Road Cycling - I moved my cleats and now my knee aches

I experimented by moving my cleats up a bit (about 1/4") to give me a little more leverage. The spindles are still under the balls of my feet but a little more towards the front. However, as I was midway through a 20-mile ride my knees started to ache. I admit I was pushing a little harder than normal (trying to see if that extra leverage works). Also, the pain didn't last. It just came and went and as soon as I was off the bike, it was gone. Should I move my cleats back or is it just a matter of getting used to the new adjustment? Should I also be changing anything else such as raising my saddle slightly?

You are moving down a slippery slope my friend. You moved the cleat even though there was nothing wrong--just experimenting (which is totally your perogative).
But you move the cleat a bit, move the saddle a bit to compensate, angle this, move that and pretty soon you are so far from your original position, you start developing pains or aches.

Only move something for a reason. If you do move things do it one at a time and give time to adjust to it.

Originally posted by RacerX

Only move something for a reason. If you do move things do it one at a time and give time to adjust to it.

I felt as if I was wasting some power with where my cleats were previously. So you're saying I should give this new position a few more rides before I consider moving it back?

Originally posted by khuon
I felt as if I was wasting some power with where my cleats were previously. So you're saying I should give this new position a few more rides before I consider moving it back?

Well, it really up to you... But you might injure yourself in the process.. Just bring along tools with you so you can adjust when needed... Also, bring a marker so you can keep track of the cleat positions..

Originally posted by dexmax
Well, it really up to you... But you might injure yourself in the process.. Just bring along tools with you so you can adjust when needed... Also, bring a marker so you can keep track of the cleat positions..

Adjusting fore-aft is a pain but it only requires a philips head screwdriver and I have one in my multitool. The cleats are Speedplay Zero cleats and thus bolt on via four screws into a shim-plate-adapter that in turn bolts on via a 3-screw Look-style mounting into my Sidis shoes. I have to remove the whole cleat to adjust fore-aft of the adapter plate. Side-to-side adjustment is done directly to the cleat however. My shoe has some markings already inscribed on it and I jotted down (and memorised) the old position number so I can return to it if necessary. I guess if I keep feeling some pain after about three more rides, I'll switch back.

sounds good, good luck.

Have you considered going to a bike shop and getting fitted for your cleats? Maybe you moved the cleats to a position that does more harm than good... you never know.

Where is the pain exactly on the knees anyway?

Give it a few more rides if you want but IMO knee pain is the first sign of a mis-alignment. I believe that knees react immediately to alignment problems and that you can't "give it a few rides" to get used to it.

I did a similar thing as you. The balls of my feet were quite a way back from the spindle but I left the cleats there because everything felt good. Then a few months later I was getting muscle pain in my lower leg so I moved the cleats to centre the balls of my feet on the spindle.

However, after the switch it felt like I was born in that position... no knee pain ever since I made the switch. I did have some hip pain for a couple of rides as my lower body adjusted to the new foot position.

Originally posted by Koffee Brown
Have you considered going to a bike shop and getting fitted for your cleats? Maybe you moved the cleats to a position that does more harm than good... you never know.

I might just do that. I just wanted to experiment with a new position to see if I could extract a little more power and this was the first ride.



Originally posted by Koffee Brown

Where is the pain exactly on the knees anyway?

It was a slight dull ache/pain near the bottom of the kneecap... not shooting or anything that occured after about 15 miles of hammering with the new position. And actually when I dropped to one gear lower, the pain went away. I'm going to try riding 10 miles stretches at varying intensities and gear combos to see if it was just me trying too push to taller a gear. I wish I had paid more attention to my speed vs gear-combo on that particular stretch when I had my cleats in the previous position.