How do you fix "toe strike"?
 

I tried a cannondale quick 5 today and had Toe Strike according to one poster in another forum. What would I need to adjust on the bike to avoid this?

Is " toe strike" the same as toe overlap? There are LOTS of forums on here in the archives about this subject. If it isn't too drastic you could try a smaller crank arm length...but if it is bad I think you may be SOL!

Remove foot from pedal on turning handle bar / wheel. Sorted

If you're talking about your toe hitting the wheel, it's only an issue during tight turns such as u-turns. Be careful, you'll get the hang of it.
I try to have just enough speed so I don't need to pedal, or make 1/2 a revolution with my inside foot pushing from 12:00 to 6:00. By then you'll be straight enough and can resume your ride.

Other than considering amputation of your toes and bobbing the ends of your shoes there's nothing to be done about it. All short wheelbase racing frames with 700c wheels do this. The trick isn't to adjust something on the bike. The adjustment needed is in your head. You need to learn to not pedal when turning at slow speeds where the front wheel assumes that sort of angle. Instead if you need some power do a kick then back pedal and kick again where the foot on the side where the wheel is doesn't move forward to where it can strike.

Or just give up on the idea of a short wheelbase racing frame and get a longer wheelbase touring bike.

It's not going to happen unless you are going really slow and in a tight turn, like maybe in a parking lot.

If you just tried out the bike and haven't bought it, get something else. bk

The Quick series are urban bikes, not short wheelbase racers. The first thing You'll need to verify is that your feet are correctly positioned on the pedals.

Basicaly if its a new bike your looking at and you can't ride it without toe strike it is not the bike for you. It is either the wrong size or type bike.

As others have pointed out toe strike is a non-issue with freewheel bikes. At the kind of speed where it's possible to turn the wheel that far, you probably won't be turning full pedal revolutions anyway. Or you can simply do have revolutions.

However if you're riding fixed, the coast past the problem option is off the table, and I've seen lots of folks go down (at 1mph or less) when their toe jams the wheel while fooling around or trying super narrow U-turns.

The problem only shows itself at slow speed so its not a problem for racers. Urban riders have plenty of slow speed maneuvering in close proximity to large, dangerous vehicles. Add in some lemming pedestrian, dogs, balls, crazy cyclists, potholes and roadworks and soon you are mentally overwhelmed. TCO is another thing to need to remember and at some point, you will forget.
You dont need it, you can get bikes without TCO.

Just the first two words from the above post. Technically it will work.

rickyhmltn, Toe strike isn't hard to become accustomed to, but I suggest you try a larger frame, if you can, to avoid it.

Brad

Thanks for the replies. It was in a parking lot of the bike shop going back and forth turning to test it out. Still I've never been a fairly serious ride up until the last 8 weeks or so and this had never happened to me on any other bike I rode casually and since I was trying it on a M frame, I thought that may have been the issue.

Quick question though, help me understand the physics of it. If it can happen at slow speeds, why can't it happen if I'm pedaling in to a deep curve at say 13mph? It is because during better speeds you don't turn the wheel as much to actually turn?

Yes, at 13 mph, the back side of the wheel might move just an inch sideways. It's surprising how little the wheel moves. The bike and rider are leaning into the turn, not steering like a car does. On sharp turns, I'm thinking about if I need to stop pedaling so I don't hit the pedal on the ground, never about the wheel and shoe overlapping.

The only time I have to be careful is something like a U turn on a two lane road at low walking speeds. The few times my foot has actually hit the wheel is when I'm clipped in and stopped with one foot down and the clipped in foot ready to start riding, and I try to roll the bike forward a foot or two at a sharp angle.

Somewhat off topic, bikes are actually turned by "counter steering" away from the turn to cause the bike to lean over, then the front wheel is moved back toward the straight ahead position. The counter steering can be an unconscious tiny movement on normal turns, or a planned larger counter steer to handle a fast, sharp turn. I think I can steer in the direction of the turn when I'm making minor adjustments while riding in a straight line. (And it's possible to shift the rider's weight on the bike to make minor steering changes without moving the wheel.) Other than that, if I didn't lean into the turn, and was riding straight up and down into a turn, I'd fall off toward the outside of the turn.

Here's a high speed sharp turn. The wheel is barely turned.
http://www.licbicycles.com/wp-conten...ike-racing.jpg

Many beginning riders using flat pedals without toe clips tend to pdal with the instep of their foot over the pedal axle. That assures toe overlap since their foot is so far forward. I assume you don't do this.

If you are using "clipless" pedals and the overlap is small, you may be able to move the cleat slightly forward to avoid it.

Also, as noted, larger frames and cyclocross and touring frames all have more toe clearance. I have a 55 and a 57 cm Litespeed frames with the same nominal geometry (73° headtube and seat tube angles) and both with 170mm crank arms and identical pedals but the top tube is 1 cm longer on the 57. The 55 has toe overlap for me but the 57 doesn't. My 56 cm Surly Cross Check, doesn't have toe overlap problems even with fenders.

Ride faster = problem solved.

Now on to fix the next quandry... :P

On one my bikes the toe overlap is so slight that tipping my foot up or down is enough to clear the wheel. Think extreme toe-pointing or heel down.
Like the others have said, toe overlap is not really a problem for most and is very hard to avoid on some types of bikes.

To OP, are talking about your toe hitting the front wheel or the ground? Toe on the front wheel is overlap, hitting the ground is pedal strike.

Uhh.. No. I probably have toe-overlap on all my road bikes. It's a non-issue unless you spend all your time riding your road bike at a walking pace doing sharp u-turns. Even then, you can learn to do stupid stuff like that without bumping into the front wheel.

All my 700c bikes have toe overlap. We just learn to pedal so as to avoid it when turning the bars way over at slow speeds. Only on mountain bikes with the smaller wheels is it not an issue.

On a drop handlebar road bike if you don't have toe overlap the frame is probably too big for you.

Toe overlap is very common on road bikes, but since no one brought it up yet, I thought I'd mention that it isn't only the bike. Some people are far more likely to see toe overlap than others. The difference is foot size.

If you wear size twelve shoes, you're fare more likely to have toe overlap than someone wearing eights.

Toe overlap is mostly caused by feet.

And wheels. Front wheels. I've heard the front wheel has a part in this.

Possible solutions: shorter feet; shorter cranks; smaller wheel; shorter toeclips; move the cleats on shoes farther forward.