Originally Posted by
bfloyd6969
Ok, I'm going to try to explain this the best I can in words -
I've been experiencing knee pain for some time now. The pain is on the back inside of my knees and wraps around to the inside front. It appears to be inside hamstring related and ends in the Pes Ansering Bursitis area. I've been to my lbs for bike fitting and according to them, all is as good as they can tell. According to their fitting, seat height, saddle fore/aft, stem length, bar height is all withing my fit range. I use clipless pedals and have been experiencing with different cleat fore/aft, and side to side positioning - also with the help of my lbs. We have dialed in the best fit possible with as minimal knee pain as possible, but there is still a hint of pain.
Now, I have been experiencing myself with pedaling stroke and found that the pain is virtually invisible when I pedal with pressure more on the outside of my foot. When I say outside of the foot, I mean to say that when I angle my foot off camber with the inside of my foot higher than the outside, the pain goes away. When in pain I notice that my foot is pretty much flat, which is what I assumed to be correct pedal technique (perhaps I'm putting to much pressure on the inside of my foot when pedaling - which seems to make sense with the pain on the inside of my knee). Once I start to angle my foot as stated above, the pain is relieved.
After researching this a bit online, I found that cycling wedge inserts are made to create this exact foot position on the pedals that I mentioned above that gives me relief. Am I correct to say that these wedge inserts are what I need? Anyone else have a similar experiences as mine and found them to work? Any advice and tips are greatly appreciated.
I use the wedges sold by bike-fit. I have found them invaluable in determining the best angle on my shoe.
My right leg is very slightly shorter than my left, so I use one more wedge on that cleat.
I would suggest getting the wedges, then once you have them, as a reference note where your cleats are positioned before you put the wedges on.
In terms of angle, go with your gut. If you think you need your feet at a particular angle, then position the wedge(s) accordingly, then ride, see how they feel, then adjust accordingly.
As well, foot angle is also related to saddle position/height & cleat placement (fore & aft). You may want to experiment with the fore-aft position of your cleats as well as saddle height and fore-aft position. Any changes you make should be done in small increments and you should keep track of your original saddle & cleat positions as a reference.
Use your intuition to make changes, then ride and see how it feels. Good bike fitters have a wealth of knowledge, but this does not mean that you cannot diagnose this problem yourself.