Do You Need WEDGING in your Cycling Shoes? - BikeFitTuesdays 

Please don’t hit people with a torque wrench. It could cause serious damage and you’d need to get it recalibrated before using it again.

“I don’t want people playing with themselves…” Sound advice 😃. Your videos rock

Ha, had a bike fit a few weeks back with someone who uses said track tech and in the physical assessment he noted a leg length difference. I was favouring one side riding but interestingly he never added a shim, but resolved this with a narrower saddle (he spotted the wider saddle causing me to sit off centre) . Reassuring he wasn't reliant on the tech but actually observed me doing it!

Great to have BFT back - brilliant advice and guidance - as always :)

James always seems to cover alot of ground in these videos. The fast pace and straight forward presentation of the information keeps me engaged. For those people who absorb info a bit slower, they can watch it again =)

Love it, "Bike fit James told me I could !"

These bikefit Tuesday videos are some of the best videos on the Internet 😅👌

Been using Specialized shoes for 18years. Spot on that it rolls both of my feet to the outside. Anxiously awaiting the US Tour of Bike Fit Tuesdays.

Got a fit booked with James in two weeks. Can’t wait, I’ve been watching bike fit Tuesdays videos for years so mega excited to see if he can help resolve some of my issues!

Bike Fit Tuesday, Francis & James the true dynamic duo.

Great info… by the way, James choice of shoe wear today is impeccable… 😎🤜🏽🤛🏽

I broke my leg 10 years ago and have metal rods that go through my femur and tibia. I use a stack to correct a medical diagnosed leg length discrepancy. Before using it I noticed very bad hip pain in the “metal” leg. I used a heel wedge for a few months that caused foot pain. I got a stack and removed the heel wedge and everything turned out fine, no more pain!

I wish I could hop on plane to London ASAP! At age 55, just about everything James says about dubious bike fitters has happened to me.

just booked a fit with James, can't wait!

I love this so much! I've had all of these shims/wedges applied to my bike fits in the past, and all they did was create more issues. Especially when I went to get checked for a leg length discrepancy and that came back as not being the case.

One aspect I love almost as much as the wealth of knowledge had here is James and his style!! Seriously, what brand shirt is that?!

Love a good old BikeFitTuesday!

Perfect advice @9:31. Another great video with great info.

I think it would be great to for you guys to leave a note on how to use heel wedges as some people will unavoidably try them. As James noted the normal foot movement starts with a supination and finishes with a pronation. Some people will have that unwanted strong forefoot movement as a result of being strong supinators. Supination is normally solved in walking shoes with heel wedges with the thicker side to the outside. People with flat foot will have a tendency to pronate as a result of the lacking arch’s. Should these last ones have heel wedges with the thicker side to the inside? Well bike fitting is a process not and end point. Also important to say that heel wedges should only be applied once proper/correct arch support for the respective foot is in place. Traditional heel wedges are spongy/gell based, some of the heel edges for cycling are straight hard some are gell based. I would say gell based edges will always be better at capturing your foot anatomy. Heel wedges can be tricky in some shoes. Some Lakes are know for too spacious heel area, in general lake shoes seem to push that contact/power area away from the heel (a whole different discussion if you need that intended design or not). In such shoe it can be really hard to have a heel wedge doing any effect on the foot stability. To finish the whole story, if your position on the bike is not correct heel wedges will probably damage you more than help you - therefor, don’t try them unless everything else is already perfect.

Fantastic video so so interesting thanks so much Dr James and male nurse Francis Great job 👍🏻

Bike Fit James told me I could... LOVE IT!

The next series complimenting Bike Fit Tuesdays, is Lawyer Representation Wednesday for the assault charges filed against you from expressing your dissatisfaction against your incompetent bike fitter with said implement.

Cracking video...! Pertinent and informative as usual.. thanks guys!

As always, entertaining and educational. James taught me, inadvertently, that I’ve had my saddle height 2.5cm too high for the past 10 years. And I used to work in a bike shop! I can confirm that most people, including bike fitters, have a tendency to set the saddle too high.

Very good quality, easy to assemble, works as advertised.

If there's anything I've learned today is that I should bring something heavy when going to a bike fitting. Thanks for the tip!

Thanks much! Incredibly informative.

So... Can we expect a world tour? I think it's time for James to take this show on the road!!

Bike fit tuesday........ James is the man! 👌🍀

Fantastically informative videos - thanks very much. My Garmin Rally power meter pedals tell me I’ve got +8mm platform centre offset on each foot (ie I think it means I’m putting pressure on the pedal toward the outside edge of my feet). I’ve no pain problems - but wonder if you can comment about my need for wedges, shims etc etc. Thanks again - brilliant vids

I have wedges in my left shoe. One under the footbed, two on the cleat. Shady but it works. But I did shatter both heals and the left healed on the wonk so that foot rolls to the outside. I also had insoles in all my street shoes. Thanks NHS for not listening that I was sure I’d smashed both and by the time you agreed it was too late...

@bikefitjames was wondering if you could do a video on flat footedness and plantar faciitus. Been waking up with pain on random days after work and its been affecting my cycling on my off days. Could you please make a video on it and ways i can improve the pain and get me back riding again? thanks in advance!!!

Hi Great videos! I'd love to see one on fitting someone that has long legs for their height. Often they need a bike with higher stack but also shorter reach which becomes tricky. Any bike recommendations on this also? Would you go up a size to get a higher stack and then run a super short stem? Cheers

I use G8 foot beds and I have two of those specialized internal wedges in my left shoe….They definitely help me but perhaps I’ll give the heel wedge a go….should probably just get a bike fit as I have a few issues I need sorting out

The legend which is ‘BFJ’ - Good stuff 👍

I’d love to hear James’ thoughts on Morton’s Neuromas and Metatarsalgia

Delightful video but one correction for 3:56: Something big and heavy and which is NOT I REPEAT IS NOT a precision instrument like a Topeak D-Torq DX torque wrench. (I have one too, brilliant tool if used correctly and not as a hammer) Finally booked a fit few days ago, see you in 9 weeks (9 weeks? crazy)

I just stumbled across your channel and it‘s so useful. Thanks a lot. Could you do a „long legs special“? I‘m really struggling to find a frame that works for me (183cm/91cm inseam). Modern frames tend to have a special dedicated seatpost that is only available in one length and if I select a small enough frame that is short enough, the seatpost can‘t be extended far enough.

I am commenting before I even watch the end of this video. I have wedges in my shoes and I did not even know no that I would like them.. Come to find out I like a little wedge under the outside of my feet and and it just makes everything feel great it's great. Just an opinion

I thought I had a well fitting pair of Lake shoes.... until I had a fit by James and some heel wedges later... it was astounding the difference it made.

Great now I can smack the numpties at work and say bike fit James told me to🤣. Have a fit with him in a couple of weeks, going to have to take notes.

I like the fact that James is a watch enthusiast. I’ve seen him wear a Speedmaster in another video.

Hey James, should shoe wedges and pedal washers be taken into consideration in EVERY bike fitting? I don't think my local bike fitters offer that. Thanks.

Great info as usual…my question is, can you just put an orthotic in your cycling shoe that you normally wear in regular shoes?

James, I had a fitter put a wedge in my shoes and, like you said, I hated it. I felt like it put pressure on my knees and lower quads, and my legs fatigued. I didn’t understand why he put them in as other fitters had pointed out how even my knees track and how smooth my pedal stroke is. I removed them and I went back to normal.

I have bunion issue on right foot. When ride long hour (more than 3) big toe tend to have pain not just on the joint. Hope I can get fitted by you soon.

James mentioned stacks can cause hip impingement. Can heel wedges also? I had a bike fit years ago, and was fitted with 2 heel wedges in the left shoe. Recently noticed left hip issues and tried removing the wedges and seems to be better now. (I also have 1 wedge in the right shoe, which I've left in, as that was worse when I removed it. My right foot pronates more which makes sense - and so the set up I had before was a bit odd perhaps).

As far as the many and subtle leg length discrepancies go, I remember a Chiropracter treatment working on me and correcting this for good. So if you can find a good honest one that doesn't destroy people, that could be the best for you, far better tban shimming. It's amazing what a good chiropractor can do for even a guy like me with an extreme orthopedic case of slipped vertebrae.

Might I suggest if you can to place a burr in the chamois of those bike fitters suggesting all these measures. What do you tell an older rider experiencing none of these issues who's knees track well? I also like your chrome vanadium idea if stealth fails!

Does it have to be a ratchet o hit them with or can you use a beam style torque wrench? Asking for a friend😁

Excellent, as ever.

🤣🔨. Thanks for this, would love to get a proper bike fit some day.

I really enjoy these high energy sprints down bike fit lane. It is sometimes hard to concentrate on the biomechanics though, when all I can think about is shirts with logos on the boob and if it's possible to get clothing without said boob-logos

Hi James great content, QQ I have developed shin pain on right leg in the past 12 months prior to this no issues of the past 10 years of riding. Struggling to identify the cause, seems to worse when on using Wattbike bike in high cadence sessions? Any idea's where to look, thinking cleat position?

Very excited for this one.

Guys. Can you a video covering how you would cater for excessive 'toe out'? For example, how would you deal with a +10° toe out? Are there any road/mtb pedals that could accommodate this? What about heal strike - longer axles or extenders? If you need a lab rat, let me know since I'm local:) In the meantime, thanks for the insight and gotchas.👍👍

People are really good at compensating. If something hurts or is uncomfortable, we avoid it and adapt to it. However, this also means that it is hard to diagnose for yourself where the problem truly is. You only feel what's wrong, not how to fix it. To me, wedges seem to be the the easiest thing to screw up.

Any solutions on pain in the achilles tendon or where it might come from?

hello, nice video, what do you think about solestar ? thank you.

I have about 4-5 mm of a difference in length between my right and left leg as it was meassured by my bike fiter. I do indeed feel even after the fit that my left knee feels more compressed during some heavy interval training which results in discomfort... Do you suggest asking about those length extenders?

Hello @bikefitjames. Thanks for the video. I’m experiencing pain in both of my toes (as if they were swollen with blood) when I do a very long ride with constant hard pedaling. What are my options? In another fitting video I saw that this is probably due to the fact that my archs are too deep and I’m putting all the load in the metatarsals - thus I would need arch supports underneath my soles. What do you think about this? Thanks!

@bikefitjames ... I have a set of G8 footbeds that I bought from you, that I was running in my old shoes. I've just bought a new set of shoes.... can/should I just transfer my old footbeds to the new shoes, with no adjustment? Old shoes had about 18 months of heavy use. New shoes are a different make, but same size. Cheers :-)

The funniest thing is how specialized do a fit with these spacers. They put you on a flat floor then add spacers under your foot and ask you to squat on one foot until you get better balance and then put you in their shoes which are not flat, this is absurd! Regarding the length of the legs, the best option is to take a lower body X-ray in a standing position (this is important), so you can see the difference in the length of the legs. Otherwise you could be mistaken because the muscles compensate for the discrepancies in length. For example, if your leg length is checked on a table by pulling both legs to align your pelvis, that is not correct because your spine is still curved. p.s. Thank you for your video, I have long wanted to throw out these spacers because they were taking up space in the closet but I was unsure about it

Wedge seems to fix differences between two feet. In other words, if both sides use the same wedge setup, I'd say start with increasing the Q-Factor length

James, have you ever thought of doing a world tour of bike fitting. Like for myself, I would love for you to come to Perth Australia and help me and a lot of other people with a bike fit. How many people do you need to fit to make that trip your worth while?

Hi I’ve got a issue with my left shoe, I feel like I have to pull back with my feet to get the same feeling in the shoe as the right one. My right cleat is almost all the way back and left cleat is over the midway to the front. I’ve been working on my bike fitting for ages and had two bike fits but still having the problem and it hurts my left knee. It’s mostly a problem on indoor rides on zwift. Cheers

If i have the yellow wedge under the cleat, do i need to use the heel wedges together? Or i have to choose one or the other

Is there any recognised qualification one should look for in a bike fitter to give confidence in what they are doing. I've had couple of fits over the years and very different experiences

Just got some new shimano sphyres, I had a pair for cheaper shimanos before, I felt they were to big so sized down in the sphyres from 44-43, rose in them yesterday for the first time and got pins and needles, is it possible that I’m over tightening the boa dial?

Hi James, I was searching for spaces and came across your video above - I have recently visited a Physio re lower back pain and following a few sessions, he has said I should get 5mm spaces for my cleat on my right foot due to a short leg. Would have liked to have dropped around to you for a bike fit, but not so easy as I am based in Ireland.

Be interested to know yours and James thoughts on using pedal extenders for those of of us who are slightly more comfortably proportioned cyclists, to reduce knee out at top of stroke

James, I’m so bow legged and I run on the side of my shoe even tho I set my cleats as best I can to fix this. Feel like shoe are on an angle. Any advice please. I know there is probably more factors to go in to this. Would love to do a bike fix with you but now like in Canada.

Does your instore shoe fit include determining any need for wedges/correction, or is that only for a bike fit?

What's the part number for that torque wrench? I just want to make sure sure I purchase the correct walloping tool

Can a wider stand with a little bit of rotation of the cleats also fix some sort of Varus problems instead of wedges?

Had my own bike fit Tuesday this week (pre purchase of bike). Got a medial sub tarsal coalition so big it causes my feet to collapse over time… pronate a crazy amount and splay outwards. Answer: buy mountain bike pedals for my road bike.

Wow you know it’s going to be a good video when James is in the lense Question: I ride both A touring bike and an Aero bike I find that I’m leaning to one side Of the saddle (ever so slightly and I know this because I generally get saddle sores on my left side) which I believe is compensation for the fact that I’m blind in my right eye no I do have knee pain sometimes which is normally inflamed when I’m not spinning on the pedals, is there anything I can do which might help with my seat position or is it a case of suck it up buttercup?

Question for James, If someone has Specialized shoes and wants to correct the in-built forefoot cant of the shoe. What size wedge would be required to neutralize the shoe?

When using G8 insoles do you need to adjust seat height I noticed there is 4 mm difference (rise) inside the shoe compared to normal insoles.

Bike fit James what do you do if your city does not possess a fitter of your caliber, that uses all these techniques? Surely some self trial and error is ok? How would you go about it in a safe way?

Some day I'd really like a compilation of BFJ throwing stuff onto the bench, obviously with the heavy objects clips from this video spliced in too.

Do you have any recommendations for a bike fitter in the North East York area. As London s a tad too far to travel.

I've got 2xwedges under my left road cycling cleat which has virtually stopped the pain & numbness I used to get after a couple of hours. Would heel wedges in my MTB shoes have the same effect do you think?

I have heard mention of Morton's neuroma but no answers to what might help. As this video is addressing foot issues it seems an appropriate place to raise the question. I have something which seems similar with (weirdly) both pain and numbness between the middle toe and the next one outward on both feet but I don't respond typically to the standard test of squeezing the foot. If I had Morton's that should trigger a pain but in me it doesn't despite all the other symptoms being strongly indicative. Is there anything I should particularly worry about in cycling with this and if so is there anything I can do about it?

I didn‘t really understand the thing where one side of the foot is „elevated“. Does this mean that that side is sticking out more? I use pre-made footbeds for arch support. When they are worn, the foam under the inside toe joint is completely compressed. Can this be one of the situations described?

Question for James: I have Giro Empires and they feel great when I start my ride. But usually after an hour I start to feel pain on the outside of my small toes. Usually starts with the right side. I KNOW you said something about that in one of the many amazing videos, BUT I am not sure in which one. Thank you so much and have a great day!

I bought some G8's from James and I'm still suffering from pain on the outer edge of my foot. Any help would be appreciated.

Should I look into a proper shoe fit/wedge? I'm not having any pain but have noticed recently most of the pressure is on the outside of my foot when pedaling. It takes a bit if effort and concentration to make it feel balanced and spread across the foot evenly. Do I need better form or potentially some type of shoe fit?

Question for James : I am pretty sure that years ago I had James on the phone at sigma sport and he was recommending the G8 insoles. I’ve had incredible success with them preventing knee pain …. But… The G8 instructions say that every now and again you will need to incrementally increase the height of the support as your foot changes due to the support. This has been my experience, but what happens when you run out of changes you can make? Sometimes I think that perhaps the support shims on the G8 slightly collapse…. Is this the case?

I have orthotic insoles which I wear in my shoes. They have a solid heel section which raises the inside of my heels and provide arch support. Should I wear them in my carbon soled cycling shoes?

Question for James, why no the thicker side of the shim on the outside of the shoe?

"Bikefit James told me I could" 🤣👍

I use both SPD SL and SPD MTB shoes/cleats. Lately I have been getting a pain in one foot when using the MTB but not with the SL. The pain seems to be directly above where the cleat would be. Any ideas why this is? Thanks. Great content (thumbs up emoji)

James, what causes a heel-out tendency at the power portion / bottom of the pedal stroke? It only happens to my left leg and it causes outer - upper calf pain. It feels like throughout an entire ride, my left heel is pressed against the heel-out limit of my cleats? If I tilt my bike to the left (and sit with my left sitbone on the right portion of the seat), all of a sudden my left pedal stroke feels more normal (obviously this is an extreme position). This is post-bike fit by the way, albeit not a great one obviously. Thanks for your help!

“Bikefit James asked me to do it “ 😂😂😂

Is saddle to handlebar drop something important?

Bike fit James, how to find a good bike fitter in my country. How would I know he is really competent? Opinions?probably not... Years in business?don't think so... equipment or prices?surely not... I live in Poland so this might be tricky...

How would you sort over supination?

Sir. james ha ha ha.... I Wish there's a bike fit doctor like you here in My country....

How can you correct external tibial torsion on only one foot?