Kneesavers
 

how does one know their needed?

No one knows why they use Kneesavers??? I know some folks here use them.

Knee/Hip pain, during/after riding.
http://bikenoob.com/2010/03/18/kneesavers/

There was some discussion recently on them here.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...edal-extenders

I believe the idea is to have your pedal stroke lined up so it is straight throughout. In my case the fitter suggested them to alleviate hotspots i was getting on the out side of my foot. Without them my knees where flaring out at the top of the stroke putting additional pressure on the outside of my foot. with them my knee stays close to center and pressure on the foot is even.

I have a related problem, my pedals cause my knees to flare in and feet to splay out. The solution was custom pedals with shortened shafts. I went on a trip so I have not tried my new pedals yet. The fitter says it should make my pedal stroke more efficient as I line up better with my hips. We shall see.

post deleted...nevermind.

It's all about geometry while you're riding. If your leg geometry is off or wrong you get pain.

Knee savers correct bad leg geometry so you can ride with no pain or injury.

Geometry.....look at your feet when you pedal to see that at the bottom of the stroke your feet/legs get twisted inboard just a bit which is what causes the pain. Knee savers move your feet out to a straight up and down stroke with little to no twisting inboard.

OK now a problem I noticed is my heels hit the chain stay's and the crank. Could this be corrected by Kneesavers?

Yes, it can. Remember your geometry. Without KS feet get to close at bottom of stroke. With KS feet are further out at bottom of stroke.

This assumes that you're not riding with your toes or heels pulled in..............