Cleat position and knee pain

Adammd209

Hi everyone, I'm starting to get a bit of a pain in my left knee, upon inspection of my SPD cleats my left one seems to be very slightly out of position to my right one. Could this very slight difference cause pain to my knee? When I'm pedalling my left leg just feels odd like it's trying to twist. If it is the cleat would I be able to take it to my LBS (JE James) to get bit sorted? Cheers, adammd209

kevprimer

i have trouble with my right leg which is slightly longer as is my foot. my cleats are always slightly different. try moving them slightly and see how it feels. if your legs are different lengths try cleat shims. or it could be you need a sloped shim to go in your shoe to make your pedal stroke straighter stopping your knee twisting. specialized sell them. think they are called bg footbeds or something like that.

unixnerd

I could have written that first post myself! I think what's been causing mine is a slightly too high saddle combined with the fact I've been pushing things more lately. I dropped the saddle 5mm and it's a lot better. My left knee was getting too near to being locked out / straight and it was hurting below the front.

Your cleats allow a little side to side angular movement so a very small difference wouldn't matter much.

AllezGaz

I've been having similar problems so I've booked a professional Bike Fit 27th July. Hoping that will iron out any issues

Secteur

I had terrible ITB Syndrome on my right knee last year - went on for weeks and had physio - it was very, very painful & limiting. In the end, I just adjusted my cleat a few millimetres so that my toes angled out very slightly and the pain went overnight & never came back.

More recently, I had 10 weeks off the bike following a nasty broken wrist, and am now getting ITB Syndrome on my left knee, which was always fine before. No idea why, other than that I also have been pushing my training significantly lately.

I plan to fiddle with my cleat position first off, and take it from there.

Most lateral (outside) knee pain is, I think, cleat related .

jgsi

Secteur wrote:

I had terrible ITB Syndrome on my right knee last year - went on for weeks and had physio - it was very, very painful & limiting. In the end, I just adjusted my cleat a few millimetres so that my toes angled out very slightly and the pain went overnight & never came back.

More recently, I had 10 weeks off the bike following a nasty broken wrist, and am now getting ITB Syndrome on my left knee, which was always fine before. No idea why, other than that I also have been pushing my training significantly lately.

I plan to fiddle with my cleat position first off, and take it from there.

Most lateral (outside) knee pain is, I think, cleat related .

Thats why the 'dangle' test is a good 'un

Secteur

JGSI wrote:

Thats why the 'dangle' test is a good 'un

Agreed - when I had my initial knee pain last year, it wasnt until I dangled my feet that I realised my right foot naturally pointed out slightly, so I logically guessed it would make sense to also rotate the cleat slightly, and hey presto, the pain went!

alihisgreat

Adammd209 wrote:

Hi everyone, I'm starting to get a bit of a pain in my left knee, upon inspection of my SPD cleats my left one seems to be very slightly out of position to my right one. Could this very slight difference cause pain to my knee? When I'm pedalling my left leg just feels odd like it's trying to twist. If it is the cleat would I be able to take it to my LBS (JE James) to get bit sorted? Cheers, adammd209

If your leg feels like its going to twist then its in the wrong position.


Proper cleat position should feel completely natural -> I didn't think mine was too bad but the difference after my bike fit was incredible.

If you want to set it up yourself then get on a turbo trainer and find someone to help (getting off the bike to taking the shoe off the adjust the cleat is a pain... your helper can do it for you when you're on the bike)

First put your cleats in a neutral position as per this article: http://www.cyclingtips.com.au/2009/10/how-to-set-up-cleat-positioning/ -> basically this means relatively straight and central on the pedal.

Then hop on the turbo and you should be able to feel which direction your feet are pulling against the float.

Adjust the cleats accordingly so you can't feel your feet pulling either way. -> the ideal position will have your foot naturally in the middle of the float giving you a range of movement on both sides.

You'll also want to make sure your legs aren't angled unnaturally in or out as this also puts pressure on your knees.

and if you can't get it sorted yourself then go to a professional; its worth the money for a proper bike fit!