SPD incompatible knees? help!

Eyon

Hi,

Been riding clipped in for a few just under 100 miles now, and love it! IMO i feel a lot more in tune with my bike, and once i got past the confidence bit, there was no going back for me.

However, 2 rides ago, i was starting to get a bit of knee pain, didn't think much of it, i thought maybe the length of the ride had more to do with it than anything, it was fine the next day so forgot about it all together.

Roll on the next weekend (last weekend) which was the next chance i had to ride, and within a 5-6 miles i was getting a twinge in my right knee. Fast forward to 12 miles and it was agonising! I could barely keep 5-6mph speed, which meant my body temperature dropped and i eventually called to get picked up in the car. This time, two days of not being able to walk too well, and even now, 5 days later, its not quite right.

My old man is a vet (and although im not a dog, most animals share similar muscles) and has told me its damage to my lateral collateral ligament in my knee, and reading up on t'internet it seems logical thats the answer, and its all down to twist in my knee.

As i decided to try spd on a whim when i was at a local trail centre, i didnt bother setting my cleats up correctly, just bolted 'em in and off i went, which i now assume was a totally stupid idiotic thing to do. So, I've spent some time making sure the clip is now on the ball of my foot, not just behind my toes and have twisted the cleats around as far as they go to ease the pressure on my knee.

I'm pretty duck footed when walking/standing, so my real worry is that, is there any solution to be able to keep riding clipped in and being able to possible try a totally different setup with my cleats/pedals? I'm using Shimano 540's with multi release cleats. Do perhaps Crank Bro's have more float to give me knees a bit less strain?

Or, dare i say it, is it selling off the pedals and shoes and get some flats? This is a real last solution, so if anyone has advice or has been in a similar situation and fixed the problem, id really like to hear!

Thanks
Ian

sniper68

I believe Time pedals have the most float and are kinder to knees.I'm switching to them but for different reasons.

davewalsh

+1 for Time pedals, I have dodgy knees and have them on both bikes and don't have any problems. Supposed to have more float than shimano, however I've never tried them so can't comment. Bearings last ages as well

mercurykev

+2 for Time Atac pedals. I didn't get on with SPDs for similar knee based reason and the Time Atacs have been fine.

nicklouse

there is a page some where out there on the internet that lists the float of many systems.
Sorry dont know where it is now.

but not all Shimano MTB pedals have float.

nicklouse

found it.

http://speedplay.com/index.cfm?fuseacti ... mtbcompare

muchbetterTom

Another vote for Time pedals! have been using them for 8 years with great success...

Northwind

Not everyone can use SPDs but usually it's because of actual damage- I can't use SPDs any more (or skis) because of an old knee injury (hey kids- if you're thinking of dropping a motorbike on your leg I'm hear to tell you JUST SAY NO to dropping a motorbike on your leg) but I reckon more often than not it's setup and position that causes people discomfort. A lot of people with bad knees find SPDs better as they bind them into a correct position funnily enough.

MountainMonster

Northwind wrote:

Not everyone can use SPDs but usually it's because of actual damage- I can't use SPDs any more (or skis) because of an old knee injury (hey kids- if you're thinking of dropping a motorbike on your leg I'm hear to tell you JUST SAY NO to dropping a motorbike on your leg) but I reckon more often than not it's setup and position that causes people discomfort. A lot of people with bad knees find SPDs better as they bind them into a correct position funnily enough.

That's exactly why I prefer them over flats, I find I get alot of pain if I ride anything technical with flats then when on SPDS I don't have any problems at all.

Its all about set up.

meesterbond

I switched to Crank Bros from Shimano for the same reason - just couldn't get on with SPDs as they killed my knees... set the cleats up for maximum (15 degrees I think) float and they've been great.

EnglishChris

Another vote for Time Atac - I have the light expensive ones on the Meta and a cheaper heavier version on the commuter. I got them for the same reason - slightly dodgy knee and was told they have more float than others. They're the only brand I've used though so I've no experience of any others. Only just had to replace the cleats after using them for a couple of years (more this year since I've started commuting by bike.

Eyon

looks like i should best grab myself some time pedals, but my god they are expensive for a set of "mid range" ones.

Spent some time last night lining my cleats up, got to go to the centre of london tomorrow so I'll have 7 miles to ride, with no off-road shocks, hopefully it will be easy on my knees and see if setting them up improves the experience.

I hope!

Anyone know what the crank bros. stuff is like for float?


thanks for all the advice

llamafarmer

Time aren't cheap, but I definitely think they're worth the money - the build quality is excellent, which is something Crank Bros pedals have a bad rep for. I had problems with my knees when I first switched to SPD, but I had a professional bike fitting and switched to Time and haven't looked back.

Bike fit is important too, you need to get cleat position and angle correct, as well as saddle height and fore/aft position.

I've got a spare pair of Z Controls sitting in the garage that belong to a friend, so she might be willing to sell if you're interested?

matty_boy76

I'd echo what people have said about properly setting up the SPDs, I had the same problem with my Shimano ones until I set them up properly.

Then xmas came along and I got some eggbeaters instead, the float range is up to around 15 degrees IIRC and I have never had a repeat of the problems (exactly like what you are describing) with them.

I started off with the basic ~£40 pair and after a year had bashed in some of the arms on rocks, I was about to send them back under warranty when the whole bike was stolen.

I replaced them with the ~£100 ones and have had no problems in the last 2 years, so I do recommend them

Eyon

llamafarmer please let me know about the pedals. Certainly interested if the price is right!

llamafarmer

Eyon wrote:

llamafarmer please let me know about the pedals. Certainly interested if the price is right!

Will let you know mate, I doubt my friend will want much for them, but they'd be unboxed and you'd need to get a set of cleats from somewhere like Chain Reaction - they're not expensive though.

Eyon

Well, a bit of a revelation today. I had to drop into Holborn today, so me and my mate did a short trip on our bikes from Leytonstone. Only 18 miles or so round trip with a few detours, got to about mile 12 before my knee started to play up, so it looks like the cleat setup helped a fair bit. However, it did not fix it. One thing I noticed is i ride quite "knee out", and by tucking my knees closer to the TT the pressure was greatly relieved.

I think maybe the issue is that with such little support below my feet the outsides of my feet are dropping and putting pressure on my knees, certainly seems logical.

So, I think the next step to try is some large platform clipless pedals, maybe that will solve it entirely! I'm on to a winner here!