mike9903

For some reason after about an hour of riding my left achilles really starts to hurt. Would this be a fit issue or would it be a spin technique issue on my part? Has anyone had anything similar to this?

My left achilles still hurts from yesterdays ride, I need to get this figured out!

Reynolds 

I had Achilles pain caused by a too forward cleat. YMMV...

ManBearPig

I had this pain last year round this time. Wish I could tell you exactly what I did to fix it so I don't have the prob this year (knock on wood). I know I played w/my fit a bit more, but nothing specific. I do have 1 wedge per shoe for flat feet, and I worked on cleat rotation until I finally found a neutral feeling point.

I wonder if a high seat could cause the problem, forcing you to overextend your toe or overstretch the tendon.

Vo2min

I wonder if a high seat could cause the problem, forcing you to overextend your toe or overstretch the tendon.[/QUOTE]

Good point. Seems to affect riders like me that pedal toes down. I was getting achilles aches in both legs on rides longer than 40 miles Cured by lowering my saddle. A little less than 1cm did the trick.

james_robert

I had this pain exactly a year ago, and it turned out that it was achilles tendon bursitis, which is the inflammation of the tendon sheeth. I dont know if you are in the same boat, but this led to a 6 weeks off the bike because it can become much more serious and turn into full blown tendonitis, which would take you off the bike for at least around 12 weeks. I would personally recommend taking a second look at your training, and determine whether or not you are over training, as this injury usually goes along with too much training.

okpik

quit ankling the pedals and/or make sure saddle is correct height

mount bike and lean against a wall, put crank arm at 6 o clock, heel of foot should just barely be able to scrape the pedal w/o rocking your hips trying to reach it, that's a good place to start with saddle height

Stert

you could try a joint/tendon support supliment.

this one is suppose to be good:
https://www.bodybuilding.com/store/univ/flex.html

spindog

+1

I had this problem at the beginning of the season this year. I increased my training & intensity too quickly.

My achilles pain was excrutiating, to the point that I thought it was a matter of time before it was about to snap and coil up in my leg.

My orthopedist immediately diagnosed the problem and it was just a matter of spending time off of the bike so that it wouldn't turn into a chronic problem.

For me, I felt an increase in pain when my seat was too low (toes up - heel would go to low on bottom pedal stroke). Raising my seat made all of the difference once I started riding again.

spunky

Sometimes, having your cleat too far forward causes one to drop their heel near the top of the pedal stroke which stretches out the achilles tendon. Under heavy load, this puts lots of stress on the tendon. I had the same problem at one point, moving cleat back resolved it.