Newbie - foot and leg pain

nawty

Hello!

Thanks to an extremely generous Ride to Work scheme I've just bought my first proper road bike, a Cannondale CAAD 10 Ultegra (I know I don't need such a flash bike but I just loved the way it looked in black and liked the idea of NOT having a CF bike - don't mind being a little different!).

I fitted it with Look Keo Classic pedals and bought some Specialized BG Elite shoes which the store fitted the cleats to in a neutral position (Jon B from the Guildford Evans - very helpful). He did say that this would be pretty good for most people but if they're wrong I'd probably get pain on the outside of my knee.

Guess what, I've just been out for my first ride and to start with the outside of my feet hurt after about 10m miles and then towards the end of the 20 miles the tendons on the outside back of my knee started to feel it. I guess I felt like I'd have preferred my heels to be closer to the bike.

My normal fitness discipline of choice is running and whilst I would never claim to be good at it I've done more half marathons than I can remember and a few fulls too so with all the injuries that come with that I am pretty attuned to what my body is trying to tell me. Also, I do a spinning class once a week and have never felt anything like this (although I recognise that indoor fitness often bears no relation to the real thing).

So, my questions are: am I being over sensitive and is what I'm experiencing just because I'm doing something new and it will take a time to get used to OR are these classic symptoms and should I try and change the set up now and if so is bringing my heels in the right thing to do?

Many thanks

night_porter

The simple answer is to change it and see if it makes a difference. If it doesn't then change back and give it some time and see how you go.

To be honest 1 ride will not tell you a whole lot but if you would feel more comfortable with your heels in a bit then do it, there are no hard and fast rules and putting stuff back is easy to do.

nawty

I guess you're right I'm also going to put the seat forward an inch as I felt I was stretching just a little.

I think the thing that alarmed me most was the foot pain along the outside of the ball of my foot which was numb by the end (not just form the cold!). Is this a normal thing for newbies to cleats etc? (previously cycling in running shoes...).

teisetrotter

Sounds weird, but is probably your shoe position. My first year of cycling was punctuated (and still is) with weird sets of pains you would never dream of happening, like my left elbow joint causing all sorts of pain!

I played around with the angle of my cleats and I found, for me, with the angle set with my heal as close as I dare to the chain foot and knee pain disappeared. I am sure it is different for all of us. Similarly when I developed knee pains after long hill climbs I moved the cleats very marginally back and that reduced the pain hugely.

Next week I am getting a bike fit done to try and cure a couple of other whines. But in reality ..... to much abuse as a rugby player and as a village wannabe quick bowler.

night_porter

It is possible that you have tightened your shoes too much as this causes pain on the outside of your foot too. Try not being too zealous when doing up the straps and see if that makes a difference.

Choleric.mc

speedplay zero pedals give you 15° to move your feet. maybe your knees and feet will apprechiate it. or you just need some inlay for your shoes...

nawty

Thanks folks, some good food for thought there

wishitwasallflat

http://www.cptips.com/knee.htm

danlikesbikes

Make sure your Look pedals were fitted with the largest cleats which are Red, as often when purchased & probably fitted by the bike shop for you they tend to come with the grey ones. If not would suggest you change them over to give you more "float" basically twist movement left & right before the shoe releases from the pedal. As this will help you get used to a fixed pedal system.

Knee pain is quite common when first using this type of pedal system (same with most others too except perhaps speed play) but if you take it easy up your miles gradually you should be OK.

As others have said its worth trying to change the position of the cleats or possibly consider getting a bike fit done as this might also be adding to your issues.

Stick with it and enjoy your new ride though, its a good bike.

nawty

Thanks everyone, I've been out a few more times since the first post and I've noticed a couple of things.

Changing cleat position has helped the knee pain.

Loosening the shoes slightly helped too BUT I think technique is quite a factor too. If I spend all my time just pushing the pedals down I can feel the pressure in my feet much more than if I do the full round stroke (pulling up alleviates some of the pressure).

I guess, like with everything, the learning curve is much steeper than you might think at first and there's only one way to learn and that's to just do it!

chrisaonabike

I wonder if the problem is that your shoes are too small.

You'll notice from this thread that pulling up on the upgoing pedal is very much not the recommended method of pedalling in general.

However, pushing down all the time pushes your foot to the toe end of the shoe, and pulling up moves your foot back again - which gives your feet more space widthwise.

If loosening the shoe also helps, I'd say that is consistent with shoes that are simply too narrow.

Monty Dog

Any pain at the back of the knee could be symptomatic of hyper-extension i.e. saddle too high, or as suggested, you may be inadvertantly pulling on the upstroke. Shoes could be too tight too. Take your rides easy, don't stomp on the pedals and see if you can watch your foot-tracking as your riding along i.e is it trying to twist inwards or outwards as you pedal along. Likewise, do you run pigeon-toed or duck footed - although running and cycling are dissimilar biomechanically, your natural foot position may be toes-in or out and you might want to adjust your cleats accordingly.

nawty

Thanks again folks, lots to learn obviously - I'll be re-reading the entire pedaling thread

I'm not sure the shoes are too narrow - I have fairly narrow feet and from my running I am pretty sensitive to how shoes affect my feet although granted this is fairly new to me, I tried on several pairs and these just felt right. By the way, I run with my toes out only slightly as I do LOTS of various lunges to stop me splaying (which then causes me knee pain as a cross over in my stride) so I guess heels in is a natural feel to me.

I just wish this damn lurgy would sod off so I can get out on the bike, every time I think it's getting better I wake up and it's worse :evil: