JohnnyGalaga

Every time I pedal, the back of my shoes hits the stem. When I ride my mountain bike I never have this problem. Are these pedals too close to the metal stems? Here's a couple shots.







I just wear regular tennis shows when riding, but everytime I go around, the inside of the back of the heals of the shoes hit the stem. How to avoid this?

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mike868y

I think you mean the pedals hit the crank arm. The stem connects the handlebar to the fork. It is a common "issue." different pedals and shoes may help, but most riders just deal with it.

AngryScientist 

just be conscious of where you put your foot and the angle you pedal at Frederick

Menel

Get clipless, then your feet can be adjusted for the proper angles and go in the same place in the same way every time you pedal.

Flatballer

man, I thought you must be really flexible or something. I've never gotten my pedals anywhere close to my stem, even in a crash.

sfrider 

Your feet may bump the crankarms. However, the pedals shouldn't. If they do they need to be replaced or the crank arm will be severely weakened with time. It'll wear a groove in it which will then start cracking.

Edit: oops, I see it's your foot hitting. No big deal.

ptle

I think you mean crankarms.

Try adjusting on you pedals or move you foot further out on the pedal. You could be pedaling incorrectly. My foot usually doesn't scrap the crankarm, however my heel sometimes hits the chainstay if I'm biking in Chacos.

JohnnyGalaga

Okay, sorry, I didn't know they were called crankarms. The pedals don't feel wide enough to rest my foot further away from the crankarms while riding. I've tried to do that and it doesn't feel right. I wonder if there's a way to adjust the pedals further away from the crankarms or if I have to get new pedals?

And indeed, the pedals aren't hitting the crankarms. It's the inside of the heel of the shoes that are.

Homebrew01

What kind of shoes are you wearing ? When I ride with the kids in my running shoes, I have similar problems, and just turn my heels out a bit. Try to find narrower shoes.

njkayaker

Your problem is the shoes: they are probably too wide (even flared out at the heel). Ideally, your legs should dictate the position of your foot on the pedals.

You might be able to get wider platform pedals.

shelbyfv

There are washers to move the pedals out from the crankarms.

rkelley23

I have a 1.1 as well, though i ride clip-less (speedplays). For me I have noticed that when i get tired I start to lose my form and pedal incorrectly and when doing so my heels will click against the crank arm. IMPO concentrate on your pedal strokes and try to keep your feet straight or toe in just a tad so when your heal comes in its not hitting the crank arms.

njkayaker

This doesn't seem like a great idea to me. Washers would cause less of the threaded-body of the pedal to be in the crank.

schnee

Those are entry-level pedals. If you have bigger feet that will probably continue.

What's your budget? If you want to stay with flats, get some nice broad BMX pedals. Maybe $25 on eBay. You can get some that are extremely light if you're wiling to spend $100.

If you want to go clipless, you'll have to get new shoes too, and that can get pricey.

JohnnyGalaga

The pedals now are without shoe/foot clips already which is what I like. I would prefer the kind of pedals that you can use on both sides. It's funny cos the 12-year-old mountain bike I use has never had this problem. Maybe I simply need pedals that have more width so I can step a little further away from the crank arms. Do pedals all use the same size screw that goes into the crank arms, or do I need to watch out for the right size?

JohnnyGalaga

Problem solved!

I got a cheapie pair of Avenir Resin mountain bike pedals for $10 bucks and they work great. Sure enough, the original pedals that came with the bike were too short. The new pedals are longer and now no more heels hitting the crank arms. It's like night and day, and the ride is much smoother now.

It's a shame having to spend another $10 right after buying a brand new bike. But the real disappointment came when I tried to use a plain-old standard household adjustable crescent wrench to switch out the pedals. Epic fail. So I read up on it and found out you really need something called a pedal wrench.

$21 and 1 week later I'm now the unfortunate owner of a brand new Park Tool PW-3 Pedal Wrench which I'll prolly need to use ever again in my lifetime.

But wait, there's more. Apparently you're also supposed to use water resistant grease when you put on new pedals. And of course I don't have any grease. More money down the drain. Now I'm out over $30 because they couldn't just include pedals that are long enough with the bike.

Creatre

$30 in the cycling world is like nothing. Just be thankful that's all it cost!

njkayaker

You could have taken the pedals to the shop (or any shop) and they would have put them on for a few bucks (they would have also included the grease).