Ankle and achilles tendon area niggles after riding

benws1

Finally took my new Cube Attain out for a spin on Saturday. The bike is amazing compare to my old hybrid. However, during the ride I developed a niggling pain in my right foot behind my ankle and around my Achilles/heel area.

At one point on the ride, it hurt and popped slightly. Bit unnverving, but it didn't cause me excruciating pain. Since Saturday, it's been niggling. Not really painful, but aching.

I'm wondering if it is any of these issues:

1. Ride distance and time. First ride on the bike and it lasted 1hr 45 mins. It's the first time I've ridden on the road with clipless pedals for a very long time (been on the turbo lately in clipless pedals, but that isn't the same). Have been riding a hybrid with flats since June last year. Could it be a combination of new pedal setup and a first ride that wasn't exactly short?
2. Knee position. I realised that I was riding with my right knee outwards for the first chunk of the ride. This then pulls on my right foot. When I became aware of this I pulled my knee in a bit and it seemed to feel a bit better.
3. Cleat setup. I'm using some old shoes and maybe my cleats are a little too far forward (when I pedal, it does feel like the toe end of my foot is working harder than the ball)? From what I have googled, cleat and shoe setup seems to be one of the potential causes. I have some new shoes, just need to get some new Look Delta cleats on them and I'll see if this helps.
4. Saddle height and ankling. The saddle on my bike is apparently at the right height (slight bend in knee when pedal at lowest point), I guess I need to be aware of pointing my foot up and down at the different pedal positions?

I love riding this bike already and don't want to have bloomin annoying niggles or an injury putting me off. Anyone else suffered with issues like this before?

Thanks all.

benws1

A quick addition. I'm using some old red Look cleats (Delta?) with some old Look pedals (circa 2003). They have good float as more rigid setups (like Shimano) have hurt my knees in the past. Could too much float be causing this?

Also, I primarily unclip my right foot when stopping and keep the left locked in. Could this also be adding to the issue? Thanks.

diy

You could try upping or lowering your seat a few mm assuming you've set it up correctly already, just to increase/reduce the amount of foot movement.

benws1

diy wrote:

You could try upping or lowering your seat a few mm assuming you've set it up correctly already, just to increase/reduce the amount of foot movement.

Thanks. I'm thinking of dropping it a tad as it was setup by the chap in the bike shop with me on it. It may just be a bit too high for me.

LeeDa

benws1 wrote:

diy wrote:

You could try upping or lowering your seat a few mm assuming you've set it up correctly already, just to increase/reduce the amount of foot movement.

Thanks. I'm thinking of dropping it a tad as it was setup by the chap in the bike shop with me on it. It may just be a bit too high for me.

Could be cleats too far forward which can lead to the ankle taking additional strain. I've experienced this first hand. You could try moving the cleats further back and also try to ride with a higher cadence to give the area some rest.

napoleond

Cleats back and saddle down a touch are good starting points.

benws1

Thanks all.

Have lowered the saddle a bit, which seemed to take a bit of the edge off the pain. Still there though so will go with the suggestions on moving the cleats back.

I rode the bike Saturday and Sunday. Niggled a bit, but wasn't excruciating pain. I did find, however, that when pedalling out of the saddle, it did seem that I was pedalling on my toes on my right foot. It also hurt my Achilles tendon.

Will get some new cleats for my new shoes and will move them back on my old ones.