Go Get a Bike Fitting

[Norm]

If you haven't already, you need to get a bike fit. I never knew how good
of a thing it was until Saturday morning. This is definitely a case of not
knowing what you have until it's gone.

Rewind to several years ago. I would go on long rides, and my knees would
hurt a little bit. If I got in the car for a long drive my right knee would
just hurt like anything. I've always had knee problems through the years,
being a heavy guy and all. So it was what it was and I never thought much about it beyond that. I accepted that if I wanted to go on long bike rides my knees would hurt.

Now fast forward to this past spring. I went to Halter's and got a bike
fit. New shoes and pedals, some wedges because my feet are screwy, tweak
this and that, and so on. Anyway, the bike felt better and I saw my average
go up. In the end I didn't say to myself, "Wow this was the best money ever
spent." But it was good, for sure. I then rode my bike and didn't think
anything about it. And you know, now that I think about it, my knees never hurt after long rides anymore. But it never really struck me this was happening.

Fast forward to this past Saturday. With the cold weather, I put on my old
spd road pedals and wore my winter shoes. About 10 seconds into the ride I
can feel it's different. Not right at all. About an hour into the ride, my left
knee is starting to really hurt to the point I need to slow down. By the
end of the 2 hour ride, both knees hurt. I am thankful to get home.

I got in the car to go to Lancaster with the family for the weekend. By the
time we got there my right knee and various tendons were just screaming at
me. Last night, back home, I walk up the steps to go to bed, my left knee is still complaining a little bit on the steps.

So the point here is to get a proper fit for your bike. It makes a world of
difference, even if you don't realize it.

 

[ChrisG]

Yeah, it's much more fun to spend money on blinged-out bike stuff, but anyone who is really serious quickly finds out how vital it is to have a good fit on the bike, whether or not it is covered with fancy-pants parts.

 

[BiknBen]

One must be careful when switching shoes and or pedals on the bike.

Stack Height
This is measured from the middle of the pedal axle to the sole of the shoe. The lower the stack height the better, because it places your foot closest to the axle's centre for the best possible efficiency. You may need to adjust your saddle height if swapping between pedals with different stack heights.

Shoes soles also have different thicknesses. Your saddle height may have been way off and caused your knee pain.

 

[jdog]

http://www.bikefit.com/prodcw3hole.php

These are what I had used to get Norm's knees on track.

Once you try them there is no going back.

 

[elzoller]

One must be careful when switching shoes and or pedals on the bike.

Stack Height
This is measured from the middle of the pedal axle to the sole of the shoe. The lower the stack height the better, because it places your foot closest to the axle's centre for the best possible efficiency. You may need to adjust your saddle height if swapping between pedals with different stack heights.

Shoes soles also have different thicknesses. Your saddle height may have been way off and caused your knee pain.

seriously? now we're splitting hairs here

I did get my road bike fitted.

Yesterday I started experiencing pain on my right knee, which I just think its because I've done 300miles in the last 5 weeks.

Also towards the end I was getting tiny cramps on my arms, I think this is because I still get to tight on the road bike, even though I keep telling myself to relax, I end up doing the opposite

I hope these are not bike fit problems.

 

[Norm]

Shoes soles also have different thicknesses. Your saddle height may have been way off and caused your knee pain.

Entirely possible.

Last night when I got home I checked the cleat position on the winter shoes versus the road shoes. The road shoes are slightly angled one way (it doesn't matter which way). The winter shoes were angled as far as possible the other way. I'm sure that can't possibly help.

Also, I slid the cleat as far back as possible as I know that's how Jay rolls. Hopefully those 2 adjustments make a difference.

I'll check the saddle height as well. I'm definitely going to get some spd shims to correct the 10 degrees that my feet are off - or whatever that measurement is called.

I have to admit I considered taking those shims off the road shoes and hacking them up and drilling new holes and putting them on the winter shoes.

 

[THATmanMANNY]

Specialized Body Geometry Shoes

I use to have a slight knee pain but then I bought Specialized BG Shoes and now I don't ever feel anything cause caues of the BG features it has (wedge etc). I love the BG shoes. True to size. I have a regular width. Not sure how it will work for wider folks tho. I really believe in their BG products. However, I might consider the shimano form fitting shoes next. Those look comfy. If Spec came out with form fitting shoes though, I would get that.