Ankle problems after starting clipless
alexul
Posts: 69
Hi all,
Long story short I started using clipless like 6-7 weeks ago. Recently, as I started to ride longer and more often I have strange sensations in my ankles especially the left one. From light discomfort to running pain and burning. The sensations are in front of the ankle, starting from where the tibia ends and going down on the upper side of the foot(where you typically have the laces), sometimes even going to the outside towards the 4th and 5th toes. I can flex the ankle in any direction freely, I have the sensations when walking and in bed. Although it does seem to be triggered and worsen by hard pedaling like when off the saddle. My knees and leg muscles are fine. The area is not inflamatted nor does it hurt more when pressed. It does respond well at anti-inflammatory creams. The only thing I could find about this kind of symptoms is called ankle impingement and is common in running, soccer. But it takes year to develop and the recommendation is to do cycling! All pain searches related to cycling talk about knee and lower back issues.
Now for the longer version. I went to a bike fitter like 2 month ago and he put the cleats all the way forward. After several short rides to get used to the clipless sytem I went for longer rides and had atrocious pains in my calves, especially the left one. They went away after 2-3 days of rest. Tried to ride again, same result and started to look on the net. Seems that a good solution is to move the cleats backwards. Done that and rode for a few weeks pain free. Then at the end of a much longer ride, I noticed the left ankle to feel very tired and almost the same sensations I have now but at a smaller intensity. I was using some cheap road bike shoes with flexible sole and laces and I assumed they are the cause for this. So I ordered some new shoes Shimano MT065 and also Speedplay Frogs. I didn't have any problems with the knees yet but I know they are very sensitive and everybody praises Speedplay for their free float. I said they are a good upgrade from the cheap touring pedals I had.
So last week I had received them both. Very happy when I saw the huge range of cleat positions on the shoes. I put the cleats directly as back as they could, maybe like 2 cm behind the ball of the foot. Lots of people on the forums going even to the arch of the foot saying how good it is for their lower legs. To me it felt like crap. 15 minutes into the ride and it was feeling as if I was about to strain my ankle. I was trying to rotate it using the huge float of the pedals but then the knees were complaining. Started reading again on forums when I noticed I missed something, people also lowered the seat when moving the cleats back. Good, lowered the seat, started riding, too much stress on the front of my knees. Can’t say I noticed any improvements on my ankle. Indeed the calves were not working at all, the upper leg doing all the work and overall feeling inefficient. Because I was more worried about the knees I raised the seat back. Then I read Steve Hogg’s article about cleat position and for size 41, he suggested 8-10mm back from the ball of the foot. This meant I moved the cleat forward almost 1 cm. Rode like this and felt great. My ankles at least had a degree of freedom. I know this may be considered ankling and everybody is against it. I don’t know if I’m ankling. I am opening and closing the ankle a bit but it feels natural to do so. When you walk you don’t do it with the sole parallel to the ground. Like I would do if I moved the cleats all the way back. So after the ride I said “I can ride. It’s a miracle.” Well, it didn’t last too long. 2 days later all the sensations came back.
I do have some ideas about possible causes. I don’t know which one is more plausible than the other.
The ride after which all felt good was the only one done in a calm weather. The rest, in the last 2 weeks, were with strong headwind and bursts up to 80 km/h. I found myself pedaling at the right cadence when a front wind burst almost stopped me and had to put huge pressure on the pedals to get going. Overall I was going on a slower cadence than usual.
I have flat feet, the fitter noticed that just like all the rest of the doctors who saw me. My ankle drops to the inside of the leg but he didn’t propose anything to correct it. I never had problems with this even when I was climbing across the mountains for days in a row, all day long. Or when I was riding flat pedals.
I have loose joints, doctors said, so not too much running for me and definitely no heavy weights. I once almost sprained my right wrist just by braking too hard, too often when going downhill on a MTB with old cantilever brakes.
The shoes. Sometimes it feels as if I have hotspots. With the first shoes I thought it’s because I have the laces getting too tight around the foot. Now I have Velcro straps.
And finally riding style. Maybe I don’t know how to pull. I’ve been thinking about it and being used with the flat pedals I just raise my foot. So I put pressure on the upper side and ankle. From the videos I watched it seems I have to pull with the heel, not with my whole foot.
So I’m at the point where I’m about to give up this clipless riding. I’ve put a lot of money in bike fitting, pedals and shoes. I’m going in vacation for a week and rest all these days. Hopefully someone on this forum will give me some hints and I’ll try them when I come back. If I still can’t make it work, I’ll just buy some nice looking flat pedals and just enjoy the ride.
Cheers,
Long story short I started using clipless like 6-7 weeks ago. Recently, as I started to ride longer and more often I have strange sensations in my ankles especially the left one. From light discomfort to running pain and burning. The sensations are in front of the ankle, starting from where the tibia ends and going down on the upper side of the foot(where you typically have the laces), sometimes even going to the outside towards the 4th and 5th toes. I can flex the ankle in any direction freely, I have the sensations when walking and in bed. Although it does seem to be triggered and worsen by hard pedaling like when off the saddle. My knees and leg muscles are fine. The area is not inflamatted nor does it hurt more when pressed. It does respond well at anti-inflammatory creams. The only thing I could find about this kind of symptoms is called ankle impingement and is common in running, soccer. But it takes year to develop and the recommendation is to do cycling! All pain searches related to cycling talk about knee and lower back issues.
Now for the longer version. I went to a bike fitter like 2 month ago and he put the cleats all the way forward. After several short rides to get used to the clipless sytem I went for longer rides and had atrocious pains in my calves, especially the left one. They went away after 2-3 days of rest. Tried to ride again, same result and started to look on the net. Seems that a good solution is to move the cleats backwards. Done that and rode for a few weeks pain free. Then at the end of a much longer ride, I noticed the left ankle to feel very tired and almost the same sensations I have now but at a smaller intensity. I was using some cheap road bike shoes with flexible sole and laces and I assumed they are the cause for this. So I ordered some new shoes Shimano MT065 and also Speedplay Frogs. I didn't have any problems with the knees yet but I know they are very sensitive and everybody praises Speedplay for their free float. I said they are a good upgrade from the cheap touring pedals I had.
So last week I had received them both. Very happy when I saw the huge range of cleat positions on the shoes. I put the cleats directly as back as they could, maybe like 2 cm behind the ball of the foot. Lots of people on the forums going even to the arch of the foot saying how good it is for their lower legs. To me it felt like crap. 15 minutes into the ride and it was feeling as if I was about to strain my ankle. I was trying to rotate it using the huge float of the pedals but then the knees were complaining. Started reading again on forums when I noticed I missed something, people also lowered the seat when moving the cleats back. Good, lowered the seat, started riding, too much stress on the front of my knees. Can’t say I noticed any improvements on my ankle. Indeed the calves were not working at all, the upper leg doing all the work and overall feeling inefficient. Because I was more worried about the knees I raised the seat back. Then I read Steve Hogg’s article about cleat position and for size 41, he suggested 8-10mm back from the ball of the foot. This meant I moved the cleat forward almost 1 cm. Rode like this and felt great. My ankles at least had a degree of freedom. I know this may be considered ankling and everybody is against it. I don’t know if I’m ankling. I am opening and closing the ankle a bit but it feels natural to do so. When you walk you don’t do it with the sole parallel to the ground. Like I would do if I moved the cleats all the way back. So after the ride I said “I can ride. It’s a miracle.” Well, it didn’t last too long. 2 days later all the sensations came back.
I do have some ideas about possible causes. I don’t know which one is more plausible than the other.
The ride after which all felt good was the only one done in a calm weather. The rest, in the last 2 weeks, were with strong headwind and bursts up to 80 km/h. I found myself pedaling at the right cadence when a front wind burst almost stopped me and had to put huge pressure on the pedals to get going. Overall I was going on a slower cadence than usual.
I have flat feet, the fitter noticed that just like all the rest of the doctors who saw me. My ankle drops to the inside of the leg but he didn’t propose anything to correct it. I never had problems with this even when I was climbing across the mountains for days in a row, all day long. Or when I was riding flat pedals.
I have loose joints, doctors said, so not too much running for me and definitely no heavy weights. I once almost sprained my right wrist just by braking too hard, too often when going downhill on a MTB with old cantilever brakes.
The shoes. Sometimes it feels as if I have hotspots. With the first shoes I thought it’s because I have the laces getting too tight around the foot. Now I have Velcro straps.
And finally riding style. Maybe I don’t know how to pull. I’ve been thinking about it and being used with the flat pedals I just raise my foot. So I put pressure on the upper side and ankle. From the videos I watched it seems I have to pull with the heel, not with my whole foot.
So I’m at the point where I’m about to give up this clipless riding. I’ve put a lot of money in bike fitting, pedals and shoes. I’m going in vacation for a week and rest all these days. Hopefully someone on this forum will give me some hints and I’ll try them when I come back. If I still can’t make it work, I’ll just buy some nice looking flat pedals and just enjoy the ride.
Cheers,
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