialist that I am going to go see in about a month. I get a dull pain in my leg and a dull to a sharp pain in my knee after about 10-15 miles.

So my question is what are some quick fixes until i go and talk to the doctor? Also, has anyone undergone a surgery for leg length discrepancy and if so how long was it until you were back on your bike?

Thanks.

johnny99

If you have room in your shoes, try putting a thicker insole in the shoe on your shorter leg. Also try moving the cleat on that shoe farther back. You have to experiment to see how much works for you. It might be easier working with the specialist.

Most cyclists adapt to leg length differences, e.g., by angling their hips or pointing one toe farther down than the other, so don't try to make up the whole difference in equipment changes.

dekindy

LeWedges are used to keep your legs properly aligned and to attract leg length discrepancies. I am not sure of their thickness or if there is a practical limitation for how many can be used. Call a local bicycle shop and/or fitter and ask those questions. Do a Google search on LeWedge or Lemond LeWedge and read about them.

late

You have a series of choices. I know of no one with expertise in this, if you stumble across somebody who knows what they are doing, let me know, I have the same problem.

Here are some options...

1) Lemond LeWedges these are wedges that go under your cleat. If you have SPDs then more than one has a tendency to slip, at least on my shoes.

2) Custom shoes like Rocket 7 (very expensive)

3) Custom cranks I managed to find some 167.5 cranks. So I have a 167.5 one my short leg and a 170 on my long leg. Bicycling gurus frown on this. They may be right, I don't know.

4) Shims under innersoles. In addition to the crank and the LeWedge, I have a couple shims under my innersoles. One is a plastic milk jug cut into a crescent
just a couple inches long to counter pronation. The other is a thicker detergent jug that is the size of the front half on my innersole.

One idea I have kicked around but not tried yet is to use different innersoles. If I could use a thick one on my short side and a thin one on the long side that might help.

Good luck, dealing with this is a pain in the ass. Oh, speaking of that, saddle width, you have to watch it as it can make the problem worse.

jrennie

I had a friend that made up a 1" spacer plate to go under his speedplays and just got longer screws. Worked great for him

StephenH

I was goodling around and found a couple of hits:
https://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?f...=home.zerofaqs
"For leg length discrepancies, you may purchase a Speedplay Leg Length Kit, Part # 13220. The shims in the kit are 1/8 inch thick (3.25mm) and can be used in multiples."

https://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...horteners.aspx
"These are handy for getting kids going on adult-size cranks, or riders with leg length discrepancy."

For the plain ol' cruiser-type pedals, I've seen extenders for kids to use, but 1.5" ones would hit the ground on the low side (they have to be double sided).
I've not used the products above, btw, just found the links.

Bontrager

There's a lot of things that could cause your lower extremities to be unequal lengths including scoliosis, pelvis, femur length, angle between your femur and femoral neck, tib/fib lengths, unilateral flatfoot, etc. It also makes a difference how your doctor is measuring and where s/he is measuring to/from. Other factors your doctor will consider is your age and if your growth plates are already closed or not.

If your femur or tib/fib are of unequal lengths, depending on how bad it is, you can either put in a bone graft or put on an external fixator and cut the bone and gradually lengthen it out. Or they can do waht's called ephyphiodesis (closing the growth plates) on the opposite side bones if one extremity is longer than it should be. Don't expect to ride for at least 3 months from the day of surgery..... if it turns out to be something that is a surgical issue.

I have athletic patients that have at least a small limb length discrepancy that I've treated successfully with shoegear and orthotic modifications.

If you live on or near the east coast (your prof says new mexico) I can recommend a few orthopedists or podiatrists that specialize in these sorts of things.

zonatandem

Different length crankarms to make up for the 1 1/2 inch difference. Check with your local bike shop.

blazer95

Is your LLD in the lower leg or upper? How did the doctor measure it?