I've been in PT getting treatment for recurring back problems. On a whim, I ask the therapist to check measure me up and see if my legs are the same length. Over the past few years I've battled pain/discomfort in my right foot. Turns out that the right femur is 1cm longer than the left femur.

I recently had a fitting with the local guru to work on the foot pain problems. My right foot likes to turn out 15-20 degrees. My knee tracking was all over the place. The fitter ended up changing my saddle height and adding a pedal washer to the right crankarm -- we spent time dealing with the right foot/leg only to now discover that the problem is that the left leg is shorter. He also recommended getting a longer pedal spindle (on order) to help with the problem. I've got a follow-up visit coming and I wanted to get some input from those who have been down this road before.

As I see it, the real problem is that the left leg needs a shim of +/- 1 cm. I know that we can get there fairly easily but I don't know what is the implication of making this change if I don't address my non-cycling footwear. Will I create more trouble by not fixing the problem on and off the bike?