Been reading about lipless pedals with more float…I’ve got pain on the inside of my knees I’ve been trying to sort for some time. Stretching helps but doesn’t sort. I’ve got some extra arch support which also helps. I’m wondering if trying a pedal with more float will help. Time seem to be the ones most recommend, I’m currently using xt spd.

Anyone improved their knee pain by swapping pedals?

So far my solution had been to run flat pedals instead. I hope this thread comes up with a better solution!

For float, which will help your knees, and also for the best, most reliable pedals you’ll ever need, buy some Time pedals.

I found non clipped way worse for dodgy knees – unfortunately my feet used to set themselves at all different angles – which led to me cycling with my knees stick right out!!
Back in clips and its ok!

I had some knee problems with Shimano SPDs. admittedly this may have been bad set up, but I switched to Crank Bros and have never looked back. I love the float they have and it has never caused any problems with accidentally clipping out and I use them on mountain bikes, road bikes and fixed bikes.
they have some reliability issues if you don’t keep an eye on the outer bushing on some of the cheaper models and keep them maintained.

+1 Time pedals.

Brakes, why settle for a pedal with reliability issues when you can buy Times, which are totally fit and forget?

Times for me. And Mrs Ambrose. On all the bikes, MTB and otherwise. Time and time again 😉

How easy are times to unclip? I prefer multi release cleats on spds as I find it easier to turn my heel inwards to release.

My knees slightly turn in, and my pedalling motion takes the knee close to the top tube.

Crankbros here widest float by far. Never had a problem with them. 12000km this year road and MTB . Even run them on my turbo. They get greased about once a year ha ha

Brakes, why settle for a pedal with reliability issues when you can buy Times, which are totally fit and forget?

because I love them.
and I have 4 pairs of pedals and have only had one set where the axle pulled through the bushing and the body slid off. they were the cheapest model (paid £30) and were abused.
doesn’t take much to keep an eye on them and to keep them greased.

Since my switch to time pedals on all my bikes I have no more knee problems that I did have using SPD’s. As for durability they have been as good if not better than SPD’s and if you shop around you can get them at really good prices.
i too actually tried using flats but also found partially because I have size 12 feet I just could not get on with them even with FiveTens and wide platforms I was constantly having to shuffle my feet for knee comfort which lead to a lot of slipped pedals.

Why not try both this about getting the right fit and a bit of cash for comfort has to be worth it?

Times or Cranks. Newer crank bros have two sets of bearings compared to a set plus bushings, so work better and are more reliable.

Crank brothers but buy the better ones with proper bearings rather than bushes they last longer. Shoe choice is also important, make sure your shoe can float above so you get the float undamped by the shoe. The cleats do come with shims so it’s worth playing with a pedal off the bike and shoe and seeing how everything sits.

I’ve just changed to Time from a mix of SPD’s and Frogs – the time ones seem much more durable and on anything other than the cheapest you can set the tension. I’ll double check mine, but also think you could unclip either way (left and right). Hear what’s been said about Crank Bros but can’t deal with past misdemeanours so they’ll need to up their reputation before I rush and buy their kit.

Kneesavers, crank extenders?

Crank Bros Mallets here; they do need looking after but I prefer being un-clipped on slow techie descents and they work well as a flat pedal too. I get sore knees when I walk but not riding a bike, curiously.

Time +1 and dodgy knees +1. Tried spuds and onzas way back, been with Times for years.

Never heard of pedal extenders before…that could be a solution. knees turn in / feet out slightly when clipped the heel often rubs the chainstays. This is a new bike and I’m wondering if the ‘q’ factor is closer and maybe why the knee pain is worse than it used to be. Pushing the pedals out 20mm might sort it rather than trying something with more float.

I’ve only ever used spds, when I tried the single release cleats I had some nasty accidents failing to unclip – how do the CB or times compare? Do you have to unclip by twisting the heel outwards or can you release with other twisting motions?

Times are multi release and you can swap L and R cleats over to further vary your options/ release angles. I unclip by rotating my heels outwards, it sounds like you’d be better off swapping the cleats over if you decide to go for Time.

Time cleat fitting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI2QGAbOfYw

I Swaped from mtb to a defy road bike using spds and had knee problems after 20 miles as my feet always felt they where to close together but after fitting pedal extenders I now do up to 100 miles with out a problem . Not a dear thing to try.

2 Schools of thought:

1) A pedal with a lot of float lets your knees settle in a comfy position
2) Get the cleat and and q-factor (not done in 20mm increments as you suggest- small changes!) set correctly (with a small amount of float to allow for the small change in foot-pedal angle throughout pedalling) to reduce the amount of restraint ligaments in the knee/ etc need to provide to stabilise the knee throughout the pedalling action.

I personally believe in option 2 and personally find pedals with a lot of float or sloppiness in some way really aggravate my knees. I have tried CB eggbeater, Time Attacs and have been very happy with Xpedo XMF08TT’s (SPD style). Adjusting the spring tension really helps with getting the feel and restraint to your personal preference too.

I would not rule out underlying knee pathology or muscle imbalances and might be better than trying lots of different pedals. A decent physio has gone further than anything else in getting my knees as comfortable as possible…

Edit:
I forgot to say too much external foot rotation usually aggravates medial knee pain you describe…. then I read this:

knees turn in / feet out slightly when clipped the heel often rubs the chainstays

That won’t be helping! Aiming to get the knees tracking in line with the hip and ankle is a reasonable start to comfort but often not the complete answer. Getting correct cleat set up and seeing the aforementioned physio to help you use the right muscles when pedalling should make a bigger difference than flitting between different pedals.

@DT – I have a dodgy knee (broken ACL) which means twisting can be very bad. I rode for a long time clipped in via spds and found this fine, no pain. What I would say is occasionally when I was tired I found unclipping in a hurry (to try and avoid a fall) I occasionally got pain / risk of movement in my knee. After switching to flats because I wanted more options to out a foot out on difficult technical terrain I have noticed no increase in discomfort, it’s the same, I have five ten shoes and Nukeproof pedals which give a really solid and stable “fix”

Thanks for all the posts. My knees in / feet out is actually how my legs are bolted together unfortunately. I’ve had a bike fit in the past (on the old bike) due to pronation I use foot beds with arch support and wedges to tilt the foot. I also see an osteo monthly for maintence and help stretching. Knee pain never seems to go away 100%, but just be managed, hence why I fancy trying something different.

Switching to a new bike seems to have really aggrevated things, everything is set to the same positions as the old bike as much as I can (reach / saddle angle / height to pedal etc..).

I’ve picked up some Time atac4’s as the have variable release. I’ll give them a go. If they don’t improve things someone will get a set of barely used pedals off the classifieds shortly 🙂

I’m not sure an osteopath would be my first choice for sorting knee pain but if it works for you I guess it is ok. Knees in feet out would be a very, very rare structural, anatomical thing. More than likely it is an apparent alignment due to muscles and soft tissue (im)balance rather than an anatomical alignment. That is why I suggested getting decent input from a cycling/ sports physio who can probably do more for you on the muscles/ balance throughout the lower limbs for you than an osteopath.

One thing to bear in mind with Time is the float is centering (or always was in all the pedal I have tried in the past). This means you don’t get free float for x degrees like you would bebop or speedplay but have that float available should the foot need to move for a very short period of time but the pedal tries to pull the shoe back in to a centered position thereafter. Unless your foot rotates a lot relative to the pedal as you are pedalling (it shouldn’t- if it does something really isn’t right!) you won’t get much benefit from the additional float and still need very accurate cleat set up to avoid painful knees. Perhaps someone using the latest Time pedals can give better feedback on the feeling of the float but this is how it was for older designs.

Basically cleat set up is always going to be very important and I don’t think the Time pedals will compensate for bad set up any better than SPD. I would recommend the Ergon cleat tool for accurately making small changes to cleat set up. I am pretty sure Time versions are available also.