On my gitane i'm rebuilding, the crank arms are straight, where as most modern cranks have a bow to them.

I find myself hitting the inside of my foot on the crank arm, and while its not a sharp edge, hit it thousands of times during a ride is no fun.

Are there any tricks from back in the day to solve this? or maybe should I just get some wider pedals?

Wider pedals might be a start, or track pedals. What are you running now?

It doesn't seem to be well understood, but BITD nearly every serious cyclist used cleated shoes. These would essentially force your foot to be straight enough not to hit the crank.

I guess I never noticed the problem, although I did get some pedal rub when I was using toeclips. But, I don't think there was a huge difference with MTB style cranks.

You can buy pedal spacers/extenders if you wish.
Pedal Spacers: 20mm - Fit Kit Systems



I think the extra width would bother me. If using cleats, you can also adjust the cleat position somewhat.

I won't be using cleats with this build, I'm thinking about just converting it to a simple single speed.

The platforms i have are pretty narrow and small, i'll see about swapping over to some wider ones to see if that helps any.

I've ridden a bike with Stronglight 49D cranks for over forty years and I don't know how many thousands of miles and never had that problem.

Focus on riding with your feet parallel to the crank arms. The pedal spacers may be a decent solution, but it's not really fixing the underlying problem if you are riding bow-legged.

Wowee

Several things are possible here.

If you're used to mtb cranks which have a very wide Q-factor compared to classic road bikes. The BB spindle may be over 130mm wide, but a classic double is often 114mm.

SO, you may have wide heels on your shoes. Your saddle might also be too low, and now you are "man-spreading" on your saddle with wide knees and heels in.

Essentially, it is not a bike problem, but an adjustment issue.

Perhaps with more details, we can be more help. I have several bikes with classic Stronglight cranks. I love 'em.

NO! NO! NO! You too [MENTION=196508]LeicaLad[/MENTION]

I had knee problems on my road bikes for years. One afternoon I was showing one of my bikes to a friend who had been a member of the US Cycling Team under "Eddy B" (coach Eddy Borysewicz). After watching me ride around a parking lot for a few minutes he stopped me and pointed out that I'd been riding with my toes pointing inward.

I moved my cleats and toe clips to have my heels in and my toes out. That solved years of discomfort!

Back in 2003 I had to get a total hip replacement. I was in chronic pain 11 out of 10!.

After the replacement I had ZERO pain but my right foot pointed outward about 10°. The solution was to use a 20mm pedal extender on my right pedal. On a few bikes with short chain stays I had to use a 25mm to 27mm extender.

BTW, I have a slew of left hand extenders. Anyone who needs on of these let me know...


Because of the possibility of dislocating my replacement hip in a spill, I ride toe clips and straps but without cleats so I can get my foot out quickly. Clipless pedals are out of the question!!!

I wear size 10 1/2 EEE shoes (45 to 46 wide). I started using wide MTB pedals in the 1990's.



verktyg

Chas.

Hi Chas!

Well, as always, I'm open to learning new things from you.

This post is very interesting to me. I wonder about your knee position? You've shifted your toes out and heels in, but how much have your knee(s) shifted out?

I do see guys riding with knees waaay out, and wonder if that leads to any problems beyond inefficiency? How do you find that your spin has shifted?

I'm wondering, too, if you've tried PowerGrips? Personally, I like them better than cages, although I have some pedals that will not accept PowerGrips. I find them better for cages, and, at least to me, safer for the very reasons you note.

Thanks for the nice photos, too. (I also note that we wear shoes about the same size!)

Cheers,
Owen

I have all of my original internal orthopedic equipment, but I have had knee problems (patellar dislocation) in the past. I echo Chas's preference for toeclips and straps without cleats, although I do miss my old Avocet Touring shoes with the four transverse grooves in the steel-shanked rubber sole. Best general purpose cycling shoes ever made!