Toe fouling front wheel...

[al-fresco]

Being a short arse (5' 7") I find that the combination of a 50cm Surly Cross Check frame, 700 wheels and 170mm cranks means that if make a tight (ie U turn) my toe will foul the front wheel if I'm not careful. I removed the front mudguard which improved things but it still happens occasionally.

I reckon 165mm cranks would probably eliminate the problem altogether.

So my question is - have you experienced the same problem and did you solve it or just learn to live with it?

 

[tyred]

Just learn to live with it. I have that problem on my fixed gear and have never found an issue with it. Just ride around it.

 

[HLaB]

Its very common but its not really a problem to turn the wheel enough to cause it you have to be going very slowly, ie the said u-turn for faster move you actually only have to turn the wheel a bit and you lean more so its not a problem. There tons of threads on the forum explaining it, toe overlap.

 

[sabian92]

I used to do this when I was a kid and make a horrendous noise doing it, it was great fun with knobblies on.

I don't mean to be patronising, but have you tried having your toes on the pedals, not your heel (by the sounds of it)?

 

[gbb]

One potential thing you may be able to do..
Are you using shoes and cleats ? If so, can you slide your cleats towards the toes, that'll bring your foot back in relation to the wheel.

 

[al-fresco]

Thanks - good to know I'm not alone, never had this happen on a bike before. I'm using toe clips and the ball of my foot is over the pedals - but as Hlab has pointed out it only occurs at low speeds so I guess I'll just live with it.

 

[corshamjim]

I had this problem with toeclips/straps on my Pashley and changed the pedals so I can use SPD clipless (I fitted double-sided pedals so I can use the non-SPD side with ordinary shoes if I wish). This almost eliminated the problem for me. ymmv.

I then put the pedals with the toeclips/straps on my folder which obviously has no overlap issues so they're not wasted.

 

[Fiona N]

Get smaller feet

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Get smaller feet

I was just looking at the gap between toe and tyre on my PX the other day, I rec it's about 1 - 2mm.

 

[huttster]

Mine overlap too,have got used to it now but at first kept forgetting and coming to an abrupt halt,never fell off though!

 

[asterix]

Had this on my 1st tourer/commuter and commuted with it for 15 years, no problems. It was a large frame.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

toeverlap is a factor of frame geometry. my tourer doesn't and my audaxer does. don't change either cleat position or crank length solely to address it. learning to live with it/cope with it is the answer

 

[corshamjim]

If the only option were to live with it then frankly I'd get another bicycle myself.

 

[Falwheeler]

Don't move your cleats, i have a Tricross with toe overlap and when I bought a new pair of shoes I thought, I know, when I fit the cleats I'll move them forward to move the shoes back on the pedals. First ride, 50 miles, feet were absolute agony , moved the cleats to where they should be, very small movement, no problem since .

 

[gbb]

Don't move your cleats, i have a Tricross with toe overlap and when I bought a new pair of shoes I thought, I know, when I fit the cleats I'll move them forward to move the shoes back on the pedals. First ride, 50 miles, feet were absolute agony , moved the cleats to where they should be, very small movement, no problem since .

Its all a bit academic anyway, OPs using toeclips, so cleats are not an issue....but its worth considering that when cleat position is an issue, many of us ( i suspect most of us) simply bolt the cleats on, adjust to get the angle right without considering fore and aft position.. I know i didnt give it that much consideration...
Within hours, it was obvious toe overlap was a problem. Adjusted the cleats forward, never had a problem since.

As always, there's no definitive answer, some things will work for some, cause problems for others.