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Need cleat/pedal adjustment help ASAP!
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 2006-04-09 5:05 PM |
Elite  2706    Hurst, Texas |  Subject: Need cleat/pedal adjustment help ASAP!Today was supposed to be a 2 hour, 15 minute ride. At 13 minutes, my knee hurt so bad I couldn't go any further. For those who have not kept up with my logs, this has become a recurring problem lately with increased bike mileage. I keep getting pain on the outside of my right knee, causing me to cut workouts short. This has to be cleat/shoe/pedal related because it always occurs when riding, and only in one leg. I did my walk/run workout with absolutely no problems today, but the minute I got on the bike and started riding, it started hurting again. All of these knee problems started when we increased my cycling mileage a couple months ago...it just seems like it has to be the bike. I have done hours of research on the internet, and visited the folks at my LBS twice, and I am at a loss as to what the proper cleat adjustments would be. The LBS guys just look at me on the trainer and say "well, it looks ok." They really have no idea. My pain is always on the outside of the knee...sometimes just on the side of the patella, sometimes a little further down near the tib/fib. On one internet site I found, it said that to help with lateral knee pain you should move the cleats as close to the crank as possible, which in turn would move the foot as far away as possible. I tried this, with no luck. My LBS guys argued in front of me over whether it is better to "toe in" more, or "toe out" more. Thus, I tried both options (I think) to no avail. I have adjusted the cleats around so much, I don't even know where I started now. I've moved the seat around several times as well, but it seems to be adjusted pretty much where it should be based on several fit instructions on the web and specific guidelines sent to me by my coach. Plus, I am having zero problems with the left leg...only the right. Does anyone have any input on what I can do to fix this? Should I get a completely different cleat/pedal system? (I'm currently using SPD-SL). I'm getting really ticked off about this because it is consistenly causing pain, which has now increased to the point that it causes me to cut workouts short. With 11 weeks to IMCDA, I don't need this headache. Edited by OldAg92 2006-04-09 5:06 PM |
| 2006-04-09 5:10 PM in reply to: #391936 |
Master 2629 brummie land | Subject: RE: Need cleat/pedal adjustment help ASAP! i switched entirely from look to spds because of knee pain (and just general shoe issues) but not done a proper ride yet since. i'm hoping that will have helped. most lbs's are vague about helping you with cleat issues but they did lower my seat a fraction which will hopefully help. not sure if any of this has helped but good luck! |
| 2006-04-09 5:19 PM in reply to: #391936 |
Master 1670 Harvard, Illinois | Subject: RE: Need cleat/pedal adjustment help ASAP! Do you have any foot related issues? I had a podiatrist once tell me that people usually adjust their cleats when they have problems on the bike but they should look to their feet first. He told me that they make orthotics for bike shoes and they can relieve the majority of the problems people have on bikes. |
| 2006-04-09 6:24 PM in reply to: #391936 |
Veteran 262 Shelby Twp, MI | Subject: RE: Need cleat/pedal adjustment help ASAP! I have been using Speedplay zero's on my tri bike as they provide 15 degrees of float. Also a good solid platform that doesn't feel like it's about to come through the sole. By comparison the Shimano SPD's on my road bike have minimal float and seem restrictive by comparison. I plan to by a second pair of zero's later this year. I sometimes experience knee pain with the SPD's but never with the zero's. Could be coincidence, not at all scientific but it works for me. Maybe worth a try. |
| 2006-04-09 6:52 PM in reply to: #391936 |
Veteran 230 Phoenix, AZ | Subject: RE: Need cleat/pedal adjustment help ASAP! Have you checked the location of the ball of your foot? The ball and cleat should be in line. did you recently changed pedals or shoes? I bought new shoes and they changed the cleat placement at my LBS. I am fortunate to have a cycling coach, who said the placement was all wrong and he fixed it for me, because I was having knee pain, but on the inside of my knee. Good luck with fixing it. It can be so frustrating trying to get everything to line up right. Edited by Robin in AZ 2006-04-09 6:52 PM |
| 2006-04-10 5:39 AM in reply to: #391936 |
Champion 7036 Sarasota, FL | Subject: RE: Need cleat/pedal adjustment help ASAP! I had some knee problems due to a slight difference in the length of my legs. I got orthodic inserts for both my bike and running shoes and it seems to have solved the problem. Have you considered going to a different pedal style with more float? |
| 2006-04-10 6:53 AM in reply to: #391936 |
Master 2946 Centennial, CO | Subject: RE: Need cleat/pedal adjustment help ASAP! While I am not a big fan of paying a lot to be fitted on a bike, my lbs does do a cleat/pedal fitting. It is about 1/2 of the cost of a normal fitting. Pedal/cleats are something I don't usually do much with on my own because of the risk to my knees. I do sometimes do micro adjustments but usually leave the main fitting to the LBS. The spd-sl pedals give you the choice of two diferent cleats. 1 which is fixed and 1 with I believe 15 degrees of float (the yellow ones). 1. Check which cleats you have. 2. See if the lbs can do a pedal/cleat fitting. Sometimes you do need shims to level out the cleats appropritately. If done right it makes a huge diference. |
| 2006-04-10 7:59 AM in reply to: #392237 |
| Elite 3650 Laurium, MI | Subject: RE: Need cleat/pedal adjustment help ASAP! what velocomp said. First thing that comes to mind is float. Get a pedal with float in it and it will help a lot. Other thing is pedal shims. The pedals tend to hold your foot hlat against the pedal when your natural form wants the outside of your foot to be lower then the inside. Forcing your foot into this position basicly forces pronation and makes your leg assume a sort of concave shape. Puts a lot of stress on the knees. So I would try another shop and bring up the fact of knee pain and the possibility of cleat wedges and shims. You may even try and find a FIST certified shop |
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