Ankle fatigue

[KANGA]

Hey guys
I've been having issues with the muscles supporting my ankles fatiguing. Feels like they are on fire after 2-3 laps and I start to have issues down shifting (especially for the multiple shifts in to T2, using reverse shift pattern), repositioning for corners and even just pushing back in to the the tuck on the main straight. Pretty soon I'm making mistakes and come in early. Think the most I have managed to achieve is 4 laps and even that was an effort.
Just wondering if anyone has experienced the same sort of issues and any possible solutions.
Going to be interesting trying to race next year if I can't manage 5 laps :dizzy:

[chubb]

Go to the gym. Ride a push bike. Plenty of exercise I think. Just to build up some muscle and ride the bike more and more and soon your body will cope with it. That's my 2c anyways

[KANGA]

Yeah I'm ok in the exercise department, I'm not lacking muscle. Best way I can describe how it feels is ankle pump rather then fatigue actually.
I'm wondering if its a foot placement thing or rear set position that i might be able to change.

[Marshy]

I'd suggest definitely footpeg position making an impact, but it sounds mostly like technique. You're obviously loading them up too much (like when people grip the bars for dear life and wonder why they get hugely sore arms after a few laps). Have a think about what you're actually doing with your feet at different times on the track, and try to relax.

[KANGA]

Yeah i tend to keep on the balls of my feet with both feet and don't rotate them enough at a guess. At least I'm not aware of much foot movement. I think that is where I'm going wrong. If I'm trying to rotate my hip out my ankle would be twisting against where the knee is wanting to point.
Out of interest whats everyone's preferred method for foot positioning inside and out? I've heard techniques from rolling off the edge of the peg to foot flat against the heel guard.

[Marshy]

When cornering, the ball of my inside foot is on the end of the peg. Like, 90 degrees to the normal position. I move my feet a lot!

[KANGA]

So rolling off the edge of the peg? I've got a friend who does that to. How often are you replacing you toe sliders lol
Might give it a go. Just had a look at those peggies you sent me, whats the best way of getting the plastic end out?

[Carl-52]

I get the same sort of thing if i keep my toes and feet pulled up as far as i can for a while and i get a burning strained feel around my ankle... do you do any stretching? really stretch everything out when you get to the track and relax your feet.

[Negrogrande]

When cornering, the ball of my inside foot is on the end of the peg. Like, 90 degrees to the normal position. I move my feet a lot!

I'm with marshy, I need more adjustable rearsets though, my toe scrapes

[Nelso]

So rolling off the edge of the peg? I've got a friend who does that to. How often are you replacing you toe sliders lol
Might give it a go. Just had a look at those peggies you sent me, whats the best way of getting the plastic end out?

It sounds like your legs are too cramped and you need to adjust the foot position to fit you better. I need to roll my foot and sit it on top of the peg to keep my toes off the ground because I have to have my pegs so low because I have bad knees and they don't bend very well. Because they're so low, I've got to be careful not to wear my toe sliders off and wear through my boots. Most normal people get to put their foot on the end of the peg like Marshy though.
971

[Metal-Man]

get a "happy ending" massage ... that might help, lol.

[KANGA]

Yeah I've been stretching heaps Carl, if I don't I'm hobbling around my garage like a pensioner lol.
I've compared photos of my body positioning from a year a go to now and my body positioning nowadays is really bad in comparison. Think I'm going to have to take a bit of time and work on it and experiment with rear set positioning as well.
I think I sit to far up on the tank as well. I've seen some people put a bit of foam on the tank to help them sit back some. Anyone tried it?

[KANGA]

So I ended up raising my rearsets and bringing them all the way back to the furthest back position and it seems to have fixed the ankle problems. Even finished an entire session yesterday!

[Turbo]

So I ended up raising my rearsets and bringing them all the way back to the furthest back position and it seems to have fixed the ankle problems. Even finished an entire session yesterday!

Great to hear!! Moving the rearsets on my bike made a HUGE difference, totally transformed it.
I just couldn't get a proper lock-on before which meant over-loading the bars, translating to all kinds of issues.

[Turtle]

I used to get this when wearing my Gaerne GP1 boots. I could manage 3-4 laps before I could barely move my feet. I ended up switching boots and haven't had the issue as much now.

From what I could tell, my feet were starving for blood and oxygen. The boots were very constricting, being tight over my leathers, combined with a pretty extreme leg angle being 6'3" on a Gixxer 600 with high rearsets, and then the constant flexing your legs are doing. Best I could describe it like when you were in school and would grip your forearm really tight and pump your fist to make your veins bulge out, after a bit you can't even move your hand.

I'm using the Alpinestars S-MX Plus now and they've done me pretty well.


So I ended up raising my rearsets and bringing them all the way back to the furthest back position and it seems to have fixed the ankle problems. Even finished an entire session yesterday!

Ah awesome to hear man!

[Slow bro]

When cornering, the ball of my inside foot is on the end of the peg. Like, 90 degrees to the normal position. I move my feet a lot!

I do the same as Marshy, but go through a lot of toe sliders.

[Marty]

I do the same as Marshy, but go through a lot of toe sliders.

I used to do it but I started riding some other bikes without rearsets and this happened :(

http://instagram.com/p/ZAe0aXSlgt/

My toe was getting really really hot, looked down on the straight and could see my sock

I worked hard to train myself out of hanging my toe off after that.

Ps: on the original topic I've found the opposite problem I've had to lower my rearsets and am playing with raising the seat height. I've realized when I'm on the bike my legs are so bent that I got past the useful point of the muscle (don't know how to explain it) so when I go to shift around its really hard work and I reckon it's causing me to put too much weight on my ankles. I actually noticed I've snapped my oem metal heel guard

[KANGA]

I used to do it but I started riding some other bikes without rearsets and this happened :(

http://instagram.com/p/ZAe0aXSlgt/

My toe was getting really really hot, looked down on the straight and could see my sock

Haha need to give this a go Marty. http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/videos/motorcycle/the-seven-cent-solution-racing-boot-fix


I used to get this when wearing my Gaerne GP1 boots. I could manage 3-4 laps before I could barely move my feet. I ended up switching boots and haven't had the issue as much now.

Thats funny I actually changed from the Vortices to the GP1s. That was partly due to the vortices lacing system catching on things.

[CLIFFY]

Thats funny I actually changed from the Vortices to the GP1s. That was partly due to the vortices lacing system catching on things.

Really? Only thing that catches on the vortices for me is the enormous heels.

[KANGA]

Really? Only thing that catches on the vortices for me is the enormous heels.

Yeah only on the right. I took the heel guard off on the left side which fixed the issue but with the way the rear brake master cylinder mounts on the right I can't do it. Never had an issue with the heels except for walking down stairs which has almost killed me a few times lol.

[Marty]

[QUOTE=KANGA;15921]Haha need to give this a go Marty. http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/videos/motorcycle/the-seven-cent-solution-racing-boot-fix

ahaha! 10pts for effort but I don't think that'll pass scruito over here :( I put those magnesium sliders on my new boots but I just gotta keep an eye on them and change them before they go too far.

[CLIFFY]

Same shit. Grind the lip on the inside off the heel off and I reckon it'll fix your problem.
Don't remember if I showed you on the weekend or not, but my whole heel has been getting caught inside the exhaust hanger. Switching hangers sorted that shit out.

[Mr.Ed]

Yeah I had the same problem with the Vortices getting caught... which is not ideal on the Vortex rearsets seeing as you can't remove the heel guards. Then it somehow fixed itself.

Prob cause I stopped riding... lol

[Negrogrande]

Super tech R's will fix most issues best boots made

[CLIFFY]

I'd rather have the ankle protection of the Sidi.

[Marshy]

Even more ankle strength on the Gaerne. The Sidi bend inwards freely; the Gaerne have a carbon bar on both sides. They saved my foot when it went into the back wheel thru turn 1.

[CLIFFY]

Yeah, Gaerne was my 2nd choice.
The rest fold in half too easily for my liking.

[Turbo]

Yeah, Gaerne was my 2nd choice.
The rest fold in half too easily for my liking.

Yeah, I've got Supertech-R and I didn't realise how much lateral flex they had until I compared with the Gaerne.
Do the Sidi's have similar support?

[Mr.Ed]

If the Gaerne are less of a PITA to put on I'd say they're probably the pick... I love the Vortices but doing them up in a hurry is not advisable.

[CLIFFY]

Similar, but the rest really are weak in that area. My old pair were stiffer. Don't remember the name. The ones with the silver spar on the outside.
Maybe the first day of putting them on, after that it isn't the boots fault if you can't get ready 35 seconds earlier to compensate.

[Marshy]

The Gaernes are just a side zip and a velcro flap!! Sooooo much easier than the Sidis.

[Mr.Ed]

Similar, but the rest really are weak in that area. My old pair were stiffer. Don't remember the name. The ones with the silver spar on the outside.
Maybe the first day of putting them on, after that it isn't the boots fault if you can't get ready 35 seconds earlier to compensate.

What I struggle with more than the fiddly cords and etc is the stupid zipper thingy... I'm not sure how it happens but every now and then it ends up in a position where it digs into my calf and it's not till I sit on the bike that I REALLY notice it. Then I have to pretty much remove the boot to fix it.


The Gaernes are just a side zip and a velcro flap!! Sooooo much easier than the Sidis.

Will have to look into them when it's time to get new boots then... I have to say though, the Vortices have faaaaaaaaar outlasted my previous pair (Alpinestar SMX Plus). If I hand't bought the white ones, they'd probably look almost new despite the crashes. The SMX I sold after less than 10 track days on it and they were well below par by then... no crashes either!

[KANGA]

Yeh second reason was because of my new suit. My old one just had knee armour, the gimoto suit has knee+shin armour. Made it an absolute struggle to get the top calf tensioners inserted. Would have to squeeze the top of the boots with both hands and try use my thumbs to align and push in the clip.
I reckon the sidis are the way to go if your legs can fit in them (I have large calves) as with all the tensioners I felt they snugged up the best around my feet. The replaceable parts are a win to. I found when I crashed in mine that the exo skeleton acted as big sliders which stopped the leather of the boot getting damaged. Still got plenty to go but if you wanted to you can replace all the external parts including the sole piece if you have agro foot pegs.

[senator8]

I've got the Gaernes as well. Aside from taking a while to bed in, and a few problems with hooking up on rearset guard on the right (fixed with a bit of a bend) they have been sensational. Especially for the dollars. I'm not sure about which if any will give real lateral flex support. Most of the manufacturers make claims about doing so and I haven't found any road boots I've thought would really do the job if needed.
I'm going to grab a set of perforated Gaerne's next for the summer months, or may try the TCX RS2 EVO

Kanga, If the fatigue problem comes back, it may be worth trying a painpod in between sessions.