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sickbird
Jun 3, 2004, 10:28 PM
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I have a question for you bikers out there. I replaced my SPD pedals as well as shoes and cleats not too long ago and have recently been experiencing knee pain during and after rides. A friend told me that it may be because my cleats were mounted off kilter. Anyone else have this experience? Should the cleats be pointing absolutely straight forward? Any other ideas/suggestions?
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macherry
Jun 3, 2004, 10:34 PM
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go to your local bike store and have them fitted. I usually keep my cleats straightforward (personal preference). I believe it's more important the positioning of the cleat ie, how far forward or backward in the mounting area. If that makes sense. If you can't get to a store , just experiment a bit by sliding them forward or back. hope that helps
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sickbird
Jun 3, 2004, 10:39 PM
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Figured that the best thing to do would be to fiddle with them. Thanks for the advice.
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angry
Jun 3, 2004, 10:41 PM
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Your feet should be at their neutral position with equal float both in and out. This does not necesarily mean that they will be pointed perfectly forward but it will be close to that.
Other ideas, are you too far forward on the seat? Or too far back? How is the pedalling angle, you may need cycling orthotics or shims in your cleats.
Another thing, sometimes your knees just hurt, then they get better. You might have to just suck it up for a little while. Every year I have to suck it up for about one month in April, after that my knees don't bother me again.
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sickbird
Jun 3, 2004, 10:51 PM
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I am pretty comfortable with where I'm at in the saddle. But, I have noticed lately that on technical downhills I tend to have one leg or the other locked straight-doubt that is very good for the knees. I think I'll give it another month or so of hard riding before I adjust the cleats since it is just the beginning of riding season here.
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thrillseeker05
Jun 3, 2004, 10:51 PM
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Your cleat should face pretty much straight forward.. but this doesn’t mean this is your problem. Check your seat angle and height now that things have been changed. You may have to much extension in your peddle and need to lower the seat just a bit.
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padge
Jun 3, 2004, 11:47 PM
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I found that riding for a little while with the cleats a bit loose your legs tend to find their natural postion. Then have a friend mark the cleats location on the bottom of your shoe without getting off the bike. This works best with the old LOOK style road pedals. Usually I just mess with the position of the cleats untill they "feel" right.
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mike
Jun 4, 2004, 1:41 AM
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If the only change you've made is to replace spd's with spd's and got new shoes, you gotta figure it's the cleats unless you've been pushing too hard in excessively tall gears. Maybe things have changed but I don't think the spd's have actual float which allows movement independant of the springs, they have rotation which allows a small amount of movement against the spring without releasing. Toes pointed to far in can cause pain to the IT band on the outside of the knee, pointed too far out to the medial knee, don't forget fore and aft positioning, the ball of the foot over the pedal axle. I use crank bros. candy sl's these days, comfortable pedals.
edited because I had it bss ackwards.
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meataxe
Jun 4, 2004, 2:10 AM
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I always fiddle with the cleats so that they are more or less neutral. Just follow what your feet want to do naturally. If your heel wants to go out a bit more, adjust the cleat. Same thing if it wants to go in a bit. Your foot will float around a bit, so just aim for the middle ground.
I remember when the Look pedal came out--it was totally fixed with no freeplay... and a lot of people started getting knee injuries.
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