Hey all! So the last couple weeks I haven’t been riding due to some really bad knee pain that occurs after any ride longer than 15k, this pain lasts about 1-2 days and than disappears. Its a strange feeling almost like bruising behind the knee.
Anyway, been to a couple physio’s and i just feel like it aint working and im losing a shit ton of money. Just looking for advice from people before I go spend more on doctors. One of the cycling stores says I can get a body geometry fit for 350$$$$ which seems kinda crazy? I already got fitted when I bought my ridley but the BG fit is supposed to be different?
Or does anyone know a good doctor/physio for cycling in bne?
Coincidentally this pain started right after I changed from SPD’s to Look Keo
If all you’ve changed is your cleats/pedals and now you get knee pain, the captain obvious starting point is to switch back to SPD and see if pain persists.
Having had a BG fit, they’re good but save yourself some money by switching back cleats before you do it. Where is the pain specifically, front, back, outside, inside? All of these things can usually be attributed to cleat placement/saddle position.
hey guys thanks for the response, im going to go for a ride with the SPD’s in the next few days and see what I find.
Would it be possible for me to have move my seat position when I changed from SPD to Keo? should I move it up or down?
Hopefully I can fix the problem while keeping my Keo’s as the carbon blade ones are pretty expensive.
The pain is in two places, If i feel directly under my knee ive got a ligament? on the right and left side and one in the middle. The middle flares up during rides and after. Also after an hour two if i push on the head of the Fibula it feels bruised and very sore.
Google what the stack height of your Spd is and what the keo is, this should give you a seat height adjustment,
Also who set up the keo cleats? Zero float? Cleat position? Both knees?
So the middle at the front then? Generally is attributed to the seat being too low or too far forward. As Dayne said, check the stack height via google and adjust accordingly. Also good points re: float etc.
I’ve been riding Look Keos for a couple months now and started with the grey cleat (medium float) which comes stock with the pedals. Quickly after starting on the keos knee pain started, saw a physio who also does bike assessment position/fit. She told me to switch to the red cleats (max float) and the pain disappeared quickly. Since this I’ve increased my riding time and it’s all good.
I don’t know which color cleat you ride with but have a look at the Look cleats system and maybe try one with more float than what you have. Look Cycle - Kéo Grip - Cleats - Road
Allright so more information, im running the Grey cleats which have like 4deg float I think.
Does anyone know the float of the SPDs? Since my knees are fine with spd’s I would think I want the same float.
I am little confused about pedal stack height but I did abit or research and I think its that my foot is raised since the look pedals are slightly thicker?
So if the SPD’s are 12mm and the Look keo ti are 17mm
I should raise my seat height by 5mm? Could half a centimetre really help my problem?
my cleats were seat up by one of the sales team at Epic cycles since it was my first roadie cleat I didnt want to do it myself.
Here’s my thinking,
5mm isn’t huge but it is worth adjusting for sure,
Spd have a pretty large float and I’m guessing you either have an odd pedaling action, (heel in/heel out/ or knees collapsing at top of stroke) and the new cleats have less float so if your heels in and the clear in your shoe is set heels out your twisting your knee in an un natural motion.
I use speed play with very little float and I know when my cleats are stuffed as I start getting more float and the cleat rocks on the pedal causing knee problems.
I’d let your knee settle down and put the Spd back on and ride on a trainer or a cruise around the block and take note of what your feet and knees do while pedaling(trainer is good you can even film it) then try to re create the set up with your keo.
And or try a more float pedal if you have a pedaling action that is a bit all over the place.
I like little float but I need my cleats perfect, some prefer huge float its just finding what’s right for your body.
^ this - I think it’s worth exploring stuff as much as you can. Would be better to have some guidance, like finding a good physio who knows about cyclists’ problems as well.
On the question of pedals stack height - consider also the shoes you’re using, whether cleats are recessed or not etc.
Not cycling specialists, but I rate Mitchells Physiotherapy at Greenslopes highly - generally they will identify your issue, work on it for at least 45 minutes, give you exercises to rectify the issue, don’t try and tell you that you need further appointments if they believe the exercises will fix the issue, and if you have private health cover you generally pay less than $10.
the bg fit (yes i work in a specialized dealer) is great, but to get the full benefit you can also expect to buy parts, a saddle and stem, maybe bars, and possibly a service to re-cable your bike afterwards if position changes dramatically, you can also get a quick fit assesment done for less, simple saddle height, bar height and cleats maybe for $150? don’t quote me…
Thanks for all the help guys, I just bought the red look cleats and Im going to give them a go when the pain has gone down.
Hopefully these cleats will fix the problem. If they don’t Im unsure whether to go to one of the cycling Physio’s like in the Gabba or Westend or get the BG fit from somewhere. They both work out to be around the same price.
Maybe I should of mentioned this before but im not changing from Spd sl to look keo
Im changing from spd m250 to look, so its a huge difference I guess.