I can’t be the only one…….

[sevenfourate]

Hmmmm. A bit miffed 🙁

*Stuck my SPD-SL cleats on the Mavic shoes I was kindly given - this afternoon (My first ever clipless pedals) - to get a feel for what’s going on. Messed around with cleat tension / how the foot is released etc.

And then noticed how darned close my shoe is to the crank arm. [Approx 6mm max I reckon]. At this point shoes are as new / have done very little work / so are not stretched at all. And when pictured there’s no foot or weight in them of course. So that small gap is only going to decrease. I’ll be at risk of rubbing with every revolution……

It’s hardly surprising in retrospect of course. I didn’t pick out when purchasing - how darned short the spindle is on these Shimano 105 pedals.

Just had a half-hour look on the net. And I can’t find too many pedals with clearly longer spindles. Apart from some of the Chinese Brands (Which doesn’t hugely worry me - as I’m sure I have the same [Bearings not bushes] brand on my Carrera and they’ve done 2000+ miles…and run as good as new).

Or of course I could whack a pair of 16mm extenders in line:

Anyone got any thoughts / experiences on this at all ?

 

[JonBuoy]

4mm gap here and no problems.

 

[fossyant]

Don't be fooled by the rock bros picture, the pedal body looks narrow. All road pedals have a smaller gap than MTB SPD.

 

[sevenfourate]

Don't be fooled by the rock bros picture, the pedal body looks narrow. All road pedals have a smaller gap than MTB SPD.

That’s hugely informative….Thankyou.

You couldn’t have been more spot-on if you tried 😉

They are literally exactly the same width. The ROCKBROS must have a narrower body - as you say. Presuming the spindle is longer: like it appears visually.

 

[Webbo2]

Hmmmm. A bit miffed 🙁

*Stuck my SPD-SL cleats on the Mavic shoes I was kindly given - this afternoon (My first ever clipless pedals) - to get a feel for what’s going on. Messed around with cleat tension / how the foot is released etc.

And then noticed how darned close my shoe is to the crank arm. [Approx 6mm max I reckon]. At this point shoes are as new / have done very little work / so are not stretched at all. And when pictured there’s no foot or weight in them of course. So that small gap is only going to decrease. I’ll be at risk of rubbing with every revolution……

View attachment 822233

View attachment 822234

It’s hardly surprising in retrospect of course. I didn’t pick out when purchasing - how darned short the spindle is on these Shimano 105 pedals.

View attachment 822235

Just had a half-hour look on the net. And I can’t find too many pedals with clearly longer spindles. Apart from some of the Chinese Brands (Which doesn’t hugely worry me - as I’m sure I have the same [Bearings not bushes] brand on my Carrera and they’ve done 2000+ miles…and run as good as new).

View attachment 822236

Or of course I could whack a pair of 16mm extenders in line:

View attachment 822237

Anyone got any thoughts / experiences on this at all ?

Most of my shoes look to have a similar distance to the pedal. I don’t ever recall in 40 plus years of cycling my shoes catching on the crank at the front. However if you have a lot of float you can end up banging the heel of your shoe on the frame especially if you a bit of kicker and gouger in your pedalling stroke.🫣

 

[Drago]

Those spacers are not a cunning idea.

Also messing with the Q factor should be done with caution,

They look ok to me, but you'll not know until you ride it a bit.

 

[Gunk]

Most shoes end up rubbing the crank arms, my son is a pretty serious cyclist/triathlete and both crank arms are already pretty scratched and worn. I’ve found that most serious cyclists are not that bothered with wear and tear as long as bike is quick and reliable.

 

[ColinJ]

I’ve found that most serious cyclists are not that bothered with wear and tear as long as bike is quick and reliable.

A quick look back at the photos of @sevenfourate's various bike projects will reveal that he is not like 'most serious cyclists' in that respect!!

He found that the definitions of the words 'meticulous', 'precise', and 'perfect' needed tightening up.

I have that problem with the words 'careless', 'sloppy', and 'iffy'...

The only way that I could go on a forum ride with him would be to get hold of an immaculate rental bike. If I turned up on one of mine he would probably end up riding off in disgust at the mechical horrors that I had exposed him to!

 

[Ian H]

You can get 1mm pedal washers. They're a good idea to avoid the crank being gouged leading to possible failure. Two is the safe maximum.

 

[Drago]

A bit of quality heli tape on the crank arm if you're that concerned.

I dont like actual damage, but genuine wear from honest use is simply patina and doesnt worry me,

 

[ColinJ]

If I turned up on one of mine he would probably end up riding off in disgust at the mechical horrors that I had exposed him to!

Such as...

 

[Webbo2]

Such as...

View attachment 822247

View attachment 822248

View attachment 822249

Overshoes are the worse culprit for doing that.

 

[sevenfourate]

A quick look back at the photos of @sevenfourate's various bike projects will reveal that he is not like 'most serious cyclists' in that respect!!

He found that the definitions of the words 'meticulous', 'precise', and 'perfect' needed tightening up.

I have that problem with the words 'careless', 'sloppy', and 'iffy'...

The only way that I could go on a forum ride with him would be to get hold of an immaculate rental bike. If I turned up on one of mine he would probably end up riding off in disgust at the mechical horrors that I had exposed him to!

LMAO Col 😁😁

I’m OCD. I don’t apologise. It’s my DNA. It has its benefits (My Boss loves me - I let nothing go with my inbuilt quality control. And not much gets past me). On other occasions it’s likely tiresome to some.

And no ! If we ever ride - you turn up on what you like my friend. I got no issues at all with that.

*Just please don’t be tempted to run your un-washed hands over my Polished, Helicopter taped and then Ceramic coated paintwork……🤣🤣

 

[sevenfourate]

You can get 1mm pedal washers. They're a good idea to avoid the crank being gouged leading to possible failure. Two is the safe maximum.

Cheers.

I found some Aluminium items in the spares box yesterday. I did dry fit 2 on one side. Was undecided on the result…..

 

[ColinJ]

Overshoes are the worse culprit for doing that.

They definitely were a big part of the problem on the 2 black cranks, which are on my winter bikes. The overshoes wore through where they were rubbing.

The silver cranks are on my best bike which I only rode through 1 winter** so most of the wear came directly from the shoes, which had corresponding wear on them.


** Steep gritted Yorkshire descents kill rim-braked wheels. My winter rides are now on disc brakes!