every time I get a little rougher on the muni cross or drops I hurt my ankles on the cranks and get my socks dirty with blood. it really sucks cause I hurt them almost every day. do you guys use protectors or you just get used to the cranks and dont hit them? I need a solution. I`m getting out of clean socks.
Which cranks you’re using?
Sounds like you have very little or no Q-factor on your cranks. You can also use the TSG shinguards with ankle-protection. I use those, and they’re quite comfortable and keep your ankles pretty safe. The hopping about on one foot, clutching your ankle and swearing still happens from time to time (Not happened in over a month though), but it’s certainly reduced it.
same with me francisco. I’m digging up my ankles.
i have the 04 KH crank set, there’s next to no q-factor on those. same with the black widow cranks on my muni. i wear the 661 dually shoes. they have a protective plastic cup around the ankle part of the hightop shoe. it’s pretty awesome. there’s also several ankle guards you could buy. but the shoes are awesome all around.
q-factor??
I`m using the CrMo cranks. the ones that came on my qu-ax
Do Koxx cranks really clip ankles?
Ouch!
That happens to me sometimes when I switch from my Qu-ax muni to Nimbus trials. I think it is most likely technique, try to avoid having your foot angled on the pedal or so close to the crank. I also wear some socks that cover that area so when it does happen it isn’t as bad.
nope, koxx are perfectly straight and NO nub AT all
Thank God!
What’s nub?
If there’s anybody here who has never chewed up their ankles on their unicycle’s cranks, I want to know about it. People who naturally walk with their toes angled outwards are more inclined to have this problem. Bill Jenack wrote about it in early USA Newsletters, and Jack Wiley covered it in his books.
Stuff to do:
- Wear high-tops, or shoes as described above with ankle protection
- Wear leg armor. It might protect that area(?)
- If your cranks have square edges, get rounder ones.
- Practice (your ankles will adapt or perish!)
Q-factor: In this case, whether or not the cranks angle outward from where they attach to the axle. For more info look it up.
Nub: I believe this refers to some splined cranks with no q-factor, which have an annoying part that sticks out at the axle and be worse on the ankles than a regular pair of cotterless cranks.
I wear lightweight hiking boots which have good grippy soles, and a very nice, padded ankle covering. If you also wear shin guards, like 661 4x4’s as I do, make sure your high tops are only high enough to cover your ankles, or the 661’s won’t go down far enough to fit roght.
my torker splined cranks have zero q-factor. and i dont hit my ankles at all. and there is a good quarter inch nub. im just used to it i guess.
heres a picture
i have only ever once hit my ankles on a 6stair side hop, i was riding a kh 20" 04 at the time 
i guess that would be me, my kh 05 is great no nub and i have never hit my ankle on the cranks at all !
I sympathize with you
Hi,
I have been riding a qu-ax trial for 8 months. I totally understand what you are talking about, as the first protection i ever needed on a unicycle (after wearing maintaining underwears…) are ankle protections.
The part of the hub that leaves out in the crank skinned my ankle so often that i had to stop riding. Now i have 2 and 3 rounded scares on my ankles.
I found a strange material that i cutted into a spunge shape to cover my ankles and sewed rubber bands so it doesn’t move. I put that under my socks. This way, i don’t suffer anymore. But i guess buying ankle protections would have had the same result.
Manuel
I have a walking pattern very similar to a duck. My toes point way to the side, and I noticed when getting serious about practicing rolling hops that my ankles turned into a big, broosen scab. I had to skip riding for several days as a mere touch to my ankle would send throbing pain through it.
I’ve kind of adjusted now, but I’m still not perfect. I’m cheap, so I didn’t buy any protection, and I’m too lazy, so I didn’t make any protection. Instead I’ve tried to fix my crooked feet by paying atention to how I put them on the pedal and even how I walk around. It’s helped quite a bit, but I still look funny when I walk.
I had huge problems riding an 03 KH24 (old skool big nubs), kept knocking and bleeding from just riding but then a week or so later I’d somehow adapted so that it didn’t happen anymore.
So my advice is if this is a new problem you should do a few more laundry runs of the bloody socks but if it’s been going for more than a couple months then buy ankle support or new cranks.
I had huge problems riding an 03 KH24 (old skool big nubs), kept knocking and bleeding from just riding but then a week or so later I’d somehow adapted so that it didn’t happen anymore.
So my advice is if this is a new problem you should do a few more laundry runs of the bloody socks but if it’s been going for more than a couple months then buy ankle support or new cranks.