Clipless pedals causing hamstring issues?

saunaboy

hi all,

I bought a road bike last year & put in a good few miles with no issues at all. Went clipless in Jan & on second big ride kicked off a tendon injury behind both knees (on inside side). Been receiving treatment for it for 8 weeks & was showing improvement until I went out this weekend. Same issue.

Got a trip to alps in sept & it'll be heartbreaking to miss that.

Could simply swapping to the clipless (keo classics) have caused the issue? The bike wad pro fitted & like I say caused no issue with first set of pedals that were MTB style. I put in a few 60+ mile rides in hilly areas & was great. Was on turbo over winter. I've read about people simply not being able to handle clipless, anyone got any experience with going back? I lost a load of weight on bike & it's starting to creep on again

teulk

If your bike fit was done with "flats" then you will need to get it done again with the "clipless" pedals as the cleats will need to be aligned correctly, if the cleats are not set up correctly then this could cause probles with your knees etc.

saunaboy

Bike fit was done with clipless pedals this year when I got them fitted.

sungod

i picked up a hamstring injury early last year

after a couple of frustrating months making no real progress it turned out i needed footbeds and shims to give extra arch support and to adjust foot angle, suddenly i could ride again, made a huge difference

might be worth getting this checked

saunaboy

I ride with specialized inserts as I've got flat feet. These were added during the fit.

Basic story of my last year is...

Rode a 20 year old MTB in sporting & other long rides with no bother at all

Got the bug, bought a bianchi road bike. Used flat pedals on it 6 months & over winter.

Went clipless & got a fit. Then got knackered!!

Very tempted once inflammation is down (hopefully soon!) to swap flats back on & have a go. Am I right in saying that clipless engage the hammies whereas flats don't?

Peddle Up!

I'm a flat footer too, but if your bike is set up correctly you shouldn't have a problem, unless there is an underlying weakness brought out by cycling.

sungod

saunaboy wrote:

I ride with specialized inserts as I've got flat feet. These were added during the fit.

Basic story of my last year is...

Rode a 20 year old MTB in sporting & other long rides with no bother at all

Got the bug, bought a bianchi road bike. Used flat pedals on it 6 months & over winter.

Went clipless & got a fit. Then got knackered!!

Very tempted once inflammation is down (hopefully soon!) to swap flats back on & have a go. Am I right in saying that clipless engage the hammies whereas flats don't?

i think my problem was that clipless allowed me to put a lot more power down, so much higher stress on the knee because of the bad foot position

when you pedal, are your heels rotating inwards? are your knees moving straight up/down or is there a waver in/out at part of the stroke? everyone is different so there's no fixed rule, but these were things my leg was doing before correcting the foot angle

tbh it sounds like the original bikefit may not have been right for you, given the situation i'd ask to go back for a re-assessment (imho should be free), if they won't do this bite the bullet and try someone else

christurbo

Start doing some SLDLs and Goodmornings!

jonny_trousers

How much float do the cleats have? Could it be the shoes? I really can't imagine how clippless pedals could give you a tendon issue at the knees. Bottom line though, got to enjoy your riding and if that means using flats then it's no biggy.

saunaboy

cleats are 3 degrees. Have to admit my hamstrings aren't as strong as I'd like, but I have had absolutely zero pain from the actual muscles themselves.

Over the winter I was working pretty hard on core strength & I'm gutted to be in such poor shape. It's odd, on the turbo I seem to be fine, it seems to be the less monotonous rigours of being out on the road that kicks things off. That's why I asked about the hamstrings as on the turbo I admit I do push primarily with the quads, cleated & out on the road I am more aware of using hams.

jgsi

Has anyone thought of sueing crap biker fitters on this forum?

lochindaal

by going clipless you are now using your hamstrings to pull up on the pedal stroke where as before they would not be used at all.

You either have a hamstring problem that needs sorted properly or more likely your fit is wrong.

Have you changed your pedal style since going clipless, even unintentionally?

emx

there is no reason why clipless should give you any issues that you didn't have before. the cause is most likely either your cleat position, or saddle height, or a combination of both.

saunaboy

one of main probs with this is healing time. Impossible to rest it completely. I have a desk based job but even getting around causes some pain & inflammation as you obviously use your hamstrings to walk! It had cleared up a bit with massage & a weekend of (clipless) light cycling has set it back to square one.

I think I may have had a hammy issue that went undetected until I went clipless & maybe the extra force of an untrained cyclist (i.e. potential poor pedalling action) has tipped it over the edge.

Might be best I guess to swap the crappy stock issue MTB style pedals back on & see if that way I can get out until I get the tendonitis sorted. Well, that & the private physio stuff I'm spending my new wheel money on...Gutted.

unixnerd

Have a read of this:
http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blo ... -position/

I had problems with my calf muscles until I adjusted my cleats as per these guidelines, fine now.

saunaboy

cheers for that, very interesting.

as part of fit, right leg (which has worst tendonitis) was measured 11 mm shorter than left, but fitter commented that because I had a very flexible back he couldn't see any issue with that & pedalling was smooth. I got inserts for the flat feet but no shims.

To be honest I feel more or less fine on the bike & a mate has commented how smooth my action looks, but it's just killing the tendons at back of the knee for some reason.

3 sessions with physio & felt some improvement, no pain in normal activity. Got on turbo, no pain. Went out at weekend for 4-6 miles & I'm knackered again. I used to be able to put in 60+ miles before this kicked off. Had small twinge when out on a small hill but getting out of the saddle stopped pain immediately which I thought was odd & is why I'm looking at getting rid of the cleats. When out of the saddle I don't pull up at all.

Pain now isn't along the whole back of both knees as in first place but is localized to where tendons meet inside of shin. Still painful but I'm hoping it represents some sort of progress...

saunaboy

cheers to everyone for replies to this. Thought I'd update since there's been some resolution.

Turns out it was Sartorius muscle tendonitis. It's used in pulling the legs upwards & the symptoms have gone completely by swapping out the cleats & using normal pedals for a while. Bike fit was fine, but my existing muscle balance was out & the different pedalling action clipped in set off a reaction. Basically I had well developed quads & I thought this meant I was well equipped for cleated pedalling. My right side is dominant & that's why that side kicked off first, without even doing daft miles.

This was initially diagnosed as a simple knee injury (the sartorius inserts on the medial shin bone just below the knee) then as a hammy issue, so heads-up to anyone suffering similar pain to I described. Worth bearing in mind. Without a good physio I'd probably have really knackered myself or at very least struggled for longer.

After some painful therapy (think elbows) & a huge exercise program I'll be sticking the cleats on again next year. Til then I'm back on the baby pedals, otherwise the tendonitis will return. Not a biggie if I can get out & enjoy the summer.