# Moto Fantom Cross Team and Toe Overlap



## zekeafroid (Jun 30, 2008)

Hello Everyone,

I just received my pre-ordered Moto Fantom 'Cross Team size 52. First off, the bike looks awesome. Good paint, good welds (not Serotta quality, but who cares, I'm sure they will hold  ). Unfortunately, the bike came with a broken derailler hanger, probably damaged in shipping. I'm not too worried, I'm sure Mike will send me a new one tomorrow, and hopefully the rear derailler is not damaged.

Anyway, I slapped my road pedals and cleats on and I noticed that there is a bit of toe overlap, about 1cm. I have never raced cross, but I was planning to this season. Experienced 'cross racers: will this be a problem in a race? I have a road racing bike with some toe overlap and it is not a problem at all, but one does not turn the wheel much during a road race. 

I'm planning to get mountain shoes and pedals, might this solve the problem? I would imagine not because both road and mountain systems put the ball of your foot over the pedal axis.

thanks for the help,
Mike


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## 20sMotoSpirit (May 27, 2007)

How tall are you?
Shoe size?

I found that when I changed bikes there was a slight difference in the toe overlap. I had to readjust my clips. But that was from road to road

Im sure you have had your clips are set up correctly. I would encourage you to get a cheap pair of MTB shoes... maybe some Nashbar or Performance specials, cuz you are just going to trash them. As far as pedals, for any beginning off road go with the Shimano M520 or since you are a roadie and may like a little extra platform the A520 (single sided touring pedal)... but as the cheapest, most dependable pedal M520!


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## DrDrXanderLi (Aug 26, 2008)

Just discovered the same thing, on the same bike, same size, also coming from road bikes. But from perusing the net and remembering way back to my last cross bike, this is not uncommon, and is usually not a problem... I've only had the bike for a couple days and have already changed my cornering/pedaling habits to match.


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## zekeafroid (Jun 30, 2008)

I'm 5'8" and my shoe size is 43. Some might say that a 530mm TT (horizontal) is too small for me but I like smaller bikes with longer stems. 

I spoke to some 'cross racers and they said the same thing: it is not uncommon and you can deal with it. I'm going to keep the bike and try it out with the toe overlap. BikesDirect shipped the derailler hanger, now I just have to wait.

20sMotoSpirit: Thanks for the pedal recommendations. I'll probably get a mountain system this weekend. I'll post a complete review of the bike after I have a few hundred miles on it.

Mike


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## 20sMotoSpirit (May 27, 2007)

Not at all... Bikes now have an odd TT length for the seat tube height....Ive noticed after rebuilding a few vintage bikes that the stand over height is much greater than the TT length on the mid sized steel bikes, rather than nearly equal.

This was a real issue when I bought my first bike for BD.... a bit too big. Now that I have a compact 55 with a 56 Top tube everything is great.


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