[Dubgurl]

So I discovered a bit of an issue in my form on yesterday's ride, actually it's kinda a big one. I have a pretty regular tendency to cant my left knee in towards the frame when I'm pushing on the left side. Obviously this is a bad thing (I'll give you about 800mg worth of reasons why.) But is there something I can do, other than spend every spinning moment focusing on keeping my knee straight, to fix it? Could there be a reason why I'm doing this? I'm not causing myself crippling pain but whatever that does to my knee can't be good long term.

 

[trx1]

i like your expession in your avatar....pretty!

 

[photosbymark]

Well first thing I would look at is the cleats if you are clipped in. Most of them have some float, but in some cases not that much. You may have had a screw loosen and slip in the shoes allowing the cleat to reposition themselves.

 

[Dubgurl]

No cleats yet Sorry should have said that. I'm still poor on platforms.

 

[photosbymark]

Ok if you stay on platforms, do they have some good grips on them to keep your foot in place?? If you have a solid point from which to anchor, it will help the rest of the spin go better. With that, the one thing you can try is to pay EXTRA attention while putting the foot ON the pedal, and you might not need to pay as much attention at other times.

Without a good start, a good finish is extremely difficult, but what do I know. I won't shave my legs, and I am a Fred.

 

[Dubgurl]

The grips are pretty good, I've only kicked off of them once in almost 400 miles, but that could be due to me not trying!

I try and put the ball of my foot on the "axle" of the pedal and the inside part of my shoe right where the pedal stops (about 1/4 inch from the crank.) Is this right?

 

[Poolie]

Is your foot flat on the platform or are you picking your heel up so that you can apply more pressure to the pedal with the ball of your foot? I'm trying to visualize how you would be about to pull your knee in towards the frame and that's all I can think of...

 

[Dubgurl]

Poolie, makes sense, I wish I had a roller so I could pedal in front of a mirror

It almost feels like it's originating from my hips, but it doesn't make sense cause I don't think that I move my right knee out.

 

[Poolie]

Before going with clipless pedals I was doing something similar. By putting all of my weight on the ball of my foot I could pedal harder, but was also getting cramps in my calves. Moving my foot slightly forward which forced my heel down helped some.

I know we're probably like the local crack dealer, but you should really start saving the pennies for a set of clipless pedals. One of the top 5 best things I've done for my riding ability. I tried them 10-12 years ago with my mountain bike and hated them because I kept crashing, but reluctantly tried them again on my road bike and I can't imagine riding without them.

 

[Dubgurl]

Well, I guess the good news about this is SlickBikes has a set of SPD/Platforms for like $50 right now so I guess I'll take another credit against my bike budget (I give my self $0.10/mile, but I'm actually about $4 behind right now cause of my computer :/ )

 

[rola643]

It's more aero! Isn't that what we all want? Point you other knee in, you don;t want your legs all floppn out catch'n air

 

[Poolie]

I was going to suggest the spd/platform combo's sometimes called campus pedals. That's what I have on my hybrid. I think you'll like the ability to ride with or without your riding shoes. A decent set of shoes will run you about the same.

I will go ahead and tell you that you will most likely fall over and crash at least once after installing them. We've all been there and done that. We're all here to help you through it and minimize the number of times you have to dust yourself off.

 

[Dubgurl]

yeah I was kinda expecting to fall a few times :/ I've had a few times where it's been like "If I had a pedal system, I'd be on the ground right now!" But I guess that's all part of the process.

I might have to break the no pads rule for my first few laps around the parking lot.

 

[photosbymark]

You probably will go down a time or two, but they usually are just not a big deal but they can be. Take your first few rides in areas where there is little traffic. You don't want to make your first few rides clipped in on a busy street. A little practice before the first ride and you will do fine. After a ride or two you will know when to unclip and be able to anticipate the need to get out of the clips. What you gain though is power on the upstroke as well as the down. Makes things much more efficient, even for a Fred.

IF you break the no pads rule, do it at a deserted parking lot. That would be more embarassing than being a Fred. A better choice would be to take the bike to a hospital and use the Doctors parking lot to learn. Wait till you see a single Dr. that is good lucking headed to his Ferrari, then go down and make enough noise that you are certain he sees you. Stay down. At that point they have to check on you. lol

 

[wild]

Good thread, it has me thinking about my left foot turning out. Maybe clipless pedals are what would help me allso. Please let us know how thay work for you.

 

[Dubgurl]

IF you break the no pads rule, do it at a deserted parking lot. That would be more embarassing than being a Fred. A better choice would be to take the bike to a hospital and use the Doctors parking lot to learn. Wait till you see a single Dr. that is good lucking headed to his Ferrari, then go down and make enough noise that you are certain he sees you. Stay down. At that point they have to check on you. lol

LOL I should have known there would be repercussions

 

[kneedrachen]

did you look into shoe wedges????? read up on bike fit, pronation/supination can be corrected by arch wedges/inserts.

 

[Dubgurl]

I don't pronate naturally, after 10 years of track and cross country I had it beaten into my head that my leg needed to be straight up and down, so I've never had wedges before.

I did however order a set of SPD 520's that should be here the middle of the week. The next project is finding shoes. I really don't know what I'm going to do there, it looks like there's an increasing number of road shoes that are compatible with SPD's so I've been looking mostly at road shoes, but usually what I find is either not in my size or really expensive :/

Sorry Poolie, didn't get the campus cause the 520's were cheaper, they are dual sided though!

 

[Poolie]

I have a set of 540's on my road bike. The campus pedals give an extra option but honestly after you get used to those 520's you wont want to use platforms anymore.

 

[photosbymark]

You also may not really want road shoes on your road bike. Though they have a much stiffer sole for power transfer, walking in them is a bear for me. I ride mountain bike shoes on my road bike because when I get off to get a cup of coffee, I don't want to wind up in the floor. If I raced, I would use road shoes to race, but Im a Fred