The current concept of bone remodelling is based on the belief that bone resorption and formation are coupled both in time and space;​ this implies that the surface extent of bone eroded in a bone remodelling unit would approximate to the surface extent of the osteoid seam formed subsequently. The greater total surface extent of osteoid as opposed to erosion is generally attributed to the longer life-span of bone formation, but no comparison of the length of eroded surface and osteoid seam within individual bone remodelling units has been reported. In this study we have compared the length of individual osteoid seams, resorption cavities and bone structural units in iliac crest trabecular bone obtained from normal subjects and from patients with renal osteodystrophy. Values for osteoid seam and bone packet length were significantly greater than resorption cavity length in both the normal and patient groups (P < 0.001), the ratio of osteoid seam and eroded length being similar in the two groups (1:​0.44 and 1:​0.40, respectively). These results indicate that the discrepancy between total osteoid and eroded surface extent cannot be wholly explained on the basis of a longer formation life-span. Possible additional explanations include underestimation of eroded surface by light microscopic techniques, initiation of bone formation within a cavity before the completion of resorption, the presence of arrested resorption cavities, non-random distribution of resorption cavities on the trabecular surface and bone formation on quiescent bone surfaces.