mattkime

new shoes, new cleats. i set everything to neutral position. yet when i ride i feel like my feet are pointed inward and i'm pigeon toed. I rode today without adjusting the cleat position and i could feel the difference in my muscles all the way up through my legs.

I blame it on many years of playing soccer.

anyone else have this? how do you account for it?

guadzilla

I used to toe my SPD-SL cleats in a little, which helped but I would still get an occasional twinge along my knee.

Since, I have switched to Speedplay and initially, left the float "wide open" so that my feet could find their natural position. Over time, I've narrowed down the float till there is only a little left, so now everything is set. No knee problems or aches.

roadwarrior

No, as since I was about 9 years old my cleats have alwyas been properly set up to avoid injury.

Pigeon toed has your toes pointed inward. If your feet are pointed inward then that's the nautral position for you but you have not accounted for the pronation or supination of your feet. So, to me your comment is confusing. Neutral is your foot parallel to the bike and the ground. No one walks that way, at least in many years of doing this.

Easiest way to hurt yourself on a bike without falling off is not knowing how to set up your cleats. Ankle, knee, hip all should be in a straight line when you are pedaling.

My heels are slightly inward and I have a shim under my right foot to straighten (level) it.

roadwarrior

Float helps a lot of you don't want to go to the trouble of getting htem set up properly. Since I rode toe clips and cleats most of my racing life, I hate float, but as I said all my stuff's been dialed in since day one.

RMMJ

I use these.

https://www.kneesaver.net/

And Speedplay pedals. the ones with a lot of float, I think the X-5s (blue color)

beerob81

what kind of soccer player has outward facing feet? I've played all my life and my feet toe in more than out because of it...like an open faced golf club, i would imagine your kick to be horrible or your stance to be adjusted for your foot position. these could help though...hope they make them in carbon fiber

beerob81

just kidding btw...the kneesaver thing seems like your best bet if you dont feel comfortable riding with your feet straight...although i wonder how much power loss to the pedal you get by not having your downward force in alignment...

thump55

Like almost everything related to fit on a bike:

Set it so it doesn't hurt.

531Aussie

There's no way should try to fight your natural toe point, because it's possibly one of the quickest ways to hurt your knees. My toes natural point out, so I put my cleats on the suitable angle to cator for it. The only drawback is that my feet rub on the cranks, and on certain frames (with 'sticky outy' chain stays) my heels sometimes hit the stays. I also can't use some wide shoes, such as Bonts. Another tip to get your feet slightly further away from the cranks (if your shoes rub too much for your liking) is to use cleat bolt washers with narrow edges, or use 1 or 2mm of pedal washers

mattkime

yes, thats definitely me.

Inertianinja

my toes point out a bit, and for some reason, i've developed this thing where i put all the pressure on the outside of my foot.

rather than buy wedges, i'm giving a shot to consciously walking and pedaling with my feet evenly flat on the ground. no knee pain yet, but i can feel the difference when i pedal. hopefully it is something you can train yourself out of.

guadzilla

I dont have the luxury of popping to a fit shop, living as I do on an island 1000km away from anything resembling civilization. So it took me a while to get things dialed in - but yeah, you are right, once it was dialled in, I didnt need as much float. I still keep a little bit just in case.

Although, even when the float is there, my feet dont move around in the pedals, so I dont really notice it except when unclipping.

guadzilla

I am in a similar situation. I find that when I put my feet evenly and flat on the ground, my knees tend to fold in. I focus on keeping my legs and knees aligned, and letting the feet fall where they may. The wedges work wonders.

ROJA

I struggled with knee pain for a while and still have some issues from time to time. I've done a number of things to try to address this with varying degrees of success. My toes naturally point out while standing, so I (my first fitter, actually) originally set up my cleats that way. I noticed over the course of time, however, that when my knees started to hurt in the usual spot (inside of knee) I could force my heel in (meaning that I would essentially force my foot to point straight ahead, rather than its natural toe-out position) and that would reduce or eliminate my knee pain. I now do this intentionally every time I ride (and perhaps I should adjust my cleats so this happens without me having to intentionally do it).

YMMV, but what I learned is that what feels natural when standing or even walking may not yield the best results on the bike (in my case).

Good luck.

ladyraestewart

I do and I have never had hip, thigh, knee, ankle nor foot problems, aches or pains.

darb85

go get and pay for a proper fit!

guadzilla

Inwards - is that like pronation (foot rolls inwards)?

Do you use the wedge to straighten out the foot, or to level out the pressure applied by it - in other words, is the thick end of the wedge on the outside or the inside?

late

Pedal Spacers.

https://www.bikefit.com/products.php

Rocket-Sauce 

Wow, those are expensive at $48 shipped.

Same thing for under $20 at Amazon:

popeye

I'm "walks like a duck" also. Speedplay X and possibly pedal washers or in extreme case pedal savers are the solution. Wedges are for a different problem, pronation. For all who think his feet point in go reread the OP.

mrnotwo

I've developed knee issues as well and I got the duck walk. Pro fitter put me 2 shims but I am still not sure if it's helping me. I have shimano spdsl pedals, maybe moving to speedplays might be the solution. Very useful thread.

Nick Bain

make sure you dial in toe before foot bed angle, speaking from experience, toe out seems to decrease footbed angle in my situation. where toe in increases it.

spry

Easier to buy a recumbent and quack

thcri

I toes point out also. My right heel hits the chainstay on my new bike. When I started riding last year on a Mountain Bike I got Shimano R540's. On my first ride which was a long one my knees started burning. I though well maybe the long ride and the new pedals it may be expected. The pain never really went away until winter. Spring comes and a new bike does too so I buy a pair of PD-5700's to go with my existing cleats and I would be able to switch between bikes. Burning knees appeared again. I started riding my new bike with just tennis shoes and the pain went away. After the pain went away I rode again with my cleats and pedals and the pain came back. Here someone told me about Speed Play and I bought a set. So far now with over 400 miles I have not experienced any pain.

I think fit is very important on any pedal. The Speed Play with their float is probably more forgiving. Shimano's have been good for a lot of people and riding with groups I see a lot of them. They just didn't do it for me.

omen7288

I was having right inner knee pain on longer rides on my mtb (20-40 miles). After looking in the mirror and trying to stand in my natural position, I noticed my right foot was pointed slightly outward. So I adjusted my cleat so my heel is more inward towards the chainstay. I use the same shoes/cleats/pedals on my road bike and left them that way. So far no problems. I did not have to adjust both cleats, only my right. So far this has helped. If tweaking or minor changes don't work, I would go get fit.