Newbie to SPD's - Pain Behind Knee.

[MattyDeez]

Wow, thanks for the huge post!

Pain behind the kneecap - well, it's not behind the kneecap it's more behind The knee/leg. Like, the hinge area?

Where the arrow is pointing in this picture:


Sorry i couldn't find any better picture. =P

I've adjusted the cleats so they are in a more central position on the foot, just need to adjust them a bit more so the float is making my leg straight instead of me having to keep the leg straight so it doesn't "toe-in".

[531colin]

A bit of explanation about Baritono's post - don't feel you have to read it if you don't want to!
In the Quadriceps group of muscles, one muscle (the Vastus Medialis) only comes into use when the knee is almost straight. So in people whose chosen form of exercise does not involve fully straightening the knee (including cyclists) the Vastus Medialis can be under developed relative to the rest of the Quadriceps group.
When the Quads. contract, they straighten the knee by pulling up the knee cap, which runs in a groove in the end of the Femur(thigh bone). If the Vastus Medialis is relatively under developed, the knee cap can be pulled sideways in its groove by the other stronger muscles, leading to pain behind the knee cap.
This is relatively easy to sort out (in the absence of complicating factors like arthritis) by a combination of stretching and exercises - generally isometric, straight leg exercises to strengthen the Vastus Medialis.
This is all fairly basic stuff that I would expect a whole range of "health professionals" to know. What is perhaps more interesting is that there is a fairly widespread tradition among cyclists that pain in the front of the knee can be caused by the saddle being too low, which fits nicely with not straightening the knee sufficiently to maintain strength in the Vastus Medialis.
Another cyclist's tradition is that pain at the back of the knee can be caused by over -reaching, ie. too high saddle, too long cranks.

[531colin]

I think its a very adequate photo of some legs! Like a bike ride, it could have been improved by a tail wind, but you can't have everything!
But please do read Gearoidmuar's post on clest positioning, its spot on.

[Edwards]

Lots of realy good information about cleat and foot positioning here.
If your pain leads to more pictures like that to explain your problem. Do not try to hard to solve it without more photo's please.

[Freddie]

Do you have a bike which doesn't cause this pain?. Maybe you could make sure saddle height, setback etc is setup exactly the same on this new bike as it is on the old, that'd rule out a fit problem, then you could just concentrate on messing with the cleats.

[Jonty]

I have bad knees and I was concerned when I went over to SPD pedals it wouldn't work out. However touch wood, it has worked out fine. I set my pedal adjustment at the lowest level so that I can move my feet about a bit to get the most comfortable postion which, in my case, is my feet pointing out slightly.
jonty

[Baritono]

Colin - thanks for your assistance! Sorry for hijacking the topic as it's clear it doesn't relate to the particular type of pain suffered by the OP, as illustrated by the helpful and welcome photo which proved very clear. Perhaps further discussion of the pain given this new information might be assisted by photographic examination of the muscle groups behind the knee which now appear to be responsible?

Cheers again! Baritono

[MattyDeez]

Do you have a bike which doesn't cause this pain?.

Only bikes i've got is the Giant Defy 2 and the Giant Yukon, so - i can't have the same setup really as the one on the MTB and the road bike since they are totally different bikes. Or can i?

The Yukon doesn't hurt.

I'll be out again this weekend, weather permitting just to play about with it again - i'll pop into the LBS since i need to pick up some more accessories and i'll just ask them about it to see what they views on it are.

[Chodak]

My understanding is that pain behind the knee is usually associated with over-stretched position i.e. saddle too high (or possibly too far back) ref The Long Distance Cyclists Handbook. Perhaps worth checking and maybe try lowering a LITTLE to see if it eases at all?

I bug**red about with my set-up for ages until Paul Hewitt in Leyland did a fitting for me on a bike jig for £50. His set-up was massively different from that put together by a certain very highly rated touring specialist bike shop and hey presto the problem sorted. My set-up issue was different to yours but the principle of spending money on a bike fit is worth considering if the problem persists.

Good luck!