Leg Length Discrepancy - How To Know?

A cyclist can only achieve optimum efficiency if their bicycle is perfectly adapted to their build.

Competition pushes one to their athletic limits. Perhaps the most important area of concern is the hip, as that angle allows you to use the largest muscles in the leg and body. Racing requires paying attention to the smallest details, more than the norm, this is not leisure riding! The hip only has to move a little to change the order of your muscles for a powerful stroke.

If most of your riding is non-competition, we can still set the bike up according to your needs and our suggestions. A very common area of concern is leg length discrepancy.


Leg Length Discrepancy is very common.

The femur is perhaps the cyclist's essential lever. In most cases, one should take the average of both femur's for our "blue-print" of the motor. If one has over 8mm of discrepancy, you should contact us for what we have found is perhaps the best approach.

Just remember, the measurements you take will affect the outcome of the "blue-print". Finding the correct angle allows you to get it right! Very much like riding a horse! By the way, people pay big money to learn how to ride a horse! You are not born w/ the skills and the same is ture for cycling. It does seem that people who ride horses are willing to learn, and spend the time to get better? Cyclist on the other hand will just jump on the bike and ride? After all, they have been doing it since they got rid of the training wheels?



Upper leg length discrepancy can be measured in a number of ways. With the leg symmetrical, measurement in the anterior superior iliac spine to the medial malleolus gives an accurate reflection of true discrepancy. A rapid visual assessment can be made by holding the heels together, flexing both knees and comparing the height of the tibia and the femur at the knee. This will also allow distinction between femoral and tibial shortening. A number of tests are available for assessing which part of the femur is shortened in femoral shortening, but these have largely been superseded by radiographic measures.

A dynamic assessment is afforded by the use of blocks, which are used underneath the short leg in order to restore a horizontal pelvis. Leg length radiographs and CT scanograms give more precise measurements.