Originally Posted by
Champ340
Thank you for all of the awesome replies everyone.
To add a bit of context. I purchased a new second hand bike and that was when I got the bike fit, new stem, new handlebars. A month later I got new shoes. The cleat position was traced off my old shoes and replicated on my new shoes. I use Shimano yellow cleats on dura ace pedals. I also switched the 23 cassette to an 11-28.
I'm 185lbs and my rides are no longer than 2 hours. Average 4-500km a month. I got back into cycling last November after a 4 year hiatus.
I will try scraping the paint off the top tube and keeping my back straight. Also spin up the hills, the steeper ones around me I have no choice but to get out of saddle. The higher cadence seems to be helping. Like I say it's only mild discomfort but I just want to ensure I am pedaling correctly so I can get the most out of my knees.
I ride many many miles in high gear, use platform pedals, and the rare times I get knee pain, it's clearly muscular and goes away within an hour or two of rest. I'm not saying any of that will apply to you, but what I am saying is no one on this forum really can know what's causing your pain, and you might need to do a lot more trial and error if it recurs. For a variety of reasons unrelated to my knees, I need to be able to shift my feet around while riding, so cleats have never been an option for me. I question whether there is any science behind the long-term effects of any cleat placement.
I'm not going to dig it out again, but there's a study that indicates spinning and mashing both increase slightly the chances of repetitive knee injury at about the same rate, just that there is a difference in the type of injury you'd see with each.