Gone clipless - sore knee

[Young Un]

iwent clipless yesterday with shimane ultegra sl spd-sl pedals and northwave vertigo road shoes.

i found cliping in and out very easy but i do have one problem, i did a 15 mile route this morning and my knees started to hurt. currently i have the cleats as far forward as they go and about the middle side to side. so is the knee ache due to where i have the cleats or just being new to it. if it is where i have the cleats how should i adjust them to stop the problem. or could it be that i have not raised the sadle enough to componsate for the extra height of the cleat - i have already raised it about 2cm.

 

[Tynan]

it's a matter of getting them exactly right, riding and getting sore seems to the only way to test

ball of the foot dead over the spindle and then left and right if you get pain on the inside or outside of the knee (I forget which round those y=two go, sorry)

there's also some rotation of the cleat too but I never needed that thankfully

 

[Will1985]

2cm sounds an awful lot of saddle raise - I think with most clipless pedals you raise 5-10mm maximum. The location of the pain can help to identify the problem as the alteration in mechanics affects different parts of the knee joint. If you can identify the location of the pain, take a look at http://www.cptips.com/knee.htm which might offer some tips.

Having your cleats as far forward as possible isn't always best - every person is different and may be as effective, given that someone won a multi-stage race this year with his cleats set way back.

I changed my cleats recently and misaligned them which caused me a bit of pain too as the cleat was rotating my foot incorrectly. Tinkered with them and now problem solved.

 

[Young Un]

i raised it 2 cm because someone on the club ride last week said tht my sadle was too low so i had to raise it anyway. wen i next go out for a ride i will try to identify the location of the pain.

 

[jasper]

Sit on a high stool, kitchen worktop, etc and let your feet dangle. Note the angle of how your feet sit naturally and set your cleats to replicate that. This should stop undue stress at the knee. Also, have the cleats under the ball of the foot and saddle high enough that there's just a slight bend in your leg when clipped in. You may also have to move the fore/aft position of the saddle to get the correct position of the knee over the pedal.

 

[Young Un]

should my knee be directly over the pedalwen clipped in and at the bottom of the crank's rotation?

 

[jasper]

Your knee should be over the ball of foot/pedal spindle when the pedal is in the 3 o'clock position (looking side on).

http://www.andoverwheelers.com/Documents/Erics_bike_set_up_instructions.htm

Remember, if you move fore/aft then you may have to re-adjust saddle height.

It takes a bit of fannying around to get it right, but if you have access to a turbo trainer then it will make things a little easier.

 

[byegad]

Also, has the new pedal system changed your effective seat height. It did for me and I needed to drop the seat 1/2" to regain my setting. My knee pain disappeared as soon as I lowered the seat.

 

[Young Un]

It takes a bit of fannying around to get it right, but if you have access to a turbo trainer then it will make things a little easier.

unfortunately i dont - i dont thinki ever will either tbh. i think they would just bore me - tho they would help me right now

 

[jasper]

Here what you're saying steve, but they can be an invaluable training aid for various reasons...the boredom factor gets to us all though. You've just got to do varied training sessions, rather than just spinning away for hours on end.

Good luck with achieving your "perfect" position.

 

[Joe24]

The way i did it was:
Have your shoes without the cleats on and sit on the bike. Sit in a hall or womewhere that you can reach both side so your can have both feet on the pedals, with room for someone to get down either side, or do it one at a time. Put the pedals at 3 o'clock and put your foot on it and push down slightly. This should be about th ball of the foot. Mark it and put the centre of the cleat level with this mark.
This was about right i found.

 

[jasper]

Forgot to say; mark the saddle post, stem, etc when you do get your position. That way, it's simple to get back if you have dismantle your bike for any reason.

 

[Mr Pig]

Good thread.

Since getting my new bike I have been getting pain in my left knee, yes, just my left one! I've tried moving the seat up, down, back and forth but that's not worked. Thanks to this thread I've got other things to check now, thank you :0)