Coping with Toe Overlap
#1
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Coping with Toe Overlap
Ok, so I took my EG Bates track bike out for one of it's first rides, and had to squeeze through a narrow gates - one of the ones where you actually have to weave through it. It was tricky enough that it was somewhere I would normally coast but couldn't, but then I also had my toes hit the wheels both sides. Didn't come off, but it was unnerving.
I know a lot of you guys ride track bikes in places where you have to weave through narrow gaps - any advice for dealing with this?
I know a lot of you guys ride track bikes in places where you have to weave through narrow gaps - any advice for dealing with this?
#2
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I suppose it depends how bad your toe overlap is. I actually get it on my geared CX bike as well as my fixed gear bike, and yea I can try to avoid it by turning the wheel when the pedals are verticle instead of horizontal, but I still get it frequently during slow speed maneuvers. I've found the more it happens, the less it bothers me. My toe sort of skims the edge of the tire, but it doesn't upset the handling in any way. I suppose if things were getting very tangled up it would be a problem.
Try to avoid it by timing tight turns so that the outside pedal is as far from the wheel as possible when you turn. for instance start a left turn just after the right pedal passes through the downward stroke. When toe overlap happens drop your heel a bit, and the tire will roll over the toe easier.
Try to avoid it by timing tight turns so that the outside pedal is as far from the wheel as possible when you turn. for instance start a left turn just after the right pedal passes through the downward stroke. When toe overlap happens drop your heel a bit, and the tire will roll over the toe easier.
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I only get it when going really slow, and I can usually just pedal through it. Its a little scary and knocks me around a bit but its never thrown me off or anything. My only advice is to keep practicing weaving through stuff and you will become more comfortable when it does happen.
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Also, when turning and you think you might get some contact, angle your ankle as far upwards as possible, that will make the toe clip also angle upwards, making it protrude forward less.. if you do this, i've found that instead of the clip digging into the tire, it will just graze along it.
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I only get it when I'm going super-slow with fenders. I just deal with it: either muscle through and rub your shoe along the tire like you've gotta, or else adjust steering to compensate. Or both.
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When passing through gates like that I sometimes have to point my toes down.. ie stand up and tippytoe
#9
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Thanks all - will try the toe-pointing things. What's foot-down?
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Originally Posted by lyledriver
When passing through gates like that I sometimes have to point my toes down.. ie stand up and tippytoe
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Footdown is a game that they use to teach little kids at the BMX track bike handling skills.
A bunch of kids ride around in a corral like circle, trying not to put a foot down.
As kids are eliminated, the circle gets smaller.
I recently found out that "Portland style" footdown involes shoving people in the neck.
A bunch of kids ride around in a corral like circle, trying not to put a foot down.
As kids are eliminated, the circle gets smaller.
I recently found out that "Portland style" footdown involes shoving people in the neck.
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Originally Posted by Sammyboy
Thanks all - will try the toe-pointing things. What's foot-down?
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i just put new clips on my pedals (MKS large) and now i have more toeverlap than ever. i can't do a left-foot-forward wheel to the right trackstand anymore because it always threatens to make me fall over when my wheel gets locked by hitting the clip
and i suck at wheel-to-the-left trackstands
and i suck at wheel-to-the-left trackstands
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^^^ Do wheel to the right, right foot forward for trackstands. At least that is how I do them. No toe overlap to worry about.
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I have toe overlap on my track bike and haven't really got used to it at all yet! I try not to ride it in the street though so that helps.
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Originally Posted by 1fluffhead
^^^ Do wheel to the right, right foot forward for trackstands. At least that is how I do them. No toe overlap to worry about.
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Originally Posted by morbot
yeah i mean im really good at right-foot right-wheel ones, its just sometimes i end up right behind a car with left crank forward, and going forward enough to get right crank forward means running into their bumper. i just want to be versatile, i've perfected my right side while leaving my left side useless!
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Just to echo what everyone else has said, I have toe overlap on one of my bikes, and it's really not too bad. If it does catch me off guard I'm usually trackstanding or going really really slow, so I can either tilt my foot and get out of it, or put a foot down before I fall over.
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Originally Posted by Sammyboy
I know a lot of you guys ride track bikes in places where you have to weave through narrow gaps - any advice for dealing with this?
#23
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The old fork on my 56 Steamroller was bent back slightly in an accident a while ago. The bend in the fork wasn't too bad, it just made the handling quicker and left me with tons (four inches at the worst point) of overlap. I learned to stagger my turns i.e. turn less when your toes are in the way and more at other points in the cycle. If it was a really tight turn, I'd just unclip the one foot.
#24
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Originally Posted by mander
Ride a conversion, ha ha.