Thursday, November 9, 2017

Eliminating Pedaling Discomfort - An Athlete’s Experience with the LEOMO TYPE-R


By Sherman Cravens, Special Projects Coordinator, Peaks Coaching Group

This article is a rather significant departure from past articles we have written on the LEOMO TYPE-R in that it is written from the Athlete’s perspective and much of the article will consist of quotes from my extensive e-mail correspondence with the Athlete throughout his journey with the TYPE-R.  This is not to say that his journey with the TYPE-R is complete… 

We are going to take a look at an Athlete who purchased a TYPE-R because in his words “Originally, I purchased the Type R because I was getting more and more uncomfortable on the bike, not at all like the very, very smooth pedaling style I had a few years ago.  It allowed me to make changes, one at a time, then go back and quantify them so I wasn’t just relying on ‘feels better, feels worse’.  It had gotten the point where I felt like I was pedaling with the legs of two different guys who didn’t know each other and one was a really bad bike rider.”

Athlete Information
   Age:  62
   Riding Since:  1970s. Holds a Cat 2 USAC Road License
   Annual Mileage:  7,500 - 10,000
   Most Recent Bike Fit:  2011
   Pedals:  Speedplay Zero for over a year, Speedplay X-2 prior to that
   Shoes:  Sidi Wire 43.5, Suplest Edge/3 Pro 42.5, Gaerne G.Stilo+ 42.5 and 43, and Sidi Shot 44
   Insoles:  Solestar size 42 BLK stock, size 43 BLK, and custom BLK

A little background from the Athlete again in his words “I do stretch and core exercises daily, as recommend by the osteopath.  Right side does feel tight, could be past time for a visit there to be worked over and straightened out”.

“On issues, my skeletal architecture is a mess, scoliosis (only found five years ago, but pronounced), several disk issues in including a disintegrated L5-S1 from an old fall. Generally, my left side feels pretty good, my right feels like a disjointed string puppet. Possibly some nerve damage into my right leg. Also, the arch of my right foot seems to be collapsing, leading to the feeling of mis-tracking on my right leg. I’ve tried every custom and over the shelf insole I can find. And, a somewhat messed up left shoulder after being hit by a car a few years ago.”

Let’s see if this Athlete’s use of the TYPE-R has helped to improve pedal stroke, but more importantly feel more comfortable pedaling once again.

Baseline:  June 24, 2017 DSS (Dead Spot Score) and PSI (Pedal Stroke Intelligence)




DSS (Dead Spot Score) is higher than typically seen for both Left and Right sides at 5.3 and 6.9 respectively.

Breakthrough:  August 27, 2017 DSS (Dead Spot Score) and PSI (Pedal Stroke Intelligence)





DSS (Dead Spot Score) has improved significantly with Left at 1.1 and Right at 3.0.  Notice also that the PSI (Pedal Stroke Intelligence) has improved significantly as well.
He later stated his right ankle was not over his right foot, but canted in.  He continues, “Seems my right arch just collapses and the ankle rolls in. I had been running the new, larger Sidi Shot shoes with the stock foodbeds the past few days, which did not feel that bad.

The surprise was the custom Solestar foot beds I had made for the Gaerne shoes never really seemed to work right, like my foot was twisting in the shoe trying to find a comfortable place and my right arch seemed to flex and unflex.

Put them in the Sidi Shot today – and a much better fit. The curve of the footbeds matches the Sidi shoes much better than the Gaerne. The Sidis have a fair amount of toe lift, the Gaerne nearly flat. All of a sudden, my ankle doesn’t rotate in and my right leg doesn’t feel like its about to fly off at any moment. My foot felt well supported and not like it was moving around trying to find a comfortable position.

While the footbeds were supposed to fit the Gaerne shoes, they really seem to fit the Sidi shoes much, much better.

I don’t want to think this fixes everything, but DSS was down and felt much more stable on the aero bars, more symmetrical and balanced.”

The results above were not achieved without thorough testing and the Athlete continues to test and perform prescribed drills.  Currently he recorded activity with the TYPE-R 68 times.

I think the quote below sums up this Athlete’s experiences with the TYPE-R.

“So, pretty cool that the Leomo can quantify what I’m feeling, and really helped track down a problem I’ve been having for a long time.”

As I stated in the intro, this is a journey towards improvement and for this Athlete, that journey may not have a final destination.




Peaks Coaching Group (PCG) began working with LEOMO in 2015 to assist in the development of the TYPE-R.  For more information on LEOMO, the TYPE-R, or Motion Analysis visit www.peakscoachinggroup.com/leomo and discover how you too can benefit from this research.