I replaced my Specialized Sport MTB shoes with a pair of Giro Terraduros a few months ago. Ever since the switch, I've been experiencing an ache to the inside of my left knee. I overpronate slightly and have had a similar problem with my clipless road shoes, but this was resolved with two angled Bikefit wedges inserted under the cleat. I've resorted to the same solution with the Giros, first with one wedge, now with two, but the problem persists. I even bought the Giro SuperNatural Footbed kit, which allows you to customise the level of arch support with a range of replaceable inserts, but the problem hasn't gone away after much experimentation with various set-ups.
Anything else I can try??? Or is Specialized's Body Geometry fit not possible to replicate with other brands? Annoyingly, the current range of Specialized shoes is just too wide for my feet.
Cheers.
Possibly a specialist fitting might be required?
Start with some hip, glute and core strengthening.
Weaknesses in certain muscle groups can lead to using less efficient muscles in your pedal stroke and knee / ankle problems.
Sounds like a bike fit would help too..
Drop your saddle and try moving your cleat out.
Is cleat alignment the same as before?
More importantly, did you check saddle height with the new shoes and cleats? They do vary.
A few mm of height matters less than proper alignment!
Cleat rotation
Cleat position
Shoe thickness
Spesh shoes have a built in "wedge" to them, Giro don't
Lots to check
The [url= http://www.ergon-bike.com/us/en/product/tp1 ]Ergon cleat tool[/url] is nice for checking the first two points (if you use it correctly!) and the manufacturers should be able to provide thickness and built in tilt. In theory if you know all of this and use the same insole you should be fairly close but the shape of the shoe may or may not add in some additional support elsewhere along the foot.
Medial pain knee pain usually associates with the cleat being positioned too wide, which pretty much means the foot is held overly externally rotated throughout the pedal cycle. Have a play around with position, and if you haven't already, free off the float/resistance on the pedal, as this will help to ease things a little. I'd recommend getting a fit though. You can spend forever making little adjustments and feel as if you're not really getting anywhere!
Just to clarify jb93, by "cleat being positioned too wide", do you mean that the the shoe is too close or too far from the crank?
I wouldn't worry tooooo much about the side to side position of the cleat wrt medial knee pain if everything else seems fine, but a combination of foot too far away from the crank AND the foot too externally rotated is a recipe for medial knee pain
Knee pain is usually associated with cleat placement.
I know pain in the front of the knee usually means your saddle is too low, at the back of the knee, usually means the saddle is too high.
I cant remember which is which, but inside/outside knee pain is usually related to the toe in/toe out position of your feet.
When standing normally, my feet are toe out, so thats how I set up my cleats. If you look at Peter Sagan, you will see he rides with toe in, and its pretty obvious when you look at him.
If you stand normally, which way do your feet point?
It could be other things, but cleat placement is one of the most important.
When you're clipped in, try and make sure your shoes are as close to the cranks as possible, without rubbing, obviously.