London Fixed-gear and Single-speed SJS Cycles

Hi guys,

Just a quick one if anyone has any tips... im riding a 700c fixed wheel with 170mm cranks and shim spd pedals and normal 2 bolt cleats...

Iv fiound when turning the wheel when my foot is in the most forward position my foot touches a front wheel by a fair bit, iv found it quite hard to then track stand at lights and a few times its almost knocked me off balance badly...

I was thinking of putting some spd sl pedals and buying some road shoes, will this get rid of the problem? Also thought about getting 165mm cranks but fails to see how 5mm will help!!

Any advice is appreciated...

It's only a problem if you let it. You'll get used to overlap. Shorter cranks might make it happen less, i.e. more clearance for more of your pedal arc. When you're trackstanding you ought to be turning your wheel the other way, anyway. When dodging through traffic, you get good at allowing for it, after a while.

Basically, just learn to cope with it. The advantages of having a tight bike are worth it.

my 2p!

Ok fair enough, so def not worth getting road shoes and pedals then?

I have no idea as I use hipster clips and straps.

Basically, yes it might be worth experimenting with things to reduce it, but if the geometry of your frame means it'll happen a bit whatever you do, and you like the frame otherwise, then learn to steer around it. Its only really an issue when you are going at very low speeds or at a standstill.

While iv got you dont want to start a new thread so will just ask here, i bought replacement quill off ebay the other day and it arrived i tried it yesterday and when it tightens up the top bolt seems to be recessed quite a bit... that doesn't seem normal is the quil nackered or do i need to just replace the block at the bottom of the bolt which comes up?

Cheers for your help, i do actually like the frame its not a massive issue and im sure ill find ways around it happeneing!!

I don;t get the problem, sorry. The top bolt is 'recessed' into the quill? As in it's too narrow for the quill?

no as in when i screew the bolt it just goes about an inch down into the stem and then leaves a hollow bit at the top, whereas the old quil that im using now when the stem is tightened the the bolt doent go down at all it sits at the top of the stem....

When trackstanding, turn the wheel towards your forward foot. This will eliminate the problem.

a change of cleats/pedals 'Shouldn't' make any difference at all, because your foot will be in exactly the same position relative to the pedal axle.

Go to a framebuilder and ask them to build a bike with the bottom bracket right at the back. This will eliminate the problem with the front wheel, and the rear won't be an issue because on most bikes the rear wheel doesn't turn.

My back wheel does turn actually, its like those sidewinder skateboard i have to wriggle my hips to make it go forwards...

Toes. Just how much do you need them?

My commute was west bound from hampstead to white city so with a high percentage of left hand turns i managed to just remove by right toes. quids in!

We've got 10 so their must be some redundancy built in, no?

Before I adjusted the cones on my hybrid my back wheel turned too, uncontrollably and erratically. Was good fun, actually.

I have a friend with 8. She doesn't miss them. Seriously.

8 may be okay but none at all would make even standing still difficult. I am leaving mine on and just living with toe overlap.

You dont need toes to cycle. toes have mass, and in cycling weight counts. So loose the toes. Dont despair though, as they are rotational mass, you gain twice as much by losing them :)

Why not just scrap feet altogether and have some SPD cleats surgically grafted to the bottom of your leg bones?

Also, ears, nose and other protrusions can be got rid of, surely. And they call professional athletes committed....

I have MTB shoes now on a road bike and had the same problem. I drilled some new holes in my shoes and moved the clits forward.

Sorted

<Smirk>

My bulbus nose predates the Zipp 'eliptical aero shape' working simularly by helping the air pass over my face with less turbulance. Frankly I've half a mind to sue Zipp

Just buy a mountain bike.

I actually read about this in an article recently...

I have a 3TTT quill stem with a recessed hex bolt. It goes in about 1 cm and there must be a plastic plug/cap on top of it. Unfortunately I lost it. Maybe someone has one for me.

Also, it's normal for Shimano stems. Also recessed bolts, a couple of cm. deep. Need good tools (or an extra pipe that goes over the hex key). Also covered by a (screwed in) cap.
Again, I have one, but again, missing cap.

I ride a 20" BJ and have size EU 44 feet. I'm sure its there, but I've never noticed toe overlap.

Not sure if its because the the quill has an expander at the bottom or what but its doesn't seem right to me.... It does go quite a bit down the tube, im assuming that there is supposed to be a ridge to stop the bolt going down which may have worn out... got it off ebay so will ask thr guy if he wants it back...

I suppose it prob makes no difference to be honest but just would rather it work properly... also its silver and the bars and other bits are black so looks pretty wank so hoping he takes it back!!

Unclip FTW.

you should keep the nose because it warms and filters the air before it hits your lungs, but you could definitely make the whole head/face more aero... some sort of plastic surgery to push the nose and mouth forward into a dome shape... Then intergrate the eyes on the top like the windshield of a TGV...

I would say get used to it, and as Skully says, it sounds like you have the wrong foot forward (or are turning the bars the wrong way) if it is causing problems with your trackstands. Good for you to learn to trackstand both ways anyhow (if you don't already) :-)

I have massive overlap on my geared road bike, but it never causes me any problems. If I am waiting at the lights, typically the camber of the road means I need to turn my bars to the right, and then I have my right foot forward. Both feet are then a long way away from the wheel!

Moving your cleats further forward than they are designed to go means your foot will be too far back for efficient cycling and the pedal axle will be under your toes rather than under the ball of your foot.

Photo would help

cut bike in half ( making sure cut is made in front of bottom bracket )
weld in an extra 1.5 inches of reynold 531 into gap
weld shut

problem solved
or buy some new forks wit more rake and trail

here's an way to ensure you get it right ... use the following equations

where

Offset-- Centerline of top of steering neck to centerline of top of fork tubes.
Rake-- The angle in degrees of the steering neck from the vertical.
Fork Length-- The distance between the top of the fork tubes to the centerline of the axle.
Diameter of the front tire.
Diameter of the rear tire.
Trail: Distance defined by vertical line from axle to ground and intersect of centerline of steering neck and ground.
Raked Triple Trees-- In order to bring trail figures back into line, triple trees with raked steering stems can be used. Expressed in degrees. Usually adjustable in 3, 5, and 7 degrees of rake.
Tire Diameter Formula: If you do not know a certain tire diameter use the following formula:
Diam Inches = Rim Diam Inches + [ (2 x Aspect Ratio x Section Width) / 25.4]
Example: 200/55R18 Tire:
26.7" = 18 + [(2 x 0.55 x 200)/25.4]
and

If you use a section of goose-neck then you don't have to bother with trig. Plus, it will decrease your turning circle and act as suspension, too.

Job done !

Got an excel sheet for this.
You want it ?

i wouldn't know where to start but that would be fun
i have always been interested in the front end handling of bikes as a result of steerer tube angle rake and trail
can you postt it to the interwebz somewhere so i can have a look

and if it could be the Dummies guide to ...... it would be much appreciated

as i recall you used to design bikes with gazelle right ? i guess you must know all about this kind of thing

i like the front end of my gazelles sharp steering but pretty solid and not too tricky when bowling along on the flat

I'll put it somewhere.
By the way, it's from another bike company.
When I was at Gazelle, I didn't even have a typewriter.

(and as we say in NL: cat was still written with "un". Actually, we say KAT was written with a U, but that's not so easy to understand for most of you).

Had a nice calculator by Kogswell.com bookmarked but its coming up as account suspended.
The_Smiling_Buddha found a nice one along with a article by the much loved DW.
http://www.londonfgss.com/post648628-38.html