Dealing with Toe/Wheel Overlap
 

When at the 3 o'clock pedal position, my toe overlaps the front wheel. I've read that this is relatively common, but I see it as a real problem when turning around very slowly. For example, yesterday I rode up a steep hill a bit, and then turned around. I had to be very careful not to have my pedals in the wrong position.

Any tricks to dealing with this, or should I just practice these low speed turns?

Thanks,

Al

When you make a sharp turn, get in the habit of moving the inside pedal to the 12 o'clock position. This will eliminate the risk of pedal strikes or toe overlap.

Unless you're riding fixed gear.

Have the same problem on Boreas and it is not a problem. Tyre hits foot and the foot pedals on and goes past the tyre. Just don't panic and straighten the bars.

It's also a good idea on tight u-turns to unclip (if you are clipped in) so you don't lose control if you foot does hit the wheel during the turn.

Be taller so you can ride a bigger bike. ;)

Practice the turns with the inside foot at the 12 o'clock position as Tunrda Man suggested. It become habit pretty quickly.

Just make sure you don't check the "bigger feet" option when you order that extra height.

A surgeon or podiatrist could probably help downsize your feet.

Probably too late in life to try binding.

After a while it just becomes second nature to position your pedals/feet properly when making sharp turns.

Is this really an issue for anybody? I have eight bikes, going back to my college Peugeot from the '70s, and five of them have overlap. In 40 years of riding, I've never touched the front wheel once.
It's not necessarily a frame size issue, by the way. My smallest frame is 62cm; the others are 64 or 65.

I find it can be a problem when I'm tired, and I'm preferring to ride my bikes that are long enough not to overlap.

When I was younger I never failed to put my foot at 12:00 and avoid overlap, but these days I don't always remember to do that.

My toes will hit the tire when making sharp turns on my cyclocross bike especially when noodling around in the back yard or woods on mtb trails. In races it also happens but I don't think it has ever caused a problem other than scuffing the shoes where the contact is made. Wearing sandals would not be advisable.

Practice one-legged drills...then, when making tight turns, pedal with the inside foot half a revolution, then backpedal half a revolution. Lather, rinse, repeat. iow, keep your outside foot away from the front wheel until the turn is complete.

I am short and like a good handling bike, so I have toe overlap on all my bikes. I made it a habit to put my heals down and toes up as far as possible when making low speed turns. Solves my problem.

The idea of unclipping is also a good one that I have used on our tandem from time to time. unclip and place pedal in arch of foot and pedal through the turn then clip in. Helps to get good at clipping in.

Not short by any means. 6'1" and I definitely have this problem. Caught my self bad the first time out and really since then have had no issues. Guess I just compensated. Yup, pedal all the way up on the side you are turning toward.

You know, as I think about this, I remember being asked by the folks at Independent Fabrication if toe/wheel overlap was something I absolutely didn't want when they built my bike. (I told them all my other bikes had it; so not to worry about it.) I'm guessing really good frame builders can figure out more than one way to get the desired ride characteristics.

My Trek owners manual had a big warning about this very thing.

(Yes, I rtfm. Ima geek.) :)

Thanks, I'll practice with the correct procedure until it becomes second nature.

I never even realized this was a problem until turning around on the street one day. The wheel was turned to the left, then my pedal got into the 3 o'clock position, and when I went to straighten out the wheel it hit the foot, and stopped. The handlebar torqued out of position, and I fell, but not all the way down.

Even for those of us that have the toe overlap that is not a problem---I think that this is the daftest way of of earning an entry into Club Tombay.

I would put it down to a senior moment rather than a problem. Or I would if I could get back on the chair after falling off laughing.

+ with the out side pedal, in relation to the apex of the corner, down, you shift your weight
to that foot, and your C of G moves down a ways.

Just don't go slow. Ever. Problem solved.

If you are using cages go to a smaller size - Could also go to 170mm crank - Can it be a problem - YES - I have had two falls when turning on my UNIVEGA - I am OK now but it took some time to get used to turning...

I'm glad you brought it up as I have had similar issues and wondered if I were the only clumsy cyclist out there.

My Trek 460 has serious overlap but it's not been a problem.

Do touring bikes with the longer wheelbase have overlap?

On my SWB recumbent, heel strike is an issue.

My personal experience has been that eventually avoiding contact with the wheel becomes second nature and before long you don't even have to think about it. I assume the same would hold true on a road bike with regards to toe strike.

When I use 27x1-1/4" tires, my Peugeot UO-8 has a few mm of overlap, even w/ the 165mm cranks I installed after my son complained about the overlap w/ the 170mm cranks my wife had happily used for years. With my current 700Cx28 front tire, my toes just clear the tire. The only time it was ever an issue was when I was making a sharp turn at very low speed, starting up in a parking lot. A bit of rub, but no harm -- no foul. It is never an issue above walking speed, because one cannot turn the wheel very far when moving fast.

I concur strongly with the advice to corner with the outer foot down and weighted -- this technique greatly improved my confidence and ability on descents.

At one point the consumer product safety commission, which brought us lawyer lips, smoothed front derailleur cages, curved QR levers, etc., got hot and bothered by toe-tire overlap, but I don't know the outcome. If you want to see some serious overlap, look at the picture of Frank Berto trying to shift a 1930s Campagnolo Cambio Corsa transmission in "The Dancing Chain." Since these gear changes included a backpedaling phase*, and since Frank was going slowly to figure out the drill, toe overlap did complicate the learning process.

___
*When your tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Tullio Campagnolo had invented the quick release and harnessed his patent to build a freewheel based bike transmission in which one loosened the rear axle, then backpedaled to change cogs, then re-secured the axle and pedaled forward in the new gear, with the wheelbase appropriately and automatically adjusted to maintain proper chain tension w/o the common spring-and-tension-idler solution used by almost everyone else.

There's the solution. Wanna buy a 16" wheel?