Grasschopper

Ok so I have been having foot pain since getting back into cycling, to be honest I am pretty sure I remember having it before I quit previously. So anyway after about 30 min I could feel the outside of my left foot falling asleep and if I were to go on a long ride it would hurt like heck during and after the ride. So after reading here for a while I thought that maybe because I was using SPDs it was a hot spot so for Christmas I asked for some SPD-SLs and Santa brought them. Well that didn't cure it and might have even made the pain come faster. So I had seen the Lemond LeWedges in several catalogs and figured I would ask at the LBS to see if they had them and how much they might be. One of the shops in town had them and they had been sitting around for quite some time so they cut me a deal on them. My first fear with these things was the price. I wondered what you got for $25 and if I would have to buy more than one set. Well one package has 8 wedges and longer screws, or enough to use 4 on each shoe, which I can't even imagine you needing for angle alone but they can be stacked such that they also make up for different length legs (I don't have this issue that I know of) so others may need all 8.

So I put them on my Sidis, how these work if you done know is that they are placed between your shoe and the cleat to create an angle to align your foot more naturally to the pedal rather than being forced flat by the cleat system. After installation I jumped on the trainer and all I can say is WOW!! Instantly I could feel the difference, rather than all of the force of my pedaling stroke being on the outside of my foot I now feel the pressure on the entire bottom of my foot. I rode for 30 min and unlike previous trainer ride I have NO pain what so ever. These things are great and worth every penny. I went back to the shop to see if they had the SPD version for my commuter and got them as well, the shop again cut me a deal and actually thanked me for clearing some old stock from their shelf. I can't believe they don't suggest that you be fit with these as part of normal fittings (a different shop in town does fit these as part of their normal fitting but not the shop I bought them at) and I find it hard to believe more people aren't using them.

The marketing material on the box and the website says 96% of the population has feet that don't land flat (so they either under pronate like me or over pronate) so it makes me wonder if some of the knee pain and "hot spots" people here complain about could be helped if not cured by using these things rather than buying different pedals with more or less float or a larger platform.

Just a thought.

Chef23

GC,

Where do you put them on the shoes and how do you decide how much to use. I have been having problems with my toes going to sleep and have new insoles that are helping some but not completely. I have been fitted, my cleats fitted and my shoes are not too tight. I have been starting to wonder about changing saddles and seeing if that helps. This sounds interesting.

Grasschopper

It is a thin wedge that goes between the cleat and the sole of the shoe. There are a couple of different fitting methods. Lemond has a simple system that is basically a protractor that a fitter puts on your bare foot to approximate the number of wedges, from there it is trial and error. Supposedly there is a special pedal that has an adjustable angle. The fitter makes angle changes to dial in the correct angel and then you figure how many wedges that will be. I have not seen this system but one shop told me about it. To be honest I did neither as I was too cheap to blow the additional $50 on the fitting (cost here locally). I bought the wedges and tried one then added another on my left foot only and feel that I have it right, it certainly is much better than it was.

I plan on going to a LBS in the spring and get a total bike fit which will include fitting for these wedges. This will be to check if I have the right number in there plus give me info on other areas of my bike in regards to fitting.

Blastinbob

I have them on both pairs of my shoes. They were created by Paul Swift, one of his protege's did a cleat fitting for me to get my legs to push straight. There is more to it then just slapping them in, one leg took 2 spacers and the other only took one. He used some contraption with a couple doohickies strapped on my leg while pedaling on a trainer to get it lined up.

nbf

I´ve been using them for about three months. I had lateral foot pain and lateral knee pain (ITB) on the left side. I now use (after a lot of trial and error) three wedges on the left side and one the right and also two stacked opposite to one another to gain height on the right. Works like a dream for me. Zero, one or two shims left side = foot pain. trhee shims = no foot pain. Allthough a word of advice is to go easy for while after installing them, as your muscles and tendons on the medial side of the knee will have to work harder (they are used to not doing their part of the job!!) since you realign the whole leg. By the way my left foot used to turn toe out a lot, this has also been bettered by the wedges.

I´m actually amazed that more people doesn´t use these shims since a lot would benefit, no LBS have them where I live, and i had to have them shipped from abroad. It´s strange because I´ve heard that many pros use them (including a certain texan who supposedly uses one on one side!!!).

Guest

It's such a simple system to use that I'm surprised that every bike shop doesn't have one. Paul did my measurements and I was not surprised to see how lopsided I was.

Is there a shop that really charges $50 for a fitting? That is weird...

Koffee

531Aussie

Are the wedges readily available in shops?

Does anyone else make them?

Guest

https://www.lemondfitness.com/product...dge/index.html

You can order it here for yourself if you can't find it down un-dah!

Koffee

Dusk

One shop here charges $80.00 and they put them on backward the first time. I had to email Paul for help.

They make a hugh improvment. Didn't have pain. Just knew that I had on leg longer. It took three on the left foot (two for lift and one for angle) and one for angle on the right. Avg speed went up 1.8 to 2.4 from tests...could just be I was pumped about the new stuff. It is hard to get them right by yourself you need someone that knows how to fit them. The web site that Koffee Brown talkes about might be able to get you some leads on how can help.

Everyone should Check these out!

Cheers,
Dusk

Guest

Ohmygod. 80 bucks for something I can do in less than a minute for free....

That's insane.

Koffee

Thylacine

You'll give me a free wedging? Wha?

Guest

Ooops!

I thought you were talking about a wedgie!



Koffee

telenick

more info on the forum https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/50868-pain-outside-edge-my-foot-has-worked-anyone.html

telenick

I had a pedal fit last spring and ended up with 1.5 degree positive cant. I has really helped straighten my tracking.

Guest

Seriously, though. The whole fit kit a bike shop purchases from LeMond is less than $300, and I bet they didn't even purchase everything in the kit, which means that it was probably less than $200. Then if they are turning around and charging like $50 for a fit that takes less than a minute to figure out, I just really feel like they're taking advantage and ripping folks off.

Koffee

Grasschopper

Koffee,

The shop that sold me the wedges does a fitting for them for $50 and that DOESN'T include the wedges which then cost you another $25. The shop I will be going to later in the spring charges $50 but it not only includes the wedge fitting but also a fitting to your bike with suggestions for total bike fit (seat height, stem, fore aft position, you frame is all wrong, that sort of thing). That fitting also doesn't include the wedges but I have them now so...

Guest

I still think it's over the top. I mean, you basically paid for your wedges anyway, and did they give you the full pack of wedges or just the amount they recommended that you'd need for each foot?

And what do they do in the fitting? Do they use RADS, goniameter, plumb line, etc.? How long was your fitting?

Koffee

Grasschopper

No what I am saying is that I haven't done a fitting yet. I just went by feel after buying the pack (full pack of 8, extra screws and allen key) and "fit" myself. I know this isn't perfect (well maybe I got it right) and I am going to do the full bike fitting in the spring at which time they will fit me for the correct number of wedges as well as bike setup. I think that is worth $50. The one shop wanted $50 for just the wedge fitting and IMO that was a ripoff which is why I didn't do it.

Also FWIW the Lemond wedge fitting system costs $40 so I could buy that from Lemond and do it myself if all I wanted was to be able to fit for the wedges. https://www.lemondfitness.com/product...measuring.html

Guest

If you're happy with the price, then I can't say it's a bad thing. It's good that you skipped on the $50 wedge fit. Now THAT'S a ripoff.

I assumed the shop you're going to has the full kit, but for less than $200, they can get some of the kit without spending a ton of money. If they turn around and charge more than $10 for a wedge fit, I would say it's a ripoff.

Still, it's capitalism. What can you expect? :-/

Koffee

531Aussie

As far as shims go, it finally dawned on me that hard nylon chopping boards are good.
They come in a few different thicknesses, and they are dirt cheap.

But you've gotta cut them before you use them

nbf

Does anybody use wedges in combination with specialized shoes 8which have the varus wedge as well) I´thinking about a new pair os shoes and was wondering how much angle the wedge in the shoes give compared to the lemonds. I mean should you stay with the same number of wedges or reduce by one or two?

F1_Fan

My coach has been doing the same thing for more than 15 years. He says the idea came from how skiiers adjust the bindings to ensure the ski is flat on the snow.

He's got a bunch of different thickness plastic strips (at about 1/20 the price of Lemond's wedges) that he inserts in between watching you pedal on a windtrainer. The difference (if you need this adjustment) is amazing.

I was putting a lot of pressure on the outside of my feet before adjustment and now the force is perfectly spread across the ball of the foot.

bikerski

sounds like nascar. "Need a little more wedge in the right front next pit stop".

DriveBy

Holy crap, Day One in the forums and I pick up the one piece of info I've been desperately searching for.

I have extreme pain at the outside of my feet when I ride. I switched to Specialized shoes with the built in angle and it got a little better, but it still hurts.

I just finished calling several shops and they were either sold out or hadn't heard of them. I'll order them online.

Thanks for the info!

DriveBy

Just ordered them. Excel has them in stock.

Thanks again, I'm looking forward to trying them out.