Cleat Fitting

Late last season, I had some knee pain in my right knee. Perhaps pain is too strong of a word, more of a feeling of looseness, then tightness after riding a while. I had fiddled with my cleat position, but never really been able to get things right. But things like a knee you don't want to mess around with.

I saw that the high-end bike shop in Madison Crono Metro had a cleat fitting session available. So I made an appointment and headed down to Madison.

The shop did not disappoint. These were guys who not just knew bikes, but loved cycling. Graham Watson photographs signed by cycling's superstars hung throughout the shop. One of my favorite pieces was the 3D relief map of the Pyrenees. And in two rooms that they use for fitting, jerseys from around the world adorned the walls. There was cycling in the air in this shop.

I met with Craig as he would be doing my fitting. We mounted my Serotta up on a CompuTrainer which was located on a platform raised about 8 inches off the floor of the room. The room was large enough so Craig could move around and observe me as I pedaled against the resistance on the CompuTrainer.

Before getting on the bike, Craig spent a few minutes discussing with me what problems I was having and basically where things hurt. We also talked about what I had tried and I filled him in on my history of hotfoot. Then, I got up on my bike and just pedaled, still with the old cleats (which I knew to be worn out). One of the things that he immediately noticed was that my right foot should move further out, away from the crank. I had long suspected this, but it is impossible to see being on the bike. But from Craig's view off the bike, he could clearly see where the adjustment needed to be made. He also observed that my cleats needed to come back slightly.

We made these adjustments and I continued riding. Though I had rode only about 5 minutes, I could already feel the "looseness" in the outside part of my knee starting, that would turn to pain if I rode long enough. So I described what I was feeling to Craig so we could determine a fix to this problem. Another observation he made was that I was sitting far back in the saddle. I have always sat far back in the saddle, but he reasoned this may be making me "reach" with the right leg, causing some of the unnatural stretching in my knee. But before we addressed this problem, we decided to put on a new set of cleats to rule out any problems caused by "wear and tear" on the old, worn out cleats.

While Craig was putting on the new cleats, I looked at the old ones. We immediately noticed not only how worn they were, but also how uneven the wear was. The cleats where much more worn down on the outside part of the cleat than the inside. This was causing the angle of contact with the pedal to change and probably causing part of my problem.



Putting the new cleats on helped immediately. I felt less like I was reaching on my right leg. and much of the "looseness" went away. Craig theorized that I was probably bouncing a little bit in the worn cleat. Not enough to feel at the foot, but it would show up in my knee. But clearly, I need to replace my cleats more often to avoid these types of issues.

After this, we addressed the angle of the right cleat (my heel felt a little too far out, so we changed the angle to move it back towards the bike. And then we addressed the saddle issue. We moved the saddle 5 mm forward. I wasn't sure I would like this. I have had the same saddle position for a long time and always sat way back. But if there is a time to make a change, it is now, when I have zero miles for the season in, so my body can adapt to it.

Surprisingly to me, the saddle change helped my knee as well. My pedal stroke felt compact and tight, with none of the looseness that I had felt before. In fact, my right leg felt so good, that now my left leg felt a little off. I pedaled for about another 5 minutes, and was satisfied that we had done all we could do, so we called it a session. Of course, the true test comes out on the road in a couple weeks when the snow melts, but I think we have done all the work we can in the lab to give me the best chance at feeling good out on the road.

So what I learned was the following:

• I need to be much more proactive about changing cleats because I wear them out and I wear them out in an uneven fashion. I probably need to be changing them every 2000 miles, so 3 times a year for me. This will keep my position on the pedal consistent throughout the year.
• We addressed some lateral position and rotational position issues I had. It was much easier for Craig to see what needed to be done with his trained eye off the bike rather than me trying to look down through the bike. Someone who knows what to look for and can watch your pedal from the front and the side is critical to helping make the right adjustments.
• My saddle probably did need to come forward. I was probably reaching with my right leg without knowing it. I think this new pedal stroke will work better for me.

One other note about Craig and Crono Metro. Aside from all the cool bike things hanging on the wall, I could tell this was an individual who was very knowledgeable in the fitting of bikes and the bio-mechanics of how people ride bikes. This is not someone who took a fit class 10 years ago and is blindly applying formulas. This is an individual who keeps up with the current literature in how bikes fit people and how to fit bikes to people. Craig has clearly spent a lot of time reading and researching the subject of bike fitting. He attends forums and panels around the country to to interact with and exchange ideas with other thought leaders in the science of bike fitting. This is someone who is constantly refining and improving his practices so the rider gets a better and more comfortable bike fit.

Anyone who is buying a high end road bike or who has issues with their fit should call Crono Metro and make an appointment. Even if you don't plan to buy a Serotta or a Seven, find out how your bike is supposed to fit. These individuals are professionals and intellectuals about how a bike should fit. It is well worth a few hundred dollars to get your bike to fit exactly. My cleat fitting was well worth the time I spent driving to Madison. It is one of those things that now I ask myself, why didn't I do this much sooner.