Hi there, some advice would be appreciated.

After receiving a brand new pair of clipless pedals and shimano road shoes for Christmas I recently completed a 47 mile ride. The ride was fantasic and felt very comfortable for the majority of distance. However, near the ned of the run my right knee started to twinge with every pedle action. Thinking nothing of it I soldiered on and completed the ride.

Now, after resting the knee a couple of days I've noticed the pain returning. The pain is located in the very centre of my kneecap and although it isn't very painful it's very annoying and spoils my ride enjoyment.

Just wondering if anyone has experienced such an injury and how you dealt with it?

It's weird because I've been riding for a long time with straps and never had any knee problems. I'm 30 years old and would consider myself quite fit.

There's a good chance that you need to dial in the cleat position on your shoes. The cleat should be aligned to be directly underneath the ball of your foot. They should be angled so that your toes point the way that they naturally do when you walk (don't try to ride with your toes pointed straight ahead if you walk with your toes pointed out). You may need to play around with the float on your pedals if they have that option. You may need to adjust your saddle height to accomodate the difference in height with your new shoes and pedals. Typically pain in the front of the knee means your saddle is too low, maybe try raising it in very small increments (cm or less at a time). This is just a "rule of thumb", so take it as that.
Good Luck...

Toe straps allow you to 'find a center'...a natural point to your toe that alleviates any pain. Clipless pedals have their own center point...if this isn't where your natural centerpoint is, then after a while, you'll become sore.

You should be able to adjust the cleat on the bottom of your shoe. Loosen the screws, readjust the cleat and try it out. If it's the wrong way, reverse the process. Fine-tuning cleat location can take some time to get just right.

-- reposted because you posted your thread twice and am not sure which will get deleted first ---

Thanks, that's interesting because I usually walk very duck footed (toes pointing outwards). I will adjust the cleats next ride.

Meanwhile, do you think the injury is serious or should it heal quickly?

what kind of pedals? Do they have float? If the float is adjustable you mught try increasing it.

Get pedals that have float and allow your foot to move to different positions without unclipping as they go through the stroke. Worked for me.

I use Ultegra road pedals:

http://www.bikesmart.com/index.cfm?m....99&StartRow=1

with Shimano SDP R215's

http://www.awcycles.co.uk/products.p...38a99272666281

I doubt that you seriously injured your knee by riding 47 miles with your position tweaked a bit. If it stays sore, I'd have it looked at, it's possbile there's an underlying probelm. My knees start to hurt from time to time, I still ride, but I try to spin easy gears and keep the resistance low.

My understanding is that your pedals work with 2 different cleats, one that llows float and one that does not. If you don't have the float version you might try those.

Which part of the cleat should be directly under the ball of my foot? Do you mean the front or centre of the cleat?

Many thanks

Align so that the spindle of the pedal is under the ball of your foot. Use this as a starting point, and adjust until it works for you. Use the yellow cleats that came with your pedals.

The most common response to this question is usually to check cleat position or change to pedals with a different float system (eg speedplays). However, if you pronate significantly (as you indicate) the knee pain might also result from your legs/knees being misaligned through the pedal stroke. If so, this can be corrected in a number of ways - custom orthotics, angled pedals (Look CX-7 are the only ones I'm aware of), Lemond wedges under between shoes and cleat, or Specialized body geometry shoes all provide a way of placing the foot at a slight angle on the pedal (ie the inside of the foot is 1-3 mm higher than the outside). I also pronate significantly and experienced knee pain, which only went away after I started using the -3 degree angle CX-7 pedals. Lemond wedges would be least expensive way of testing this; the Specialized shoes are also very nice if you happen to need a new pair of shoes (both Lemond and Specialized have good explanations of these issues on their websites).

Of course, it could also be some other problem (possibly just adapting to the new position after changing the pedals). See if you can find a competent physiotherapist or sports medicine professional with cycling experience or a fit expert, although in my experience most "experts" are largely useless and the only real solutions have come from personal trial and error over a long period of time.

pain behind the kneecap is probably chondomalacia (I think) which is just inflammation of the inside of the knee cap... I had it after switching shoes/pedals and riding much farther than usual... my doctor's prescription: make sure saddle is high enough... if in doubt, err on the high side... make sure legs are in good position... and take two aleve in the morning and two with dinner unti lthe pain goes away. He also told me to only ride 15 miles at a time for a little while untilthe pain goes away.

Rock

One thing that you might look at that hasn't been mentioned is your saddle height. In going from toe clips to clipless you may have added some length to you leg via the cleat. You may need to move your seat up a little bit.

(Added in edit: Oops! What the post just above says.)

Pain behind the kneecap is probably not chondromalacia. Not after 47 miles on a 30 year old...

By you saying your feet point out alot when you walk, you could have flat feet or excessive angulation in your foot, ankle, tibia/fibula, knee or hip. Without examining you I can't really tell.

I would try to find a sports-medicine oriented doctor and talk to him/her about your knee pain. You might want to go back to your toeclips for now. You don't want to do permanent damage to your patellofemoral joint or cause your patella to permanently track incorrectly.

*Standard disclaimer: Talk to your own doctor about your own specific problems. While I'm someone's doctor, I'm not yours.

Thanks, I've now raised my seatpost. As some folk have been suggesting it was too low after switching to clipless. I've also adjusted the cleats to allow my feet to sit more duck footed on the pedals.

I've yet to ride again, still waiting for the pain to subside completely, although it is nearly gone.

Hey Bontrager,
I've had issues with flat feet since I was in junior high. Is there anything I should be aware of in fitting my bike when it comes to this issue. I bought some off the shelf insoles with a moderate arch support over a year ago. I also have big feet, size 13. I've always had a tendency to "toe pedal", could flat or long feet contribute to this? Thanks...