Uncomfortable pedaling

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Recently my left leg above the knee is feeling uncomfortable when riding,its like a build up of lactic acid but not as bad. I've got Speedplay Zero pedals, could it be the position of the cleats that is causing the discomfort?

Apologies for the misspelling of pedaling, oopsie:rolleyes:
 

rollinstok

Well-Known Member
Location
morecambe
Strangely enough I had a similar problem ( with the left knee itself )
I was using spd cleats and they looked perfectly in line with each other on the shoes
The spd's offer a fair amount of float anyway so I figured it was just my weird knee rather than the pedal set-up
I bought some single sided spd pedals and when I feel the knee "coming on", I put that foot on the flat side of pedal for a while
This method works well for me, but I'm sure I could have tried some adjustment this way or that to get it right... just thought the trial and error method would take too long to get it just so.
I have a theory that many people have a leg that is ever so slightly shorter than the other and this would have an affect in the knee area with saddle height etc
 

Keith Oates

Janner
Location
Penarth, Wales
It could be the position of the cleats but I've found that most of the times I have some problem in or around the knee it is the height of the saddle that needs adjusting. If it's just above the front of the knee then the first thing I would try is raising the saddle a few mm and see how that goes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Rancid

Active Member
Location
Saff Landin
I have a theory that many people have a leg that is ever so slightly shorter than the other and this would have an affect in the knee area with saddle height etc

Funny that...
I broke my leg in my youth and its now a good inch or two shorter than my not so busted leg.
what i notice is the longer (not busted) leg can hurt around the knee a little, where as the shorter(busted) leg feels just fine.
i may well be working my my better leg harder with out really noticing it.
 

tyred

Legendary Member
Location
Ireland
Funny that...
I broke my leg in my youth and its now a good inch or two shorter than my not so busted leg.
what i notice is the longer (not busted) leg can hurt around the knee a little, where as the shorter(busted) leg feels just fine.
i may well be working my my better leg harder with out really noticing it.

I would say you have your saddle height set correctly for your shorter leg and it is actually too low for your "good" leg.
 

rollinstok

Well-Known Member
Location
morecambe
I think we all have a "good" leg
Research has shown that if we are lost without a "target" to focus on, and try to head off in a straight line, we actually move in an steady arc and are likely to end up where we started
 

ushills

Veteran
Make sure your cleats are set up for each leg correctly they may/will differ from each other.

Do the dangling leg from table setup to get the angle right.

Mine almost point in opposite direction and my left doesn't track straight up and down but tracks an ellipse.
 

lulubel

Über Member
Location
Malaga, Spain
I've spent quite a bit of time on the turbo lately, and it's given me a chance to watch myself pedaling (well, the turbo is really boring), and I've noticed I have my toes turned out slightly on both feet, but more on one than the other. I figure that's useful information for setting up my cleats when I go clipless.
 
I recommend visiting this website:

http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/

The chap has what appears to be vast amounts of common sense advice about differing leg lengths, cleat adjustment, cleat wedges, cleat shims, etc. I have always been a bit suspicious about fitting advice like 'seat height must be 109% of such a measurement'; Steve Hogg works hard to dispel the myths surrounding traditional bike fitting.
 
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