Originally Posted by
elcruxio
Well, let's be honest here, one would need to have pretty canoey feet to have heel strike issues with 45cm chainstays. I had no such issues with my cx, which has 425mm chainstays and my shoe size is 47. Of course getting the load as forward relative to rear axle but 1cm is hardly going to make a noticeable difference even with heavy loads.
Originally Posted by
mantelclock
45 cm chainstay length is plenty for heel clearance and is pretty standard for touring frames. I don't think the extra cm on the LHT makes a difference. My VO campeur has 46 cm chainstays, and the 520 gives a much nicer ride. I would just stick with the argument that no stock bike is "perfect".
I spent 20 years riding a touring bike with 450mm stays and
always had problems with heel strikes and my shoe size is a good solid average 45. Granted pannier design has changed a lot since the 1980s but there are still some bags out there that are pretty long and the problem can still exist.
I'm not sure how you avoid heelstrikes on a bike with 425mm chainstays, elcruxio. I've used some small front panniers on my cross bike and kicked them on each stroke. That's most of the reason I don't use panniers on that bike.