knees hurting , the cold or the cleat ?

[cyberknight]

I have recently replaced my shoes after they died and i have been suffering with knee pain.

I set the new shoe+cleat the same as the old pair which i kept as a reference ,i have plenty of play and the cleat position under the foot feels the same.The pain i am getting is at the front of the knee on both legs .I have been cycling home for the last 2 weeks at 5 am when it can be a bit chilly with low lieing mist etc so i was wondering is it the cold or the cleat ?
According to google fu the pain is normally caused by saddle being to low which has not moved or overuse which is odd because i had cycled less with no club runs for 2 weeks.Sitting here my knees still ache .

 

[Arsen Gere]

May be your old shoes had a bit more play or slack in them or internal wear. It sounds like it may be just because something is slightly different in the setup. You could go back to your old shoes for a bit and see if the problem goes away. Then try to work out what has changed.

 

[cyberknight]

May be your old shoes had a bit more play or slack in them or internal wear. It sounds like it may be just because something is slightly different in the setup. You could go back to your old shoes for a bit and see if the problem goes away. Then try to work out what has changed.

Not possible, one has split completly across the sole, having put the old pair on and sat on the bike the position looks the same .
LBS says its riding at 5 am with no knee warmers.

 

[Arsen Gere]

If you were riding at 5am before like that, it's not that.
On the old shoes, do you have the pedal fastenings, they may be worn by you style of riding. Could you try them on you new shoes?

 

[cyberknight]

If you were riding at 5am before like that, it's not that.
On the old shoes, do you have the pedal fastenings, they may be worn by you style of riding. Could you try them on you new shoes?

Week before i had leggings on , the old shoes have cleats the same as the new shoes but i cant get them off as the bolts have seized.best i can do is replicate fit comparing like for like and comparing how close my heel is to the crank and i have put old shoe on then new shoe and the amount of play feels the same .Pain is either side of the knee caps .

 

[Garz]

Are teh shoes exactly the same?

Chances are the cleats have raised you up a few mm, or may need for/aft tweaking.

My new Giro shoes are braking in, definitely felt uncomfortable compared to my previous Northwave (at first) as over time they stretched and moulded like a glove.

 

[cyberknight]

Are teh shoes exactly the same?

Chances are the cleats have raised you up a few mm, or may need for/aft tweaking.

My new Giro shoes are braking in, definitely felt uncomfortable compared to my previous Northwave (at first) as over time they stretched and moulded like a glove.

Worth a look , the new shoes are different , last night i sat down with a marker and ruler and drew lines on the bottom of the shoes for cleat angle and position under the foot .the angle looks the same and now the cleat is under the ball of the foot after putting it back 5 mm.
Saddle height feels the same but maybe the cleat being to far forward affected total distance b enough to feel it .
Could be a combination of everything !
Cheers for all the replies ,sometimes you can be to close to something to see it.

 

[Garz]

Yeah the 5mm could with a combo of angle be enough to cause you the discomfort. Report back as it may help the next poor guy in the same scenario.

 

[cyberknight]

Went out today on the nice bike and i had to stop twice to put the seat up, i reckon a combination of she thickness, cleat position and angle were all deciding factors although the cool mornings probably did not help.
Just have to solve a bit of numb foot , not sure whether its down to clear position, shoe tightness or the fact i could have done with toe covers today !I did find i was not naturally getting clipped in so i might move the cleat back a few mm .I did feel it more in the calves so i am banking on the cleats need moving back a bit.

Knees were still a bit tender to start with but they are no worse after a 35 mile regular ride today, no idea of average speed as the speedo packed up but the pulsemter average was high 150`s.

 

[Zofo]

I have recently replaced my shoes after they died and i have been suffering with knee pain.

My guess is that the cause of your knee pain is riding with your knees uncovered at 5 am. The air temp is going to be way too low for bare knees, in fact I have always followed the rule of keeping knees covered when temp is less than 15 C. Get yourself some good quality knee covers and wear them underneath some long over trousers as well- a belt and braces approach to start with . Give it a couple of weeks and your knee pain should go. Also check your cadence, you should be spinning at around 90rpm. This will ease the load on your knees .

 

[cyberknight]

My rpm is fine , members of my CC say i am a spinner, and like you said my LBS said its the cold not helping .Probably a combination of all of the above .
Anyway knees a lot better today !

 

[Arsen Gere]

Outside knee pain, could be low saddle which you are tinkering with. That is distance between foot level and seat hight has changed (shoe thickness/wear?). Saddle down, toes in heels out, outside knee pain, Saddle up, heels in toes out, sore @rse.

 

[ohnovino]

I have similar sounding symptoms, which I put down to patellar tendonitis. I get it when I take a break from riding hard for a couple of weeks or more, then push a bit too hard on my return. My completely uneducated assumption is that the larger leg muscles probably retain their strength better than the tendons, so after a period of inactivity the tendons can get overworked.

I've toyed with the idea of changing saddle height, but 95% of the time there's no problem, and I think there's the risk of adding to the problems by fiddling around.

It clears up for me if I rest (not likely while the sun's out!), use ibuprofen gel and strap my knee up.