Knee pain from unclipping?

[simongt]

I habitually unclip with my left foot at whatever position is handy at the time. Left foot, as unclipping usually coincides with having to stop at lights etc., thus being ready to put said foot on kerb, ready for the off.
Just a bit concerned that my left SPD will wear out faster that the one o t'other side - !

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I also took note of how I start off... Right foot down to clip that in, backpedal that to the top of the pedal stroke to push off, then right foot down, clip in left foot in the up position.

What do you do, in the next 30 mins?

 

[PaulSB]

Talking about his track record of posting. One swallow does not make a summer.

Does he have a track record? I don't know my life is too busy to worry about such things.

Turned into a nice little fun thread and I'll be checking my position when I go out on Thursday.

 

[Mo1959]

Does he have a track record? I don't know my life is too busy to worry about such things.

Turned into a nice little fun thread and I'll be checking my position when I go out on Thursday.

Thinking about it, coming up to a halt I also unclip the left foot at the top of the stroke so my right foot is braced at the bottom of the stroke and then place the left foot down when stopped.

 

[ColinJ]

What do you do, in the next 30 mins?

Er... pedal?

 

[Peter Salt]

I told you all I'm not crazy!

But going back to the original dilemma: I now know how half the forum unclips but no mention on any related pain/discomfort. So sounds like a 'me problem'.

To make matters even more complicated: How about unclipping at 12 o'clock and twisting the heel towards the frame? I.e. counterclockwise for left leg?

 

[ColinJ]

I always unclip in the 'heel out' direction.

Surely, the seat tube would get in the way if you do it heel in?

PS I just went and tried it. My heel caught the bottle cage but I did unclip ok. It felt odd doing it. No knee pain unclipping in either direction, either foot, any position!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I told you all I'm not crazy!

But going back to the original dilemma: I now know how half the forum unclips but no mention on any related pain/discomfort. So sounds like a 'me problem'.

To make matters even more complicated: How about unclipping at 12 o'clock and twisting the heel towards the frame? I.e. counterclockwise for left leg?

I have been suffering from a long term calf injury so I've done little cycling for a while. The injury, however, has migrated from the calf to whatever the lower half of the IT band is called. It did occur to me that it might have been aggravated (if not caused) by clipping in and out and, in part, that's why I decided to reduced cycling. But I haven't cut out using the turbo trainer and this has not, as far as I can tell, aggravated the injury. But that's a single clip in and a single clip out affair so it would be unlikely to cause damage through such limited use. Habitual right foot unclipper - annoys the hell out of pushy drivers because I'm more in their way at the lights.

 

[craigwend]

Right clip in first at 6, pushing off with left, and clipping in again about 6, when I come to stop always left foot, about 6, as my foots where it needs to be to go to the floor, right crank descends to 6ish to unclip...

also as well as wearing out left cleats, more, I also wear out left pedals (spd)

Just switched to Look spd and they are lighter in / out, but never feel like I'll accidentally unclip...

Who knew

 

[kingrollo]

You just bang and wiggle your foot around until it pops in or out don't you ? - very much like another pleasurable activity - although not with your foot !

 

[PaulSB]

@Peter Salt well I'm surprised to discover i unclip exactly the opposite to how I thought I do and in almost the same way as you!! I am very, very surprised by this.

It's difficult to examine what one does without thinking about what one is doing so it ceases to be the automatic reaction one expects. I began by unclipping left foot at 6.00 and it felt very uncomfortable. Played around a bit until I discovered the position which felt 100% comfortable and natural.

My right foot is at 5.30 and my left foot, which I unclip first, at 11.30. This is almost exactly the angle of my seat tube. So when I posted earlier that I unclip at 6.00 I was completely wrong! Weird.

Enjoyed the thread. Thanks.

 

[Sittingduck]

Made a point of checking this today. Right foot down, unclip left at lunch o clock.

 

[I like Skol]

Made a point of checking this today. Right foot down, unclip left at lunch o clock.

CNBFA! Get a life dudes.....

 

[Peter Salt]

@Peter Salt well I'm surprised to discover i unclip exactly the opposite to how I thought I do and in almost the same way as you!! I am very, very surprised by this.

It's difficult to examine what one does without thinking about what one is doing so it ceases to be the automatic reaction one expects. I began by unclipping left foot at 6.00 and it felt very uncomfortable. Played around a bit until I discovered the position which felt 100% comfortable and natural.

My right foot is at 5.30 and my left foot, which I unclip first, at 11.30. This is almost exactly the angle of my seat tube. So when I posted earlier that I unclip at 6.00 I was completely wrong! Weird.

Enjoyed the thread. Thanks.

Peculiar, isn't it? Quite a few people here thought the same thing just to realise they unclip at the top.

I do realise the theoretical practicality of unclipping at 6 - your foot is already down, so closer to the ground, and the other leg is at the top, ready to deliver the power in case there's no need to stop. Makes absolute sense. But just like for you, for me it just feels wobbly and unnatural.

I made a few tests of my own and can say that unclipping at 12 'toes in' is definitely causing some discomfort if done too many times. 'Heel in' however is perfectly repeatable. I'm short, small feet and cleats all the way back so plenty of room to do it.

Come to think of it, anatomically, wouldn't we be better at twisting the foot heel in? After all, that's how we kick a foot ball.

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

Most find it easier to unclip with a straighter leg towards the bottom of a pedal stroke than with a more bent leg at the upper part. Some do get a sore knee with repeated unclipping, commuters in busy urban areas for example.

You can reduce spring tension on many pedals which helps, as does correct cleat positioning, especially if your cleat rotation does not match what you need. If your natural rotation is 'heel in' and your cleats are set 'heel out' you have to rotate further than need be if set correctly to unclip for example; which again can aggravate knee issues and that's before you take into account that's it's not a good for your knees to have them set incorrectly in the first place as you will be twisting your leg to replicate your natural rotation each pedal stroke. You can check what your naturally angulation in a few ways, two basic options would be glancing down at your feet when you walk (ideally when not wearing shoes, see second pic' as an example) or sitting on a bench, table etc and letting you feet dangle and note the angulation/rotation. There can be more to it than that but that would be a start.

In my illustration the first picture is someone who does not have any rotation and in the second for someone who has a more common heel in rotation. If we used a clock face as a reference the first shoe pic' would be 12 o'clock and the second say 11; you'd rotate the second 'more' or 'less' as required to mirror what you need. You'd note if there is a difference between left and right as often we are not symmetrical when it comes to rotation