knee pain and clicking

[yostumpy]

Following on from my other post regarding saddle height, I lowered my saddle +/- 8mm as I was getting pain at the back and side of my right knee. I also discovered my foot wasn't straight when clipped in, and when I peddled I was trying to hold my foot straight against the release spring of the pedal. Now Both pains are going, BUT I now have a very audible click from the side of my knee, when out of the saddle, but I cannot feel it clicking. I noticed it today, as I walked quickly, as well. Any ideas ?, don't want to waste doctors time, local ones are useless any way.

[foxyrider]

Sounds like you need a mechanic rather than a doctor!

Are you certain it's your knee? Any moving / adjusting of position can open a right can of worms. Maybe your knee actually preferred the old position? I actually have more issues with my free float SPD cleats than my rigidly held Keo cleats, allowing a 'natural' pedaling form may not be beneficial.

[yostumpy]

Sounds like you need a mechanic rather than a doctor!

Are you certain it's your knee? Any moving / adjusting of position can open a right can of worms. Maybe your knee actually preferred the old position? I actually have more issues with my free float SPD cleats than my rigidly held Keo cleats, allowing a 'natural' pedaling form may not be beneficial.

Haha! yes, its doing it when I walk around the house. But I can feel it clicking slightly when I walk, but not cycling.

[531colin]

Iliotibial band syndrome?

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Been there and done that although different discipline.
If you have stopped doing what caused it and no pain then I would say you are on the road to recovery.

[pete75]

Following on from my other post regarding saddle height, I lowered my saddle +/- 8mm as I was getting pain at the back and side of my right knee. I also discovered my foot wasn't straight when clipped in, and when I peddled I was trying to hold my foot straight against the release spring of the pedal. Now Both pains are going, BUT I now have a very audible click from the side of my knee, when out of the saddle, but I cannot feel it clicking. I noticed it today, as I walked quickly, as well. Any ideas ?, don't want to waste doctors time, local ones are useless any way.

I had that some years ago. Turned out to be what they call a bucket handle tear in the cartilage. Fixed by surgery.

[yostumpy]

Iliotibial band syndrome?

HAHA!! copied this from wiki, as to causes.............


Positioning the feet "toed-in" to an excessive angle when cycling

Top man!

[531colin]

Iliotibial band syndrome?

HAHA!! copied this from wiki, as to causes.............


Positioning the feet "toed-in" to an excessive angle when cycling

Top man!

The iliotibial band should slide smoothly over the outside of your knee as you flex and extend the knee. If you can feel (with your fingers) the ITB snatching/snapping/jerking as it moves over the knee, then I think you have a diagnosis. Until then, not much better than a guess in my opinion.
There are tests which can be done by a physiotherapist, and I wouldn't wait long before paying for a private physio.
I had a tear in the medial meniscus cartilage several years ago; it would occasionally be (literally) breathtakingly painful, and my muscles were "inhibited" to such a degree that I couldn't get out of the saddle and pedal. I didn't ride much. I don't know how different that is to Pete's experience, or even if I should expect our experiences to be similar.

[pwa]

On a very specific side issue, I feel that it is worth spending some time and effort getting cleat angles just right. And because we are not made symmetrical the left and right cleats may not be angled quite the same in an individual's perfect set-up. When you are cycling in a normal, natural way you should not feel that one or both feet are pushing against one side of the foot rotation limit. If you do feel that, the cleat should be adjusted enough to remove that feeling. Cycling with a foot forced into an angle it doesn't want to be at will translate into pain somewhere, quite possibly at the knee.

[Canuk]

+1 to lowering the saddle. I had a lot of riding trouble with a new saddle till I finally realised it was about 1cm higher in depth than the previous saddle. Lowering by the same amount miraculously solved my knee troubles.

[ANTONISH]

On a very specific side issue, I feel that it is worth spending some time and effort getting cleat angles just right. And because we are not made symmetrical the left and right cleats may not be angled quite the same in an individual's perfect set-up. When you are cycling in a normal, natural way you should not feel that one or both feet are pushing against one side of the foot rotation limit. If you do feel that, the cleat should be adjusted enough to remove that feeling. Cycling with a foot forced into an angle it doesn't want to be at will translate into pain somewhere, quite possibly at the knee.

When I got back into regular cycling after a number of years away the pedal systems had changed.
I was used to toe clips,straps and shoes with nailed on shoe plates. ( The plates had a slot which engaged with the rear plate of the pedal - not the modern clipless type ). The beauty of this system was that if I had a new pair of shoes I could ride them without shoe plates for a few miles and the rear plate of the pedal marked the leather sole sothat I could align the nailed on shoe plates correctly)
I was mainly interested in leisure and touring cycling and I bought a pair of Sidi shoes with serrated soles so that I could could cotinue to use toe clips and straps. Unfortunately the serrations of the left shoe did not align with my natural foot position putting pressure on the outside of the knee- I ended up hacking away some of the serrations so my foot could align naturally.

Then I was persuaded by a clubmate that SPD's were the way forward.
Setting up the SPD's proved very problematic - sitting on a worktop and observing the angle at which your feet align naturally is a very rough and ready method.
The problem is that when the cleat has been tightened onto the shoe it leaves indentations - slackening the cleat and making a small adjustment means the cleat will attempt to go into the original position when re tightened.

The only way I could deal with this was getting a clamp on the cleat and holding it in the desired position with a very long adjustable spanner as I tightened it.
I've been using SPD's for twenty years and I'm still not convinced they have any superiority over the old system - particularly since seeing younger people using toe clips and straps on audax rides.

[pwa]

I occasionally got my feet stuck in toe clips with straps, but other than that, yes, if you don't do them up too tightly they do allow some freedom of movement.

I am now used to SPDs so getting my feet out quickly comes automatically to me, and with MTB style shoes I can walk okay. And I can use overshoes.

Setting up the cleats is fiddly. I don't look forward to it. It normally takes a couple of goes to get it right, and yes, the indentations made by the first go make adjusting position harder. This is only really a problem with new shoes, though. When replacing worn out cleats on old shoes you just put the new cleats over the old marks and tighten.

Another thing that gives a bit of rotational freedom is not doing the shoe fastenings up too tight. So the foot can move a degree or so in the shoe.

[yostumpy]

Well, bit of an update on this, been off the bike 7 days now, due to work, weather, and being in Prague for 4 1/2 days. Whilst in Prague we did a bit of walking, when I say say a bit, I mean a lot, and when I say a lot, I mean.....according to my lady's Fitbit....80km...50 miles!! . (Thursday 4 miles, Friday 12 miles, Sat 12 miles, Sun 12 miles, Mon 10 miles).

Ah! you say , 'what has that got to do with the price of fish?' , well, at home this morning, coming down the stairs, NO clicking, so I went up and came down again, just to make sure. Not sure if its 7 days off the bike, 50 miles walking or both, but its stopped. just wait and see if it returns when in the saddle.

My mum always used to say ' a change, is as good as a rest'.