Do I Buy It Or Not?

[Biciclista]

Erin, if you have little feet, you don't have to worry about Toe overlap on most bikes. Larger footed people, er, like me, DO.

[MartianDestiny]

Erin, if you have little feet, you don't have to worry about Toe overlap on most bikes. Larger footed people, er, like me, DO.

That depends. I wear a kid's 4 shoe and both of my road bikes will rub at 3 o'clock if I'm not careful.

That's the price I pay for keeping my 700ces AND my 175mm cranks

[ErinRD]

Wow I have never had toe overlap before! That sounds really dangerous. I have size 8feet, so they're about average size. Thanks for pointing this out, I will be sure to look for toe overlap when I go to test the bike on sunday!

[uforgot]

I have toe overlap on my Surly and I really think it's no big deal. Doesn't bother me to have it, so keep an open mind about it. It isn't necessarily a deal breaker unless it really bugs you.

[Skierchickie]

I can't address the model of bike or the price, but I do have toe overlap on my road bike ('08 Jamis Xenith Pro). I've never had it on any bike before. I thought long and hard about that before I bought the bike, as it was perfect in every other way. My size 9 (or 9.5, or 10, depending on the shoes) clompers, combined with a compact geometry frame. It hasn't really been a problem - but I have learned to think about it. U-turns and 90 degree turns starting up from a stop are the only times it comes into play. When it happens, I suddenly have this feeling that I could crash at any second, but I haven't, and as long as I think about it (which isn't difficult once your foot hits your front wheel once or twice), I remember to be aware of my foot position on those tight turns. It's just a shorter wheelbase than I'm used to. While I've got about 2k miles on it so far, I've probably only done about 5 U-turns and 10 90 degree turns from stops. Anyway, I'm still in love with the bike, and while I'd prefer NOT to have toe overlap, I seem to be able to live with it. I won't be trying any criteriums on this bike, because of that, but I don't want to do criteriums anyway.

I live in a rural area, and don't deal with city riding at all (well, city riding is mostly a straight line for a few blocks around here). If I lived in a big city and needed to deal with lots of sharp turns and traffic all the time, I'm not sure whether it would work for me or not. I suspect a person would get used to it.

Fit - I think fit should be priority #1, and then everything else. I guess you don't know yet if you actually have toe overlap anyway? To check it out, just do a slow-speed turn with your outside foot at 3 o'clock - if it makes you nervous, just coast it without pedalling and see if you make contact. If not, it's a non-issue anyway.

Have fun!