# One leg slightly longer



## M.cruz (Jan 16, 2012)

So have notice that when my saddle is extend to allow for full extension. I have pain in my left knee but the right is perfectly fine. This has lead me to believe the the left is just a little short. So my question is does anyone else have this and how did you deal with it. Thanks in advance.


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## tednugent (Apr 26, 2010)

I have read some people put spacers on the shorter leg (ie shim the cleat) to try to balance things out.


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## zoikz (Sep 5, 2003)

*Bill Peterson is the man you're looking for*

I have a leg length discrepency. Rode around with back and knee pain for a lot of years before I got it figured out. I even had a couple bike fittings done before I got to the the right guy. That guy is Bill Peterson and he's the best in the business. I ride with a shim under the cleat, but also he got my cleats aligned properly and set me up with a pair of orthotics. Can't say enough good things about him, he is just a wonderful guy, and excellent at what he does. You'd be amazed by how many pro's ride with his orthotics. You can get consultations and order on line as well. Incidentally he's putting up one bad @ss fight with cancer and I'm sending him good vibes and wishes for a full recovery. He's still doing what he loves.
Foot Fitness Pedorthic and Performance Centers - We Do Feet


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Not unusual at all. We aren't symmetrical beings. It is only when we try to fit our asymmetry to a symmetrical system (a bike) that these types of issues most often rear themselves. 

Check out Steve Hogg's blog. Another fitting guru. He talks alot about how most of us protect one side of our body more than the other and actual or functional, this presents in cyclists as a leg length discrepancy. Shimming can help. I shim one of my feet just a tad under the cleat.


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## iheartbenben (Mar 18, 2011)

I've known one leg was slightly longer than the other since I was in high school and my CC coach pointed out my stride was off.

I've found an alarming trend in newer cyclists going about solving a leg discrepancy on their own and worsening the issue. There also seems to be higher false-perception of a leg being longer than another among cyclists.

You need to identify exactly what the differences between your legs are, if any, first.

Length of Femur
Length of Shin
Length of Feet
etc etc etc.

Be careful, you can potentially cause more damage than less. Sometimes things get worse before you can vector on the better fits.


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## SolidSnake03 (Jun 22, 2011)

One of the best things you can do is actually see a Doctor/PT/Sports Med Doc to get a possible leg length discrepancy diagnosed. This will help make any fitting or other work so much more helpful. If you actually figure out exactly what is different about your body then you can go about properly correcting it.

I'm actually in the process of learning this the hard way after about 2 years of running and cycling pain. It looks like, from two different doctor's, I have a marked large true leg length discrepancy *right leg 1.5cm shorter *

I'm awaiting another round of testing but both doc's basically measured the exact same difference yet neither knew I had visited the other. 

Also, a doctor appointment and actually having this diagnosed will most likely give you plenty of information about where the discrepancy is and therefore help you in correcting it


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

Yup...I run a bit over 1cm of spacers under my left cleat to make up for a leg length imbalance. It's fairly common, but with most people the difference is close enough they never notice it.


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

One of my legs is also shorter than the other. When I run, the length discrepancy definitely affects me. But when I'm not the bike, I don't notice any difference at all. I guess when I'm on the bike, I hardly ever fully extend my legs, therefore the discrepancy never comes into play.


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## SolidSnake03 (Jun 22, 2011)

Wookiebiker said:


> Yup...I run a bit over 1cm of spacers under my left cleat to make up for a leg length imbalance. It's fairly common, but with most people the difference is close enough they never notice it.


I think most imbalances are on the mm scale as opposed to cm which is why they are often unnoticed/don't really effect people. Before you had the spacers set up did you always have trouble with fitting a comfortable saddle, knee pain and just 1 foot that felt terrible? These are all issues I'm having currently and think once the marked leg length difference is accounted for they should clear up.


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## dot (Mar 4, 2004)

about 1 cm difference. I discovered it when I was sitting on a stool with bare knees, I noticed that one knee was lower than the other. 

My shorter leg always suffers from running although it might be also from two severe sprains it sustained. To compensate the imbalance my bottom likes to sit a bit tilted to the left :-\ I guess it might look funny from behind. I had to take the discrepancy into the account and lower the saddle a bit to make life easier for the left leg. The weaker/shorter leg is also slower to recover from training.


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## kbwh (May 28, 2010)

I've always known that my entire right side was larger than the left, but I did not know the extent.
Recently I had a bike fit done with the Retül system. The measurements after fit show my left femur to be 12 mm shorter than the right, and my lower leg the same. That's 24mm total. Wow. I've put a makeshift extra sole in my left shoe to compensate somewhat, but I'll need some proper footbeds. Especially my left foot is way off kilter.
The Retül system also says that my left hip is 5mm furter forward than the right.

The fitter also want me to sit higher, and he targets me up 20mm. After some rides we have found that I cannot go so high at once because I get pain in the medial collateral ligament (on the inside) of my left knee. I'll try +10mm from today, and see if my knee adapts nicely.
Yup. I get the pain on the short (and weaker) side.


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## phoehn9111 (May 11, 2005)

I have leg length combined with varus\valgus issues and have struggled with knee pain
for years. Thank god for speedplays, this year with the help of a good fitter and much
reiterations on the shims\wedges, I have finally got the inflammation reasonably under
control. (Knock wood). It is a never ending vigil for me, and also I have to be extremely
mindful of my pedalling stroke.


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## phoehn9111 (May 11, 2005)

I have leg length combined with varus\valgus issues and have struggled with knee pain
for years. Thank god for speedplays, this year with the help of a good fitter and much
reiterations on the shims\wedges, I have finally got the inflammation reasonably under
control. (Knock wood). It is a never ending vigil for me, and also I have to be extremely
mindful of my pedalling stroke.


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

SolidSnake03 said:


> I think most imbalances are on the mm scale as opposed to cm which is why they are often unnoticed/don't really effect people. Before you had the spacers set up did you always have trouble with fitting a comfortable saddle, knee pain and just 1 foot that felt terrible? These are all issues I'm having currently and think once the marked leg length difference is accounted for they should clear up.


I didn't notice the difference until I started riding road bikes...on the MTB (which I rode exclusively for a long time) I didn't notice it due to being out of the saddle so much.

When I switched to road riding exclusively I noticed it quickly. I could never get the saddle height correct to where both knees felt good during/after a ride...and finding a saddle that fit correctly was difficult. Once I found spacers...it resolved most of those issues as I played with them until the knee extension on both legs felt good and the pain went away.

I also found I have to use a Valgus wedge in my left shoe.

Once I figured out I had the leg length discrepancy it also explained all the lower back problems I had growing up. I would get pinched nerves in my lower back that would hurt so bad I could barely walk...but nobody could figure out why. Nobody thought about a leg length imbalance causing the hips to be out of balance...thus throwing my body out of balance. Fixing the problem, fixed many, many issues.


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## SolidSnake03 (Jun 22, 2011)

Wookiebiker said:


> I didn't notice the difference until I started riding road bikes...on the MTB (which I rode exclusively for a long time) I didn't notice it due to being out of the saddle so much.
> 
> When I switched to road riding exclusively I noticed it quickly. I could never get the saddle height correct to where both knees felt good during/after a ride...and finding a saddle that fit correctly was difficult. Once I found spacers...it resolved most of those issues as I played with them until the knee extension on both legs felt good and the pain went away.
> 
> ...


What you said about saddle and its height is exactly what im experiencing, same for my knees. I have had prolonged running issues with only my shorter leg as well, this leg length differenced im discovering explains so much about my body as well. Great to hear that getting it addressed helped you so much


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