[Closed] Dodgy Knee - Flat Pedal Time?

Stick with what you have. FLAT PEDALS HAVE NO FLOAT.

That is true - I was sure that people always used to say that clipless was evil on the knees, hence the question. But if not then things are grand!

Clipless can be bad for knees if the cleats are set up incorrectly. But you'd know about that quickly because the pains comes on in minutes.

I don't agree that the "pain comes on in minutes". I believe it is possible to ride for a considerable period of time without any discomfort whilst doing damage to the knee over a long period. In my case I would have to ride for several hours before pain would come on suddenly and each further turn of the crank was agony. I have since discovered that unlike most people whose feet angle outwards slightly, my left foot points straight ahead whilst my right points outwards to a great degree (the knee I had problems with) if I let my legs hang in their natural position. I realised there is no way I would be able to get the cleats to line up with my foots natural position without modifying the bottom of the shoe so I made the decision to go to flats and my knees have never been happier. I put a pedal extender on the right hand pedal only (also known as a "knee saver"). I can ride all day and no sign of knee trouble.
My advice would be make the switch and try it; see if there is any improvement in your knee, you've got nothing to lose. My knee certainly bothered me in other areas of my life and since moving to flats I don't have knee trouble any more and I do believe it all came down to the bike.

Flats certainly help with my knee pain as I can move my feet around when they start to hurt. I tried some Mallets and could feel the pain straight away.

Probably worth getting a good bike fit. Flats will let you move around occasionally to stop it feeling sore, but won't really sort out the problem, which could be a lot of things.

Stick with what you have. FLAT PEDALS HAVE NO FLOAT.

BUT FLAT PEDALS AND NORMAL SHOES ALLOW YOU TO MOVE YOUR FEET AROUND, HAVING THE SAME EFFECT AS FLOAT.

Flat pedals certainly won't hurt, give them a go.

With the mallets you get loads of float almost 15o. They are some of the more knee friendly clipless pedals to use, so I think you could continue to use them.

www.followingthechainline.blogspot.com

True flats have no float - if you never move your foot around. BUT in reality when riding with flats you do regularly make little lifts and adjustments to stay comfy. They are better than spd's for someone with knee issues.

Also, try this; I had knee bother a while back and found that I could get away with a much longer ride without knee pain simply by using my midfoot on the pedal rather than ball. You never know it might work for you too depending on the issue.

Hmmm - yep, moving around makes sense (I think that was what was on my mind). I haven't had the pain whilst riding as yet, but I haven't been on a long ride in ages! Tends to come on when remaining in one position too long, or when driving a cramped car (that had me close to tears!).

The only downside of trying flats... need new shoes too!

yoga fixes my bad knee.
My knee problem is muscular pain on the rear of the knee. It was caused by reckless squash sessions years ago.
When its bad it get svery achy after cycling, not too bad when I'm actually cycling.
If I do yoga for a few weeks it gets better, if I leave the yoga for a while it comes back.

Capt. Kronos - get a couple of cushions and try and stand on them with your dodgy leg with your knee slightly bent. Are you wobbly ?

Flat pedals kill my bad knee, there's just too much movement there

Yep, 2 cushions stacked one on the other - left leg is slightly wobbly compared to the right. Not much - we aren't talking falling over here, just a little bit shaky.

There's your exercise for building your knee back up. People always focus on strengthening and stretching and forget to do the joint position sense stuff. Try doing some single leg squats on the cushions and see if it gets any better.

Cool - will give that a go. I got some exercises off the doc, and figured that shifting some weight would probably be a good thing too. Also seen suggestions that working the glutes is a good thing to do.

I am thinking that acupuncture will be investigated before surgery too. Kinda try everything before the invasive option!

Time pedals?
have lateral & angular float.
switched from SPD's to these & seemed to stop my knee problems (mild grinding type pain in one)
have never used flats.

Time pedals have an unloaded float and have saved my knees, because they are not trying to change the angle of your foot like SPDs

And I also use flat pedals, even when road touring.

I cant use SPDs

Hope that helps.

I have a dodgy right knee - kept in check by keeping my ITB in check.

I undo the good work by riding a SS.....

I can't ride in clips because of my knees. I've tried (on the road bike) SPD's, CB's & Time pedals & all make them hurt/ache after an hour or so.

Just ride flats now everywhere. Not ideal on the road, but better than not riding 🙂

How are your hamstrings? If they are weak and your quads are strong it can pull the knee joint and cause pain (apparently)

I have a dodgy knee and use Time pedals - never have a problem.

[i]People always focus on strengthening and stretching and forget to do the joint position sense stuff. Try doing some single leg squats on the cushions and see if it gets any better. [/i]

V. true. I clean my teeth balancing on one leg, knee slightly bent 🙂

I've got an ongoing knee issue from a badly healed twisting injury..

I found that SPDs were actually quite beneficial after years on flats, as I felt that they promoted a more consistent pedal stroke.. something which on flats, could become problematic later on in the ride when the joint was tired.. I would often find myself subconsciously using very poor technique and unusual angles to help maintain comfort, but would then suffer for days after as a result..

switching to SPDs seemed to help to keep things better aligned, and helped me to focus on correct orientation of the joint, although this may have been due more to the novelty of being clipped in..

Long time (15yrs plus) flats user here - XC, Trails, commuting, whatever.

I had a knee pain problem a couple of years ago, first thing my doctor asked was "have you changed anything recently?", I told him I cycled lots and had been using spds for my commute for the first time.
He printed off a useful diagram of how the back of the knee cap area can get worn unevenly leading to pain, he said since it was recent - if i took a fortnight off riding, and went back to flats, it'd probably be ok and no need for any further treatment.

He was right - haven't even had a twinge of the same pain since sticking the flats back on.
Hope you find a way to stop the pain! but trying flats has to be worth a go. Might be the best £20 you ever spent on your bike/health!

I've been suffering with knee pain for a while and finally feel I've got the route of the cause. A tight muscle higher up the leg was causing tracking problems. I was never aware of it till a sports therapist I visited found it. Working on that has fixed the knee problem.

I've tried a few pedal systems and flats were the one which seemed the most friendly to me knees. Time (which I used for 15years), CrankBrothers etc all have float but there is also a spring centering your foot. Speedplay don't have this.

There is all sorts of factors to fit, such as tilt of the foot, how wide a stance etc. as well as angle of foot. Changing one effects the others.

time pedals saved my knee problems too.