Will clipless help knee pain on a MTB?

Clipless in general, are a good thing, just from an energy transfer standpoint. They will help on your biking no matter what. Though get ready for the Clipless traning period (im sure everyone who has tried them, has there stories).

While the use of tennis shoes on your MTB might not be the only cause, it may be adding to the problem

clipless story:

i have a pretty uber form on the cranks and my legs/knees/feet don't naturally drift much from side to side while on the bike. i've been cycling for years and a running coach (he trained with michael johnson in college, missed the olympics by 3 one-hundredths of a second) told me i have one the best natural forms he had ever seen.

anywho the point is that i just don't NEED for my pedals to hold me in. even when slamming down on them in a nutty climb i NEVER slip out or come loose. as such i keep my pedals really really, just horribly loose. like it takes 2 newtons of force to unclip. everyone that gets on my bike freaks out because they slip right out almost immediately.

well i never put two and two together and one day a friend swapped bikes with me for a short 12 mi ride. we slow down to a stop to help another cyclist with mechanical problems and low and behold i apply this super light pressure to the peds and *gasp* my feet stay bolted in like robocop stuck to an MRI magnet.

so picture this: a very very slow roll with turqy looking over his shoulder backwards to view the other biker's problem and this just sort of slow motion surprised look on my face that everyone behind me can see as i just gently fall over and smash the concrete. while still clipped in. i mean i looked like i was just gonna ride sideways as if nothing was out of the ordinary. hands still on the drops, feet pointed forward in standard riding position, and the whole damn bike suspended in the air by my shoulder and knee on the ground, save for the bottom of the tires touching concrete.

it was a laugh out loud experience to say the least and i've yet to live that one down.

well regardless every time i hop on another's bike i test those damn pedals b/c i've yet to find any as loose as mine.