Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Knee rotating outward - pain!

Hello,

Im nearly 6ft 5 and about 250. I mountain bike and roadbike. I have a setup with dedicated shoes for each.

On my roadbike particularly (don't know why I don't see it on the MTB, but Ill get to my theory below), I notice that my right knee wants to rotate outward as I go through a pedal stroke. I have look keo pedals which do not allow the required rotation for my foot, and thus, I get a twisting from my knee to my ankle.

It is only my right leg - my left works perfectly. When I stand/walk, my right foot does have a slight outward angle - I suppose like a duck foot, but just slight and only on one side.

My cleats for my road pedals are on good, and straight. My therory is that on my MTB, my SPDs have a slight angle, just due to only being on with two screws, and far less connected than the look cleat. I can see it when hoilding my MTB shoes upside down.

Any suggestions? How would one best deal with a knee that wants to rotate out during a pedal stroke? Obviously what would make sense to me would be to allow my heel to rotate inward slightly, keeping alignment of the foot to the knee - but with size 13 shoes, this doesn't work.

How do you bigger folks deal with knee/hip/foot misalignment? I assume that speedplays with good float may help a fair deal?

Thanks!

Hello,

Im nearly 6ft 5 and about 250. I mountain bike and roadbike. I have a setup with dedicated shoes for each.

On my roadbike particularly (don't know why I don't see it on the MTB, but Ill get to my theory below), I notice that my right knee wants to rotate outward as I go through a pedal stroke. I have look keo pedals which do not allow the required rotation for my foot, and thus, I get a twisting from my knee to my ankle.

It is only my right leg - my left works perfectly. When I stand/walk, my right foot does have a slight outward angle - I suppose like a duck foot, but just slight and only on one side.

My cleats for my road pedals are on good, and straight. My therory is that on my MTB, my SPDs have a slight angle, just due to only being on with two screws, and far less connected than the look cleat. I can see it when hoilding my MTB shoes upside down.

Any suggestions? How would one best deal with a knee that wants to rotate out during a pedal stroke? Obviously what would make sense to me would be to allow my heel to rotate inward slightly, keeping alignment of the foot to the knee - but with size 13 shoes, this doesn't work.

How do you bigger folks deal with knee/hip/foot misalignment? I assume that speedplays with good float may help a fair deal?

Thanks!

My guess is you need an extender on the right crank arm, a pedal system with more float, or both. Perhaps the cleat on the right could be angled?

Is it best to use an extender only if absolutely necessary, i.e. just on one side, or is it better to be "balanced" such that if I do one on the left, I should also do one on the right?

Why not get pedals that fit your body? Get pedals with a good amount of rotational float. Knee pain can also be caused by seat position problems (but both would likely hurt).

That is why I am trying speedplay - they ought to provide me optimal rotational float.

What about concentrating on keeping your upstroke closer to the plane of the top bar? Getting a pedal that allows for bad and inefficient form doesn't seem the ideal solution. Would tak some time and work but much better in the long run.

Not opposed to that at all, but the question becomes anatomical vs form. Good form is worthless if what is theoretically optimal damages my joints, so they wear faster or make it impossible to keep cycling/running/etc long-term. Applying best form after adjusting to what my anatomy can or cannot do is the key, IMO.

I do agree though, and will review form to ensure that I am not causing issues because of some other reason...