Varus Cleat Wedges

Mountaindancer

Hi All
Because of the bad weather and washed out roads in the south west, I have been stuck on my Turbo trainer for months. It has certainly made me work on my pedalling technique. I have noticed however that whilst my right leg has a good up and down / rotational movement, my left knee points inward toward the top tube. If I force my left knee to where it should be, then my foot is slightly tilted sideways on the pedal.

Has anybody had experience of cleat wedges or correction shoe inserts?

I use Shimano road shoes 088 and Shimano Ultegra 6800 and R540 SPD-SL road pedals

Grill

Functional asymmetry is very common. If you aren't getting any sort pain then you shouldn't worry about it. Also, before you wedge or add shims you need to look at insoles first.

Iamnot Wiggins

I've got a wedge in my right shoe to correct my knee position following some pain that I experienced. Can't knock it in that respect as it did stop the pain for good. However, now that winter is here and I'm wearing thicker socks, I do feel that the shoe is a bit less spacious because of the wedge and I do get the occasional pins & needles.

In other words, I may try the cleat wedges.

mitchgixer6

If you have no pain or injury in the knee then I wouldn't bother. I self diagnosed a leg length discrepancy and used a cleat wedge. Caused no end of problems for me until I took it out.

jayesse

You have to be very very cautious with cleat setup, especially if you are fitting wedges by yourself.

Power, comfort and everything you do on the bike starts with your cleat setup as this will have knock on effects to the rest of your setup on the bike....so adjust with caution!

If you aren't experiencing pain then as mitchgixer says, then it shouldn't be too much of an issue. On the other hand if it is bothering you, then you may want to look at having a proper cleat setup from a reputable bike fitter as there is a lot more to it than just sticking a wedge in there.

As mitc

Mountaindancer

Thanks to those who answered my query. Just as an experiment I doubled up a piece of card until it was 1-2mm thick, made a hole in it and mounted it under the inside screw on my shoe. It certainly made my ankle feel more relaxed and made my knee track straighter. So I ordered a pair of "Look" shaped wedges from JE James at £3.99, which I thought was a relatively cheap experiment. They arrived today and both have been fitted to my left shoe, with the thick sides on the inside screw.
I have just done an hour on my Turbo (medium setting) at a measured 100 cadence, gearing 42 x 21, which is level one on my training cycle. It is probably the best value for money purchase I have made. I do not have an uncomfortable ankle and my knee feels relaxed.
They obviously work for some people. At £3.99 they are worth a try.

mitchgixer6

Glad it sounds like they've worked for you.

Just be careful though. Any usual muscle or tightness could lead to potential injury. I thought the spacer had worked for me at first, it took a good 2 months for things to start going wrong.

Mountaindancer

One month on. So far - so good!

fit2ride.cc

Just to echo what's already been mentioned, foot support - ie insoles, custom or otherwise - are a better first response for stability issues than wedges.
It may be you've got it right, or maybe not. But I'd get assessed rather than guessing, otherwise you could end up creating more problems than you solve.