Toe overlap on gravel bike

[kingspirit]

It's difficult to do a fit via photographs, but that does look a bit wee on first glance, I'm 6ft5/196cm and that's kind of how I look on my bike! It may be that a lot of your height is in the upper body but your legs are proportionately shorter? That might explain the 'hunched' thing you mentioned.

The other thing with toe overlap is everyone's feet are different - I have big feet with long toes so my ideal position has the pedal spindle about a third of the way along my foot, putting my foot further forward than people with proportionately smaller toes, and smaller feet fullstop. Having said that, my old bike had a bit of overlap that meant I had to be careful with very slow tight turning, whereas the new one which is basically the same size doesn't, so some geometry bikes might just have a predisposition to it.

I'm a bit weirdly proportioned I think, my legs are long, 86 cm inseam. My seat height is around 76cm

 

[kingspirit]

In reality there is not an awful lot of difference between 54 and 56cm frames.

Do you have the opportunity to try a 56cm? Did you try before you purchased?

Nope I didn't try before purchasing, I just relyed on the sizing chart to be honest. I'm taking to the shop where I bought the bike see if they can arrange replacement for a 56 size so I can try that out

 

[wafter]

At 177cm with corresponding size 9-10 feet I get overlap on my medium CdF with the mudguards. Not ideal but in the 3-4k miles I've covered on it, it's not been a problem in practice. Of course plastic guards are a lot more slippery and compliant than a rubber tyre so if you're getting serious over lap with the tyre itself you may want to rethink things. Certainly seems that foot position is worth looking into first

 

[rivers]

Toe overlap happens. I'm short (5'2"/158 cm) and my bikes are all 46 or 48 cm, and all have toe overlap. And it's much worse on smaller bikes than larger bikes with 700c wheels. It doesn't cause me issue, and I race (TTs and the occasional crit). And I have more of a half a foot overlap than a toe overlap.

 

[vickster]

Nope I didn't try before purchasing, I just relyed on the sizing chart to be honest. I'm taking to the shop where I bought the bike see if they can arrange replacement for a 56 size so I can try that out

That’s the route if the bike feels too small to ride comfortably, not due to toe overlap

 

[Chislenko]

The easiest solution is to have your toes surgically removed. Let's face it unless your a ballet dancer what good are toes? 😉

 

[Fredo76]

All the road bikes I owned from the year dot have had toe overlap. It's a feature, not a fault.

In my opinion, it's an easily-avoided design flaw, caused by a compromise in favor of something less important. Hardly a feature, for me.

 

[Smokin Joe]

In my opinion, it's an easily-avoided design flaw, caused by a compromise in favor of something less important. Hardly a feature, for me.

It isn't a design flaw, it is a necessary feature of a short wheel base race frame. It has been the case since before every0one here was born and causes no problems.

If you don't want it, choose a frame that is geared more towards touring.