Pedal Touch
 

I'm aware this might be a common threat to riding fixed gear? It has actually happen to me where Iwas riding my 10 speed foolishly around a corner and I ate it and got quite lucky I didn't get that hurt. However, I am working on a conversion and would not want to build the bike to find out that pedal crashing is going to happen more often then not. I am aware I can avoid all of this by the way I build my bike so I will keep that into consideration. How often does this happen to you guys? If it has lets hear some stories.

BTW I searched the forum before making this thread and couldn't find anything? So if this has been made before and I pissed anyone off sorry.

Be careful.

search for "toe overlap"

One of the differences between track and road frames is that a track frame will have a higher bottom bracket, to reduce the chance of pedal strike. Since a conversion is based on a road frame, this becomes a factor. There are several ways to minimize pedal strike:

1) Use shorter cranks; you can get them as short as 165mm in road/track type, and as short as 150mm in BMX
2) Use larger tires, because they will also be taller.
3) Use narrow track pedals or clipless
4) Use flat arm cranks and the shortest possible axle to move the cranks as close as possible to the middle of the bike frame (small Q-factor)

Toe overlap and pedal strike are two different things, related only by the fact that they're both affected by crank-arm length.

I agree with Tejano Trackie.

I think 165mm cranks and clipless pedals will give the needed clearance.

Only you can answer this question.

oh, I thought the OP meant he jammed his foot into the front wheel when taking a slow turn.


P.S.

if you get shorter cranks, you might want a longer setback seatpost or you might want to slide back and raise your saddle just a tad.

I brought up the shorter cranks to my LBS owner and he said you will lose speed by getting shorter cranks. Is this true or is it even a noticable difference?

Nonsense! Does your lbs owner even know how to ride a bike? Very fast track racers use shorter cranks so they can spin the cranks faster and develop more power, which ultimately makes you go faster, not slower.

I had a pedal strike once that was so close to the ground but i pedaled through it. As the pedal hit the ground, i felt such an immense shock to my hands. I had pain in my hands for a good week. I might have been better off just eating asphalt.

The opposite argument is that a longer crank arm will allow you to apply more torque (torque = force x dist) but to the op, its not enough of a noticeable difference so don't worry about it.

Yes, but power = torque x rpm, and it's power, not instantaneous torque, that determines how fast you can go. That's why high performance motorcycles and cars have engines that turn higher rpms and shorter piston strokes. Riders that use longer cranks also tend to mash bigger gears and turn lower rpms so they actually go slower. I just love to get into a sprint situation in a road race with some time trialist gear masher type, and outsprint him in a much lower gear that I have trained myself to spin at a higher RPM with 165mm cranks. Granted, were talking only a 3% difference here between 165mm and 170mm cranks, so the average person will not notice any real difference.

well put, i try to spin more myself whether that ends up happening or not is another story lol.

Awesome, thanks for the input guys. No gnarly pedal strike stories?

I just sort of skidded on my pedal when I did strike once or twice.

worse is hitting a patch of gravel or sand on paved road in a corner. front end just slides out.