Knees starting to play up

[hotmetal]

Hi OT,

Well then your pedals won't be making things worse. That really only happens when your feet aren't free to laterally rotate slightly. I'd play around with seat height and lower gear selection. Shorter cranks would be an expensive experiment and might even make things worse, if the problem is that you're not extending the lower leg enough, rather than having to lift the higher one higer, if you follow me. Plus I reckon a round chainring will help a bit - I had those biopace thingies on my first mountainbike. It seemed like a brilliant idea at the time but they never caught on and with good reason (IMO).

Anyway, I hope you can find a way to improve things a bit.

 

[Bay Runner]

I am 54 & ¾ and I had problems with my knees; my cycling shoes had got sloppy over the past few months. I got a new pair of trainers and toe clips, ensured that the trainers were a nice secure snug fit now all appears fine.

I have been commuting on my bike for over 20 years now, I think I will have to move soon to ensure a less hilly commute

 

[Bill Gates]

I use toe clips but without straps just to give me a little more support and using the same spot on the pedal everytime although someone was telling me that he had taken his toe clips off to allow a bit more flexibility and to be able to reposition from time to time.

The purpose of toe clips with straps are to help prevent the foot from slipping from the pedal thereby making it more comfortable, safer and more efficient to transmit power from the legs. I can't see that toe clips without straps can do the job unless you have shoe plates fitted, which have a slot for the edge of the pedal to wedge into preventing the shoe from sliding backwards and forwards.

Before clipless pedals came along I used toe clips, straps and shoe plates fitted as per avatar. In traffic the strap on my left pedal was loose to enable faster reaction to getting my foot out of the pedal in an emergency. Otherwise the straps were pulled tight all the time.

IMO toe clips without straps and shoe plates fitted are a waste of time.

 

[Old timer]

The purpose of toe clips with straps are to help prevent the foot from slipping from the pedal thereby making it more comfortable, safer and more efficient to transmit power from the legs. I can't see that toe clips without straps can do the job unless you have shoe plates fitted, which have a slot for the edge of the pedal to wedge into preventing the shoe from sliding backwards and forwards.

Before clipless pedals came along I used toe clips, straps and shoe plates fitted as per avatar. In traffic the strap on my left pedal was loose to enable faster reaction to getting my foot out of the pedal in an emergency. Otherwise the straps were pulled tight all the time.

IMO toe clips without straps and shoe plates fitted are a waste of time.

Well Bill! I`m just a leisure rider now and wear trainers and now I have the toe clips set out a touch more in line with my leg position I just put my foot in and the trainer size just holds my foot nice and secure. I`m not really looking for assistance on the up stoke and these strapless toe clips from Halfords have plenty of room and your foot comes out easily. I was for ever moving my foot around before but these seem to fit the bill. If you look at them on line you`ll see how broad the toe is and my trainers fit snuggly in.
When I was young and road training I wouldn`t get on a bike without clips and straps but then those were the days of pushing a fixed wheel all over the county

 

[rmiker]

Earlier in the thread I posted that I had returned to using flat pedals to help with my knee problems.
My feet are now free to change position on the pedals, just as I move my hands around on the bars.
Okay, I may be sacrificing some pedaling efficiency but for leisure/touring cycling I'm not noticing too much.
My pedals are Shimano MX30s with a nice large grippy platform area, but there are similar models from the likes of DMR and Wellgo.
Mike

 

[allen-uk]

Two points, oldtimer.

a) http://www.kneesaver.net/

They're little devices that you fit between pedal and crank to move the pedals further out from the frame. Useful for older knees that don't sit as straight as young ones.

http://www.gravitydropper.com/

A variable saddle height system. Have a look at the website, it'll save explanations. Expensive, but an excellent solution if you need to vary your saddle height for differing conditions.

(And after that, can you nip back to your electric bike thread - I've got some questions!)


Allen, London.

 

[snorri]

My feet are now free to change position on the pedals, just as I move my hands around on the bars.
Okay, I may be sacrificing some pedaling efficiency but for leisure/touring cycling I'm not noticing too much.

Toe-clips without straps are fine for me.

 

[bigjim]

Try the Livestrong website for knee exercises. I had knee problems and picked up some tips that worked for me. Evidently you need to develop the inner thigh muscles as cycling builds up the outer above knee muscle only, creating an inbalance with the channels that the kneecap sits in.