Are "floating cleats" really better for your knees?

[montage]

Are they really all that?
Looking back, the older pedal systems have no float in them whatsoever, and everybody I have talked to said far less people reported in with knee problems.

Surely a far healthier option would be to find your perfect cleat position (I guess this is the one which allows your knee to be as straight as possible when you bend/pedal it) and use red cleats?

 

[Theseus]

YMMV

 

[wooly wheels]

YMMV

It's more graceful to slide through the gears,to hell with all that sweating and grunting....

 

[fossyant]

Certainly are better for your knees - I never really got on with the early look pedals due to the lack of float. Once they released the float, then I retried them, and have been pretty happy.

Just allows your knee to rotate slightly on each pedal stroke.

 

[Jonathan M]

Are they really all that?
Looking back, the older pedal systems have no float in them whatsoever, and everybody I have talked to said far less people reported in with knee problems.

Surely a far healthier option would be to find your perfect cleat position (I guess this is the one which allows your knee to be as straight as possible when you bend/pedal it) and use red cleats?

If you are going really far back, to toe clips and straps, cycling shoes had leather soles. With new shoes you'd ride the bike without the nail in cleats fitted, and your pedals would mark the sole of the shoe. This would give you the places to nail your cleats onto, and then becuase your feet had got into their natural position when cleatless knee problems through set-up tended to be avoided.


I've got a mate who has gone from Shimano SPD's to one of the Crank Bros pedals, and while he likes the easier release, he's started encountering knee problems. Putting out heads together we've decided he needs to rule out the pedals as a problem, so he's putting his SPD's back on and he'll see if that makes a difference. The Crank Bros seem to have more float, and some individuals have said they find more float less knee friendly.