Riding position
Discussion
After riding MTB's for years then a lay off of over 10yrs I purchased my 1st road bike in the summer thanks to a thread on here (Argos £400 CF bike).
I've noticed that my right knee can feel a little uncomfortable on rides, especially when peddling harder. Last night I went on an easy 15ml ride & noticed that my right knee was touching the crossbar whereas my left knee wasn't, this may partly explain my issue?
Not something I ever noticed on my MTB so what am I doing wrong? I must confess I didn't spend much time setting my cleats up, could this be the issue & if so, any tips?
I've noticed that my right knee can feel a little uncomfortable on rides, especially when peddling harder. Last night I went on an easy 15ml ride & noticed that my right knee was touching the crossbar whereas my left knee wasn't, this may partly explain my issue?
Not something I ever noticed on my MTB so what am I doing wrong? I must confess I didn't spend much time setting my cleats up, could this be the issue & if so, any tips?
Road bike is a very different position to the mtb, i have found it bit of getting used to. You really need a bit of help with setting the cleats, you need to sit on the side of a table or something with you feet hanging free and get a mate to position the cleats so the are straight to start with. Once you have a starting point you can try moving them backwards or forwards or twist them a bit.
fromage said:
Best bet is to let your legs do what they want to do and adjust the cleats so they are allowed to do this.
+ 1 to the above - get some cleats with the maximum possible "float" to start with (ie Red for Look) Then, once your knees are happy, you can start trying to refine the cleat angle (stopping heel hitting crank / chainstay etc) without aggregating knee pain. If you find a cleat placement that works for you, you can then change back to cleats with less float, which can feel a bit more positive and are easier to click out of. Knees are complex, fragile joints, so if you are getting pain, a bit of cash spent on a decent bike-fit session might be money well spent.
LordHaveMurci said:
After riding MTB's for years then a lay off of over 10yrs I purchased my 1st road bike in the summer thanks to a thread on here (Argos £400 CF bike).
I've noticed that my right knee can feel a little uncomfortable on rides, especially when peddling harder. Last night I went on an easy 15ml ride & noticed that my right knee was touching the crossbar whereas my left knee wasn't, this may partly explain my issue?
Not something I ever noticed on my MTB so what am I doing wrong? I must confess I didn't spend much time setting my cleats up, could this be the issue & if so, any tips?
Weak glutes - max med and min. I've noticed that my right knee can feel a little uncomfortable on rides, especially when peddling harder. Last night I went on an easy 15ml ride & noticed that my right knee was touching the crossbar whereas my left knee wasn't, this may partly explain my issue?
Not something I ever noticed on my MTB so what am I doing wrong? I must confess I didn't spend much time setting my cleats up, could this be the issue & if so, any tips?
Glutes are responsible for hip abduction - moving your leg sideways away from you. Your adductors do the opposite. They should be balanced, and so your knee should track vertically through the pedal stroke. If your glutes are weak the adductors will "win" and pull your knee inwards towards the top tube.
Tonnes of glute med exercises available on line. Isolating it and getting it to fire can be tricky (ask me how I know!) if it is weak and has been underperforming.
Unless your left and right cleats are set at massively different angles *and* you have zero float in your pedals I wouldn't focus on the cleats.
Thanks, have watched the 10min Cycling Weekly vid about setting up cleats, that has given me a lot more info than I started with so will experiment over the weekend.
Ultimately a bike fit is on the list (I'm in Devon), think my OH may finally lose the plot if I spend anymore at the moment though...
Ultimately a bike fit is on the list (I'm in Devon), think my OH may finally lose the plot if I spend anymore at the moment though...
Greg66 said:
Weak glutes - max med and min.
Unless your left and right cleats are set at massively different angles *and* you have zero float in your pedals I wouldn't focus on the cleats.
Unless your left and right cleats are set at massively different angles *and* you have zero float in your pedals I wouldn't focus on the cleats.
LordHaveMurci said:
If I dangle my legs my right foot in particular 'toes out' so to speak.
Muscle-Imbalance is certainly a possibility, but the "toe-ing out" foot suggests the cause might be foot / cleat related. If you have a balanced set of muscles (for your skeletal set-up), that allow your knees to track "in line" when your feet are at their natural "ten-to-two" attitude, then trying to get your feet to point straight ahead will cause your knees to point inward, irrespective of what your adductors and abductors are telling them to do. (This is the exact problem I have). No right or wrong suggestions when none of us have seen LordHaveMurci's knees, but I'd go for the opposite approach than Greg 66...try the cleat angle first, although the complete solution is quite possibly a combination of both approaches.
LordHaveMurci said:
That's convenient for me so cheers for the heads up, spending £100 or £200 right now would see me losing my crown jewels though 
Probably a wise choice to delay bike-fit in order to retain integrity & functionality of crown jewels....best approach is probably to wait until £100 - £200 is available, then get bike fit rather than shiny-shiny upgrade or carbon trinketian996 said:
Probably a wise choice to delay bike-fit in order to retain integrity & functionality of crown jewels....best approach is probably to wait until £100 - £200 is available, then get bike fit rather than shiny-shiny upgrade or carbon trinket
You know what it's like - spent £xxx on a bike dear - oh, ok then I suppose. Is that a new helmet? Ah, yes the old one was years old & an MTB helmet. Oh, ok then. Is that a new jacket? Ah, yes the old one was years old & an MTB one - rinse & repeat to the tune of several hundred quid!
SomersetWestie said:
Get along to the Bikeshed Exeter branch and get a fit from Bill when you're ready mate, highly recommended !!!!!!!
I'd echo that. He's a decent chap.OP - If you're local and want a bit of a chat / go out for a spin, I'm based in Ottery. Between us we can do the simple basics for no cost in my garage.
You do get £100 worth of help with Bill though, I had a whole afternoon then another couple of hours afterwards.
louiebaby said:
I'd echo that. He's a decent chap.
OP - If you're local and want a bit of a chat / go out for a spin, I'm based in Ottery. Between us we can do the simple basics for no cost in my garage.
You do get £100 worth of help with Bill though, I had a whole afternoon then another couple of hours afterwards.
I'm in Exeter, tend to ride out your way via Broadclyst, Talaton then Fairmile or Feniton, Fenny Bridges then West Hill & up over Woodbury Common, Exmouth & Estuary trail back home OP - If you're local and want a bit of a chat / go out for a spin, I'm based in Ottery. Between us we can do the simple basics for no cost in my garage.
You do get £100 worth of help with Bill though, I had a whole afternoon then another couple of hours afterwards.
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