Cycling Orthotics

those who have been following this blog for a while, now that I have "bow legs", which is the root cause of all my injuries during the past 25 years and also a huge limiting factor.

So I am amazed to have found a huge improvement in my cycling stroke after adding a pair of specific cycling orthotics to my shoes

It is not easy to explain in words, but let's try:

Before: since my legs are not straight, the feet reached the pedal not perpendicular to the pedal.

So the knees were working not in a vertical axis and the ankles were tilting inwards to accommodate the foot on the pedal. A lot of pushing force was lost in "unuseful" directions and the cleats were fixed in a very awkward position because it was the only way to arrange the all system.

In practice, in 25+ years of cycling practice, I have never been able to feel fully happy of my cleats positions and really pushing the pedals with full force.

Now: the orthotics are made by a thin layer of carbon fiber and they are custom moulded on my feet. They have a 13 degrees tilting angle (huge...), so that my feet/ankles/legs are actually in a straight line and the tilt of the legs is compensated by the orthotics...

The knees can not work in a vertical axle.

The sensation is amazing... much better power transmission and pedal stroke.

I wished those kind of jewels would have been invented 25 years ago...

Now I need to readjust the cleats in a "normal" position since the overall biomechanics are totally changed...

I feel some muscles working in a different way and still need some time to adapt (for example, the external side of the calves is not stretched much more then before and is a bit sore..)

I have always been very sceptical about orthotics in general, but after this tendinitis I totally gave in. For persons with skeleton problems which can not be fixed by strengthening/stretching, etc, they are a real saviour. Best investment in cycling gear I have ever made...

I feel some muscles working in a different way and still need some time to

Here a picture of this marvels...

in the pic below, you can appreciate the huge tilting angle of the orthotics...