Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post
Do you have to point your toes to reach the pedal at the bottom of the pedal stroke? Are you having calf or ankle trouble because of that? Are you having knee trouble because your knees are flexing too much at the top of your pedal stroke? Do you prefer pedaling at higher RPMs?


ETA ... your actual question was whether I noticed a difference. I'm usually better about reading posts before responding to them.

Yes. Enormous difference. Unbelievably enormous. Besides solving my knee and Achilles tendon injuries, 165s are just plain more comfortable for me.
Point my toes - no, it's parallel to the ground.
Calf/ankle trouble - no, my ankle is flexible, and hardly ever have issues.
Knees - when I go higher RPM, or when I'm in the drops - they do get a twinge of soreness due to the angle - this is where I wish it was a little bit more open.

Interesting because I've been cycling for nearly 2 years, running for a year Triathlons for a year, and not once got injured. Only calf tightness (due to running, not cycling) - and Funny enough...even after a hard bike ride, I don't need to "recover". Am I rare breed? Perhaps I'm not working hard enough!! My quads are surely SCREAMING when I do the hills. :-)


@KnottedYet - Interesting that you said that....my bike fitter did mention that I have long femurs for my size.

I already have a compact, so the only way I could go "smaller" is to get a triple, isn't it? Otherwise if I do 50/30...that's way too big of a jump for my shifters to handle.