Originally Posted by
staehpj1
I believe that there may be something to that, but blame it on poorly set up cleats. I believe that, in general, clipless is no danger to the knees if the cleat position and angle are carefully set up. I'd even go further and say that for many it might even reduce knee problems.
BTW, I also think that very little float is needed if the cleats are set up properly.
+1
My wife has a completely torn ACL in her left knee(she has good knee stability because of her very strong quads), and a minor leg length difference. Her Physical Therapist, who specializes in bike fitting, said, "properly set up clipless pedals are often better for your knees than a non-restrained foot". That is also assuming that the rest of the fit is correct. She has about 15,000 touring miles since she tore her ACL, and has not had any significant problems. Her seat height was critical when she was using Look pedals that have 9 degrees of float. Even with that much float, there is a sweet spot where no lateral resistance is felt. This is where you usually position your foot when the cleats are properly set up. Actually I did not use the float. If I felt that lateral resistance, I'd adjust my cleats trying to hit that sweet spot. About 3 years ago we switched all our bikes over to SPD pedals with less float, because the cleats are more durable, without any problems. She has to wear a knee brace for skiing or hiking, but biking isn't a problem.