Help...Calf hits front deraillier???

Prometheus7 said:

Got a question that my LBS can't answer. The setup is a 3
chain ring Lemond. My wife's calf hits the front derailler
when she's in the big chain ring. It is enough to bruise
her pretty good after a 30 mile ride. It is not like she's
got monkey legs. In fact, she is tall and slender. Anyone
every experienced anything like this and know of
solutions?

Lock the calf in the barn with the other cattle before
riding.

--
Tom Sherman – Quad City Area

In article <[email hidden]>,

Prometheus7 said:

Got a question that my LBS can't answer. The setup is a 3
chain ring Lemond. My wife's calf hits the front derailler
when she's in the big chain ring. It is enough to bruise
her pretty good after a 30 mile ride. It is not like she's
got monkey legs. In fact, she is tall and slender. Anyone
every experienced anything like this and know of
solutions?

There are several possible solutions, but they all
involve getting the foot and the calf further away from
the chain ring.

From easiest to most elaborate:

1) correct whatever wobble in your wife's pedaling motion
there is that causes her leg to hit the derailleur. There
may not be one, but check this first.

2) adjust the pedal cleat so it is closer to the inside side
of her shoe, effectively moving the foot out and
hopefully giving clearance to the derailleur.

3) get a set of pedal extenders, or whatever they are
called. These are little threaded units that your pedal
and crank thread into, effectively pushing the pedal
out wider.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden]
sfu.cawiredcolaOpen ↗ President, Fabrizio
Mazzoleni Fan Club

"Prometheus7" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Got a question that my LBS can't answer. The setup is a 3
chain ring Lemond. My wife's calf hits the front derailler
when she's in the big chain ring. It is enough to bruise
her pretty good after a 30 mile ride. It is not like she's
got monkey legs. In fact, she is tall and slender. Anyone
every experienced anything like this and know of
solutions?

To begin to respond to the question, people will want to
know the model of the front derailer, pedal, and crank.

Are you sure the front derailer is adjusted and positioned
right? Is the contact that's occuring just her brushing up
against the derailer cage, or is it more severe?

Cranks and pedals that give a wider "q-factor" (distance
between pedal contact points) are the obvious answer.
Usually a lower Q is better and most components are built
with that in mind, but this seems to be an exception. If you
switch these components, you'll probably want to try out
whatever you get before you buy, since the q-factor a
specific pedal or crank gives is not usually specified,
especially not accurately.

Ryan Cousineau said:

...
3) get a set of pedal extenders, or whatever they are
called. These are little threaded units that your pedal
and crank thread into, effectively pushing the pedal
out wider.

These are called "Kneesavers":
<http://www.bikescor.com/product/knee.htm>.

--
Tom Sherman – Quad City Area

Quoted message said:

Got a question that my LBS can't answer. The setup is
a 3 chain

ring

Quoted message said:

Lemond. My wife's calf hits the front derailler when
she's in the

big chain

Quoted message said:

ring. It is enough to bruise her pretty good after a 30
mile ride.

It is

Quoted message said:

not like she's got monkey legs. In fact, she is tall and
slender.

Anyone

Quoted message said:

every experienced anything like this and know of
solutions?

She propably rides with her knees inwards so you'll have to
try to get her foot further from the outer chainring. You
can do this in many ways: cleats further inwards, cranks
with bigger distance between chainring and pedal hole,
pedals with bigger distance between crank and cleat center
or pedal spindle extenders. You could also try a shorter
bottom bracket spindle if it doesn't mess up the chainline,
this way derailleur won't go out as much and her lower legs
will propably have a straighter motion. Maybe best is to try
with feet on the pedals (not clicked in) first to see where
the foot has to be to avoid contact with the deraillieur.

"Prometheus7" <[email hidden]> wrote
in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Got a question that my LBS can't answer. The setup is
a 3 chain

ring

Quoted message said:

Lemond. My wife's calf hits the front derailler when
she's in the

big chain

Quoted message said:

ring. It is enough to bruise her pretty good after a 30
mile ride.

It is

Quoted message said:

not like she's got monkey legs. In fact, she is tall and
slender.

Anyone

Quoted message said:

every experienced anything like this and know of
solutions?

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 21:51:49 -0400, "Prometheus7"

may have said:

Got a question that my LBS can't answer. The setup is a 3
chain ring Lemond. My wife's calf hits the front derailler
when she's in the big chain ring. It is enough to bruise
her pretty good after a 30 mile ride. It is not like she's
got monkey legs. In fact, she is tall and slender. Anyone
every experienced anything like this and know of solutions?

Did this happen from day one, or is it a new thing? I'd look
for a bent crank if it just started suddenly.

It might be worthwhile to look at cleat position and angle
if these are clipless pedals, or perhaps swapping to a pedal
with a longer platform might help if the bike has
conventional pedals. The pedal extensions (aka "kneesavers"
mentioned elsewhere might help as well. It really sounds
like a matter of pedalling style to me. Sometimes shifting
the seat position can have an effect on that. Have you
ridden behind her to see what's going on?

--
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