Originally Posted by
bigfred
Cleat placement? How far forward or aft is yours?
As a consequence of a fitting I'm running my cleats full aft on my size 51s. They're no where near as far aft as Steve Hogg's mid foot placement, but, as far aft as the standard slots and screw placement allow. I've not suffered a calf cramp since. It did however impact on my high rpm cadence.
One of the other interesting things I experienced on my return was thigh cramps related to too tight short hems limiting circulation in my legs. I cut the inside bar tacking that attached the ends of the elastic in my shorts and those cramps also disappeared.
Now I'm simply subject to muscular fatigue cramping. Which will probably be best cured by more time on the bike.
Yes, poor circulation is one of the causes of leg cramps. But, it doesn't have to caused by tight hems. It can be caused by the same thing that limits blood flow to the heart: clogged arteries. In fact, most cardiologists now recognize that clogged arteries are not just a cardiac issue -- but a systemic one. That is, if one artery is clogged, there are probably more...
If you do not find other causes of your cramping, you may want to have a vascular study done to see if you may have some limited circulation down there. And you might want to do it not only for the leg cramps -- but because leg cramps can also be a warning sign that you are about to get heart cramps as well...