foot plates - feet angles - heels and toes

[Byron Drachman]

This topic is of particular interest to me, because I badly broke an ankle in college and have limited flexibility in that ankle as a result.

Hi Will,

It might be a feasible project to install bicycle pedals in place of the foot-boards or else installed over the foot-boards with enough room for partial rotations of the pedals and use regular cleated cycling shoes so you could minimize the flexing of the ankles.

Byron

[johnlvs2run]

There's more discussion of using cycling spindles on this link. I'm interested in this too, the difficulty being attachment of the spindles to the erg, and the requirement of using tight cycling shoes.
http://www.c2forum.com/viewtopic.php?t= ... ng&start=0

The diagram below shows the relative foot vs lower leg angles while cycling. The angle at #2 relates to about a 32% foot plate vs lower leg angle on an unsloped erg, or about a 30% foot plate vs lower leg angle on a sloped one.



I'm planning to use a teeter totter (seesaw) design atop the foot plates, and am looking through various different designs. Home depot has some gate hinges that should work, though I'm tending towards using large bolts through angled 2x4 guides attached to the plates, as this would consist of scrap materials that I have.



It remains to see if the teeter totter design will be effective at all. If so, either of the hinge or bolt designs should suffice. Once a preliminary is constructed, then the fulcrum point and degree of angles can be tested and adjusted.

[David Hart]

[This thread has undergone a bit of a clean up. If we can keep the personal stuff out of it then I'm pretty sure we'll all be a lot happier and have lower blood pressure etc. Your scheduled footstretcher discussion now resumes]

[johnlvs2run]

Update posted below.

[schweinlew]

John Rupp et al.,

re: the foot board angle discussion:


I have always had trouble getting good; and in particular, even; compression at the catch because of a fairly unstable, inoperable, relatively inflexible ankle I broke in college. Interestingly, I, like John I gather, have always been more comfortable on Model Bs because of the lower footboard angle. And, the (even more) raised toepiece on the newer flex-foot footboard has been a real pain. I wind up rowing on my toes the entire time.

So, last week after rowing 10k SS most days and one 5x1500m row in the middle of the week, my bum ankle hurt -- a lot -- on my morning walk to the office. It hurt all weekend, and I have finally had enough.

I have taken a Sawzall to the toepieces and cut them off. I then put a piece of heavy-duty velcro in between the two heelpiece studs (the nubbins just above the former toe piece) and a strip of the other half of the velcro equation between the two rows of holes in the heel-flapper. I can adjust my foot height AND the torturous toepiece is gone.

I'll have my first row on the modified footplates this evening and post any information as it develops. I'll try to take some pictures if my wife will tell me where the digital camera is...

(Of course, I may get into trouble if I try this modification at an indoor regatta.)

Will

[johnlvs2run]

The model B foot plate angle was good, about 41 degrees.
I've lowered the angle to 34.5 but feel that 40 to 41 degrees is sufficient.
The angle on the model C is 51 degrees, way too sharp, mostly due to the drooping of the railing.

I cut off the toe pieces, and screwed on a strip of wood at the bottom to raise up the angle.
I used 1 1/2" which resulted in 34.5 degrees, so 1" should result in about 40 degrees.
On top of this I screwed down a 14x5" strip of 3/4" hardwood on each plate.
I drilled holes for the positions of the screws, and cutouts for the position of the straps.

These were attached to the base with the regular C2 screws, the flexfeet screwed in position on top,
so they were not able to bend, and 14x4x1/4" wood with a rubberized non slip surface screwed down on top of the flexfeet.
The screws were put in above where my toes would go, and below the flex feet on top of a spacer
(to match the height of the flexfoot) to give the wood more stability. This worked great.

I have since replaced the regular plates as I'm planning to do something else with the erg.

[schweinlew]

Thanks, John. I may add some wooden wedges and see how that feels. I am still thinking of making some flexible wood wedges for my shoes. I would make them from wood and fabric -- like a roll-top desk cover-- and such that they fit on the current toe plate to give me a ~41 deg. angle.

I'll let you know what I come up with. (It may not be until this summer. This semester is a bear.)

Will

[johnlvs2run]

Hi Will, you're welcome.

Wearing shoes with heel lifts, for example street shoes with hard soles, or bowling shoes,
and keeping your feet high like Stephansen, might be a workable alternative for race venues.