Shoes rubbing crank arms

[Velovelo]

Does anyone have their cycling shoes rubbing crank arms and solved the issue?

I have 3 cycling shoes (same size) with all the cleats set exactly the same, spot-on.
However, 2 of the shoes rub on both crank arms till the paints are rubbed off the cranks.

Visually I do notice that the 2 shoes that rub the cranks are built/made slightly wider.
These shoes are all direct from china shoes and not the expensive branded once. Is this why?
Does anyone have expensive branded shoes that rub too (maybe cheap shoes are not made to specs and hence rubs the cranks? )

Again the cleat fit is spot-on on all 3 shoes.

Thinking of getting pedal extenders and expensive branded shoes for trouble shooting the issue.

Thanks for any advice.

[carbonazza]

To remove the "cheap" out of the equation, it happens with my expensive DMT shoes on my even more expensive P2M-Campagnolo Crank.
Maybe we should look down from time to time when pedalling.
My guess is our feet are a bit inward or outward and touch the arm around the position 3h or 9h

[madmax]

@Velovelo

You may need to provide some more data here

1. What cranks are you using  (brand/group, length)

2. What kind of cleats do you have on your show & what pedals

eg. If you are using the Shimano SPD-L system & the cleat is under the ball of your foot & set correctly, you really shouldn't be hitting the crank

[zxcvbnmjm]

I also had the same problem with shoe rub when my crank is in the 3 oclock position because my feet naturally point slightly outward which causes my heel to touch the crank. I moved my cleat position slightly inward and with speedplay pedals i can adjust the inward float to a point where it stops me my shoes from reaching the point of rub

If your cleat fit is really spot on then i wouldnt suggest getting pedal extenders. Those are for people who need a wider stance width/q-factor. Extending this when you dont need to could cause bike fit problems. But if your cleat position might not be then you can give it a try. I wouldnt change it dramatically though if it already feels good the way you have it. Maybe just a few mm? Or you could just move the cleat inward. It will have the same effect

Another thing to think of could be the amount of float your cleats provide? If theyre too loose or too worn? you can get cleats with less float(depending on which pedal system you're using) but again, that could cause knee issues or something if you need more float

[FullCarbonAlchemist]

Are you using pedal axle washers? If not add some; it might be that ~2mm extra shoe clearance you need. If you are, maybe get pedals with longer axles?

I know Shimano has them as an option (+4mm on each side if I remember correctly), I have wide hips and shoulders so typical road bars and Q-factor always felt too narrow for me — plus I have a “duck footed” toes-out stance that tends to cause heel rub. I’ve been running the extended axle Ultegra pedals on my gravel bike for years to help with all that.

[FHS]

I just repositioned my cletes to stop my shoes from rubbing. I don't think Q factor is that big of a deal. If you decide to drop $700 on a set of Assioma pedals, they will change your Q factor.

[Velovelo]

Thanks for all the replies

I use the Shimano SPD-SL system and run regular Shimano 105 cranks and pedals on all my bikes.
My shoes are size EUR46.

I have tried to use washers and then 16mm extenders (tested for over 200km so far) and find it pretty nice and no issues for endurance ride but not for fast rides where I need to put down power (my body needs to get use to the wider stance).
The extenders did help with solving the issue where my thighs rubs frequently against the top tube and tip of the saddle when I ride (I have big thighs).

Anyways, turns out I have one new pair of shoes I haven't use (totally forgot about it) so I re-unboxed it and tried it and surprisingly it does not rub the cranks.

Shoes 1 (No rub) = "Tiebao" brand with 3 Velcro straps. This is already worn out / old.
Shoes 2 (little rub on cranks) = "Speed" brand, white color with 1 lock knob and 1 Velcro strap.
Shoes 3 (major rub on cranks) = "Speed" brand, white color with 2 lock knobs.
Shoes 4 (No rub) = "Speed" brand, gold color with 2 lock knobs.

One major note here is that no matter the position of the cleats (I tried several positions just to experiment), the shoes that rub the cranks would always rub the cranks.

In summary, I find that most shoes in same size may not have similar width hence may rub the cranks especially for big feet riders.

At the moment I've removed the extenders and just use shoes No.4.

Would be nice to know the shoe brand of anyone here that use size EUR46 or larger shoe size that does not rub their cranks?
Thanks!

[FullCarbonAlchemist]

I have wide 46-ish feet (probably a 45.5 Wide would be my true size) and a duck footed stance, so heel rub has definitely been an issue for me with certain bikes esp. Boost MTBs with beefy enduro chainstays.

On my gravel bike I have tons of heel clearance with basic Shimano road shoes, but again that’s helped a lot by running the +4mm axle Ultegra pedals. I’ve been thinking lately that I don’t need the longer axles and they’re probably making my pedal stroke less efficient.

Whenever I get around to doing my next gravel build, probably a Carbonda frame, my plan is to make regular length pedals work. I don’t ride drop bars enough right now to bother buying a new set of pedals for the current one but it’s definitely something I think about often.

[madmax]

After all the cleat positioning experiments are done & you are destroying your knees, then follow the attached pix to restore sanity

* I am guilty of doing the same thing & had chronic knee pain for months.

[Velovelo]

Very useful Pic indeed.

However, I've found out that my issue is with the differences in shoe width from similar brand and same shoe size. The experimenting with cleat positions was done to verify the shoe width differences at all positions. So no matter the position (even with reference to your attached pic), the shoes in question will always rub the cranks.

I'll be trying out the +4mm axle Ultegra pedals sometime in the future. If the +4mm is just enough then I won't need to worry about shoe width anymore.