Lateral Knee Pain

Pat said:

x-no-archive:yes

While riding my bike about 5 weeks ago, I noticed an annoying squeak/click every time the pedal
was in the 2 O'clock position. Thinking my bottom bracket had gotten water in it the day it rained
while I was doing the 100K ride, I took it to the shop only to find out everything was tight down
there. Then a friend told me that this noise was something that Look cleats do when the edges get
rounded and I should take them off and file down the edges. So, I did that and the click went
away---but, when I remounted them, I must have gotten the right one in the wrong place, because
now my knee hurts! I suspect I had too much of a toe-in with that cleat.

The pain only happens when I ride; when I stop, it stops. I have experimented with altering the
toe in/toe out of the cleat and have now gotten to a toe-slightly-out position that my knee seems
to like (until I get off the bike to find my knee still hurts). The problem is that the knee pain
won't go away. I guess I am keeping the irritation around simply by riding the bike!

So, my question is: what do I do now? I took the Look pedals off and put some toe clips/pedals on
the bike to see if that will help. Is there another pedal that has more float than the red Look
cleats and pedals provide? I have been taking aspirin for the inflammation (if that is what is
happening).

I can't "stop riding" and that is what my doc will say if I go to see him- -I just know it!

Pat in TX

I've been using Speedplay X2 Road Pedal:

"Very lightweight with a full 25 degrees of knee saving rotation."

Now, whether this will help your knees or not, I don't know.

--
Bob M in CT Remove 'x.' to reply

Pat said:

So, my question is: what do I do now? I took the Look pedals off and put some toe clips/pedals on
the bike to see if that will help. Is there another pedal that has more float than the red Look
cleats and pedals provide? I have been taking aspirin for the inflammation (if that is what is
happening).

It may be a little late for this but:

When I first got my Shimano PD-7401's (Look compatible) I went to a good shop and got them to do a
"fit" on the cleats. Once they figured out the optimal position, they drew a line around the edge of
the cleat on the shoe with white-out. Every time I replace the cleats, I know exactly where to
position them. The only problem is that eventually the shoes will wear out and I'll have to go
through the process again with new shoes. I dread this because these are the best fitting bike shoes
I've ever found and of course, they are long since discontinued. Come to think of it, that shop is
gone too so I'll have to find another one that can do a good pro fit.

You could try Speedplays. More float and easier float than Looks with red cleats. I may do that
myself when either my shoes or my pedals wear out.

--Bill Davidson
--
Please remove ".nospam" from my address for email replies.

I'm a 17 year veteran of usenet -- you'd think I'd be over it by now

The LOOK red cleats offer enough float that precise rotational fitting isn't usually required; in
general, you set them up so that, as you heel swings inward (towards the crank) you don't quite hit
it with your ankle. That will allow ample outward roation for most people.

But that's just talking about rotation; since the rotational cleat came to be, most pedal-related
knee issues have been due to incorrect fore/aft positioning, with too-far-forward cleats often being
the cause. Just for kicks, try moving the cleat toward the back of the shoe and see what happens.
That come sometimes effect an mirculous cure, and costs nothing to try.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com

"Pat" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

x-no-archive:yes

While riding my bike about 5 weeks ago, I noticed an annoying squeak/click every time the pedal
was in the 2 O'clock position. Thinking my bottom bracket had gotten water in it the day it rained
while I was doing the

100K

Quoted message said:

ride, I took it to the shop only to find out everything was tight down there. Then a friend told
me that this noise was something that Look

cleats

Quoted message said:

do when the edges get rounded and I should take them off and file down the edges. So, I did that
and the click went away---but, when I remounted

them,

Quoted message said:

I must have gotten the right one in the wrong place, because now my knee hurts! I suspect I had
too much of a toe-in with that cleat.

The pain only happens when I ride; when I stop, it stops. I have experimented with altering the
toe in/toe out of the cleat and have now gotten to a toe-slightly-out position that my knee seems
to like (until I get off the bike to find my knee still hurts). The problem is that the

knee

Quoted message said:

pain won't go away. I guess I am keeping the irritation around simply by riding the bike!

So, my question is: what do I do now? I took the Look pedals off and put some toe clips/pedals on
the bike to see if that will help. Is there another pedal that has more float than the red Look
cleats and pedals provide? I have been taking aspirin for the inflammation (if that is what

is

Quoted message said:

happening).

I can't "stop riding" and that is what my doc will say if I go to see

him--I

Quoted message said:

just know it!

Pat in TX

Bob M said:

Pat said:

x-no-archive:yes

While riding my bike about 5 weeks ago, I noticed an annoying squeak/click every time the pedal
was in the 2 O'clock position. Thinking my bottom bracket had gotten water in it the day it
rained while I was doing the 100K ride, I took it to the shop only to find out everything was
tight down there. Then a friend told me that this noise was something that Look cleats do when
the edges get rounded and I should take them off and file down the edges. So, I did that and the
click went away---but, when I remounted them, I must have gotten the right one in the wrong
place, because now my knee hurts! I suspect I had too much of a toe-in with that cleat.

The pain only happens when I ride; when I stop, it stops. I have experimented with altering the
toe in/toe out of the cleat and have now gotten to a toe-slightly-out position that my knee seems
to like (until I get off the bike to find my knee still hurts). The problem is that the knee pain
won't go away. I guess I am keeping the irritation around simply by riding the bike!

So, my question is: what do I do now? I took the Look pedals off and put some toe clips/pedals on
the bike to see if that will help. Is there another pedal that has more float than the red Look
cleats and pedals provide? I have been taking aspirin for the inflammation (if that is what is
happening).

I can't "stop riding" and that is what my doc will say if I go to see him--I just know it!

Pat in TX

I've been using Speedplay X2 Road Pedal:

"Very lightweight with a full 25 degrees of knee saving rotation."

Now, whether this will help your knees or not, I don't know.

Hi Pat, also look into ilotibial band stretches. These helped me.

--
Bob M in CT Remove 'x.' to reply

x-no-archive:yes

Quoted message said:

The LOOK red cleats offer enough float that precise rotational fitting

isn't

Quoted message said:

usually required; in general, you set them up so that, as you heel swings inward (towards
the crank) you don't quite hit it with your ankle. That will allow ample outward roation for
most people.

But that's just talking about rotation; since the rotational cleat came to be, most pedal-related
knee issues have been due to incorrect fore/aft positioning, with too-far-forward cleats often
being the cause. Just for kicks, try moving the cleat toward the back of the shoe and see what
happens. That come sometimes effect an mirculous cure, and costs nothing

to

Quoted message said:

try.

--Mike--

Will do. Thanks for the suggestion.

Pat

Pat <[email hidden]> wrote:

: Will do. Thanks for the suggestion.

: Pat

Pat,

You most likely have iliotibial band friction syndrome (pain on the bump at the outside of the
knee). The standard prescriptions for fixing it are:

1) lower your saddle. If your leg is too outstretched at the bottom of the pedal stroke then the
iliotibial band is stretched tight, causing the problem.

2) adjust cleats. Another thing that can cause ITBS is excessively inward rotated cleats (meaning
your toes point inward when attached to pedal). You should align the cleats so that your feet
feel like they are in a pretty "natural" position at the bottom of the stroke. For many people
this means the toes should point slightly outward at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

3) less hill work. If you have just drastically increased mileage and/or hill work a lot lately,
back off and increase it more slowly.

I had ITBS once and despite my being positive that my saddle was adjusted right, putting it down
1/2" solved the problem for me. One thing to be careful about is that, now that you have the injury,
you will have to rehab it first (basically back off the workouts and ice when you are done biking)
or none of these things will help anyway.

Hope this helps,

Lanier