Bike fit issues with crankarms that are not equal distance from chainstay

Triathlon Forum
1

I am hoping some builders / mechanics / bike fit gurus can help me out.

I have been having issues with fit for as long as I can remember. I have raced and trained 1000’s of miles and many years but usually feel just a bit off on my position. I sit to the left on my saddle and tilt my pelvis a bit. This is the same road bike that I have used for years,. I now use this bike for group road rides and train primarily on my new tri bike. On this old bike I feel like my right foot needs to have a higher Q factor than my left. I have used Time equipe pedals for years and they have variable lateral float, but I still tend to sit crooked on my saddle to the left. Well, recently I did a whole shoe and pedal upgrade and found that Look Keos did not have a high enough Q factor for the right foot. I tried Time iclics that are bit better, but my right foot still feels to inward compared to left. To complicate things, I am a bit asymmetrical with foot position so I have orthotics and wedges on my shoes. Even though improved, i am still a bit tweaked and feel best if I shift a few mm to the left on my saddle.

Well today I said dammit, I need to figure out why this is an issue on my road bike and not on my new tri bike. I decided to look at the crank arms. I get out the calipers. Well what do you know, the right crank arm is 3 mm closer to the chainstay than the left. This is an old steel bike, symmetrical chain stays, never crashed (I save that for mountain biking), frame and cranks appear straight. This is a sealed bottom bracket that I a shop replaced a few years ago - come to think of it, the fit issues seemed to get worse after that. The chainline and chainring position seems fine. I am super intuned to bike position and I am starting to think that my cranks and feet being shifted to the left of center accounts for a great deal of my asymmetry. Any thoughts on if 3 mm is significant?

Does anyone have any idea of ways to remedy this? Can the bottom bracket be adjusted?

Thanks.

2

Pedal Washers. Just stick them on the pedal axle before you attach to the crank arm. I wouldn’t go to crazy with them, though. Maybe 2 mm or so.

3

Pedal shims, or get speedplays that have different aftermarket spindles to adjust q-factor.

4

if you need more adjustment than a couple of washers, look here:

http://www.kneesaver.net/

20, 25 and 30 mm spindle extensions.

5

You could have the wrong size bottom bracket. If the one you have is too long or not spaced properly you can get this effect. You may be better off to confirm your measurements based off the seat tube then the seemingly symmetrical chain line. after all you really want to check this in relation to where you are and not the wheel.

6

Thanks for the replies. I put three 1mm washers on temporarily and it really straightens things out a lot. I am not comfortable using 3 washers with these pedals - the threaded part is not long enough. I am probably going to see if their is anything that can be done with the bottom bracket or go with the Speedplay zero + 1/8". I hate switching pedal systems to work around this, but it actually might be a lot more straightforward and the q factor is a bit more adjustable than the Time and Look.