If you have knee pain or other joint issues, then yes, I recommend as thorough a fitting as possible.

For knee pain in particular, I recommend speedplay pedals along with a fitting.

Now I'm not saying you HAVE to spend $350; I recommend you get as thorough a fitting as you can get, and if you can pay less, then absolutely, that's great.

I encountered a great shop and we spent a few hours on the trainer, with state of the art software and I felt pretty darn good about the results.


In your case, take your time as I said. Don't get back on the bike at all until your knee pain subsides. In the interim, you'll have plenty of time to call a few fitters locally, and perhaps do some research on youtube and on bike shop websites.

The most thorough fittings involve having you work with a PT, checking your range of motion as it's relevant for bike riding, looking at your natural stance to assess how your pedals will fit, and doing extensive measurements to ensure proper fit on the bike, as well as additional analysis of your watts and efficiency, in conjunction with this fit.

In your case, you really don't want to take a risk with your health. Cut back on coffee, or junk food or in some other areas where you normally might splurge and consider it an investment.

I keep returning to the same point: you don't want to make any more mistakes with your fit and cleat alignment. I'd rather see you stop riding than not get a proper fit on your bike.