# Knee Pain on Brompton



## CirrusDesAigles (1 Dec 2014)

So I've had my Brompton for about six weeks now (it's an old one, ten years oldish) and I've upgraded the seat, handlebars, suspension and the safety catch on the back wheel as all were annoying me.

I've now developed quite bad knee pain (on the outer of my left knee) after I cycle on it (especially if I do more than about 5 miles). I strongly suspect I am cycling with my toes pointed in to avoid heel strike on the rollers behind the pedals (they're quite protruding and I've caught them once or twice and worried I'll come a cropper soon).

Would switching to the EZ wheels help? Are they less protruding or are there other wheels to consider? Also, are there any replacement pedals which may help?

I should add that I've never had knee pain on my other bikes before and with the seatpost fully extended I am almost on my tip toes in the saddle.


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## Pottsy (1 Dec 2014)

You can take the wheels off and reverse them - makes it a little narrower for avoiding heel strike. No idea with EZ wheels as I haven't tried them.


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## CopperBrompton (1 Dec 2014)

Easy Wheels are a worthwhile (and cheap) upgrade anyway, but the most likely cause of knee pain is riding with the saddle too low. As it's an old Brompton, it's possible the seat-post is slipping down as you ride. Check after a few miles.

If it is, clean the post with soap and water and check the tightness of the clamp (but be careful not to over-tighten).


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## shouldbeinbed (1 Dec 2014)

Pottsy said:


> You can take the wheels off and reverse them - makes it a little narrower for avoiding heel strike. No idea with EZ wheels as I haven't tried them.


 +1 this was the 1st thing I did with mine, it does make enough of a difference riding with barely any compromise when the bike is folded and stood on its wheels.


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## jack smith (1 Dec 2014)

Knee pain is usually saddle height/ position


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## ColinJ (1 Dec 2014)

CirrusDesAigles said:


> So I've had my Brompton for about six weeks now (it's an old one, ten years oldish) and I've upgraded the seat, handlebars, suspension and the safety catch on the back wheel as all were annoying me.
> 
> I've now developed quite bad knee pain (on the outer of my left knee) after I cycle on it (especially if I do more than about 5 miles). I strongly suspect I am cycling with my toes pointed in to avoid heel strike on the rollers behind the pedals (they're quite protruding and I've caught them once or twice and worried I'll come a cropper soon).
> 
> ...


How tall are you, and what size are your feet?


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## CirrusDesAigles (1 Dec 2014)

I'm 6ft1 and have size 9 feet.

Where the pain is in the knee usually determines what's causing the injury apparently. Outer knee pain is usually due to foot positioning which affects the knee. These articles (and a few others) explain it well: 

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/take-care-of-your-knees-part-2-17445/

http://www.i-team.cc/team/index.php...e/info-tips/a-cyclists-guide-to-knee-pain-r18

It's just a matter of adjusting my feet on the Brompton to ensure they're not pointing inwards I think. My girlfriend said she saw I was pointing them inwards when we went for a ride on the Brompton on Saturday but that I wasn't doing it when I rode my road bike on Sunday. 

I am hoping reversing the rollers or swapping the EZ wheels will help as I won't worry about heel strike but I'd be interested to know if there were any pedals which could help. Don't really want clipless on a Brompton as I use it just to dart to the station at each end of my commute and to nip to the shops etc, having to put shoes and cleats on every time would be pointless really.


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## rualexander (1 Dec 2014)

I'm 6'2" and wear size 12 shoes, and don't have a problem with my heels hitting my eazy wheels, they come close but its not been an issue.
Check your saddle to bottom bracket relationship, not just the saddle height but also the distance your saddle is behind the bottom bracket, this may be different to your road bike.


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## CirrusDesAigles (1 Dec 2014)

Yes, I thought it might be this and moved the saddle as far back as possible on the rails, it was more comfortable but the knee pain continued. 

Do you have the standard pedals? I read somewhere that the foldable pedal is a slightly different size so wondering if this could encourage an unorthodox pedaling motion which I seem to avoid on other bikes.


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (1 Dec 2014)

On my brompton I added "knee savers" (I has the same issues - though I've size 13 feet) to the pedals, then I bought some big ass flats - the extra 2" fold width isn't a problem for me.


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