#Injinji Toe Socks & Freak Toes

Toe Socks Take Some Coaxing With Freak Toes

“Get the camera.  Quick!”  Close to tears, my wife and I were laughing like kids who secretly stuck a price tag on mom’s butt at the grocery store.  I was putting Injinji Lightweight Mini Crew toe socks on my crooked toe feet for the first time.  Lesson #1: as you can see in the picture, toe socks take a little work, more if genetics prevented your toes from growing perfectly parallel to your feet.  Putting on toe socks is not as American fast food quick as slipping on regular socks.  It’s more like putting on a dozen pair of socks, one on each foot, one on each toe.  While they slowed down my time getting out the door, they refreshingly kept my piggies from fighting each other in my Pearl Izumi Peak II running shoes.

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Scott at the PR firm that handles Injinji Performance Toe Socks had his reservations.  He intrigued me by writing, “We also just started working with Injinji socks.  While toe socks might not be top of mind for cycling, they may have some crossover benefits for cyclocross.”  I looked down at my freaky feet and raised an eyebrow.  This guy has no idea how weird my feet are.  But I thought, if toe socks keep ‘em separated, they could be perfect for cyclists with less than perfect piggies that rub and bite each other.  I can’t think of another sport that requires wearing the same shoes for 4, 5, 6 hours at a time.  So rather than risk the perils of new footwear on a century ride, I decided to test them with running shoes first, a 4-miler through the hills out Cincinnati’s Mt. Lookout neighborhood.  My Offspring hypothesis that “you gotta keep ‘em separated” was correct.

If you look at my feet, (go ahead, swallow back that puke and take a quick peek), my little toe and ring toe, the Cashews, like to hide behind their neighbors.  My index toe is ghastly skinny and hammer cocked to the outside like Amy Winehouse before rehab.  My big toe was obviously transplanted from Fred Flintstone’s foot.  While I thankfully inherited my mother’s drive for exercise and health, the trade off was my father’s bent toes.  So, when I looked at the toe sock, with its perfect little symmetrical toes, I shook my head thinking this is going to be as comical as trying to fit in my wife’s sweatshirt.  It took a minute or two, but I managed to work every toe into his little sock.    

My Freak Toes Almost Look Normal in Toe Socks

Sure wearing gloves on your feet feels weird at first, but after a block or two in the shoes I felt myself saying, “These feel pretty good.”  2 ½ miles in, I had forgotten I was wearing toe socks.  I realized my toes weren’t sweat sticking to their neighbors.  The nail of one toe couldn’t bite his brother.  Whether perceived or actual, my feet felt noticeably cooler, maybe akin to gloves being less warm than mittens.  The toe box of my shoes felt noticeably more soft and smooth as if there was less rubbing between the shoe and toes.  I’ll reserve cycling judgment for another time, but given my first experiment, I’ll likely choose the toe socks next time I go out for a summer run, hike or walk.

Cyclocross Carbon Fork Brake Shudder: I’m No Engineer But I Think I Have This Figured Out

I inadvertently performed a bike experiment last night after work. I took my cyclocross bike, an Indy Fab Planet X with an Easton EC90x carbon fork for a spin at a nearby park. Since the glue job on the Zipp 404 CX tubulars was fairly new, over the past week I kept the air pressure high to make sure the glue cured and stuck to riding the roads and bike path while I dialed in the fit. Yesterday was my first cyclocross style ride with the tires at cross pressures. Instead of driving the mile to the park, I decided I’d just let some air out of the tires in the parking lot at work and ride over to the park. I guessed at it and let air out until I could squish the Vittoria file tread really good with my thumb. The ride in the park for the most part was fine, although the pressure was probably a tish too low on the hard ground. The bike felt like it was pushing to the outside in corners (as if the tire was sort of rolling under the rim.) Since my pump was a mile away, I just dialed back the cornering speed and went on with my ride. Coming down the steep road back to my car at work, I hit the brakes, and I felt the familiar tug-tug-tug of brake shudder. I could see the ends of the fork blade move. Son of a!

I had been riding this bike for at least a week and a half with the tires over 60 psi with no brake shudder. Now the tires were at the extreme opposite (guessing around 28-30-remember I let air out without a guage), probably a few PSI too low for hardpack causing a little shudder when slowing at the bottom of a paved hill. I knew about the possibility of brake shudder with carbon cyclocross forks and consequently hung on to my trusty steel fork in case this was to happen. However, I hardly think it’s time to ditch the carbon fork. You have to admit, it’s pretty rare to have a paved descent in a CX race. I didn't feel a single bit of shudder or snap while riding in the park and I even bombed a few grassy downhills where I had to brake into a corner.

It was a long hill; long enough to hit the brakes and watch what was happening. The brakes were slowing the wheel, but the tire was spinning just a bit faster. When I hit the brakes, the tires traveled a little further than the rim, causing the sidewall of the tire to give a bit and in reaction, causing the fork to flex under the bike with the grabby pressure. Ah ha!

Of course, putting the steel fork back on would reduce the shudder. But, I don’t think the problem is severe enough to add a pound back to the bike. I also think brake shudder isn’t the correct description. It’s more like fork snap. I think Carbon forks are stiffer and snappier. We all know steel has a very soft and easy flex to it. I think the steel fork flexed too, but it never snapped back to shape as quickly as the carbon. It’s like the difference between bamboo and pine. Both forks will flex under braking pressure. It’s just that the carbon fork will snap back into shape while the steel fork will flex, stay in the flexed position longer and go back to it’s original shape more slowly and less noticeably when the pressure if relieved. In addition the IF steel fork has a greater degree of rake, (48mm compared to the carbon’s 45mm). From the beginning the steel fork puts the contact area of the tire more forward than that of the Easton EC90x.

You can do a few things to minimize the “snap.” The usual fix is to try toeing in the brakes which will put less initial brake pad in contact with the rim surface, which I assume reduces initial braking power, makes braking more linear or gradual, and consequently reduce the fork flex at the other end. However, I think that’s only half, or more likely a quarter of the solution. I think tire construction, the grippiness of brake pads, tire pressure, fork rake and even the hardness of the ground play an equal role. I would go even as far to assume a tubular with a soft cotton sidewall and latex inner tube (like a Challenge or Dugast), would cause more carbon fork snap than say a Tufo or Vittoria with a thicker sidewall and standard rubber inner tube. The ground was hard yesterday, I really only needed to run low enough pressure for comfort and keep the tires from rolling in the corners. I think a few more PSI would’ve made all the difference. The other thing to note is that I didn’t feel any fork snap during the CX practice. It didn’t snap until bombing down a long paved hill.

I think the trick is to keep enough air in the tires so that they hold their shape in the given conditions. This optimal pressure will change with the course and conditions. If the tires hold their shape, that’ll give the contact patch of the tire less opportunity to get under the fork and pull it backwards. The fork snap should be reduced. Air is the least expensive of the possible combination of solutions.

Ahh. Fhew. Time to put on my smoking jacket and ease into my high-backed leather chair with a snifter of brandy.