Time Pedals..good for knees?

[Shades]

Hi,

I have been having some knee problems over the last couple of years and thought I would try changing my pedals to see if this helps. I have already tried adjusting the cleats on my Shimano clipless M959 pedal ( together with all the other knee advice i've read!) but nothing has really worked yet.

Are there any types of pedals which are recognised as being knee friendly? I've heard good things about Time atac pedals. And what about the egg beaters?
I mostly mountain bike.

Thanks.

 

[Adam-from-SLO]

Hi,

I have been having some knee problems over the last couple of years and thought I would try changing my pedals to see if this helps. I have already tried adjusting the cleats on my Shimano clipless M959 pedal ( together with all the other knee advice i've read!) but nothing has really worked yet.

Are there any types of pedals which are recognised as being knee friendly? I've heard good things about Time atac pedals. And what about the egg beaters?
I mostly mountain bike.

Thanks.

Yes, those two pedals are very good ... solid performers.

Also, you can occationally find on Ebay... some Onza HO. pedals, from the mid-1990's. The bad thing about them is that they use elastomers- which will only last you about 1 year/per set , but the good thing is that you have your choice of 6 or 10 degrees of float / and great mud-sheding !

 

[Insight Driver]

You may find, if you go to a bike shop where they have an expert in bike-fitting that you need to adjust your seat height and/or setback to help your knees before you think the problem is with your pedals. I have a bad knee due to years of compensating for diferent leg-length when marching in a band and in other actvities. For me, having had a professional bike-fitting the proper adjustment of my seat alleviated my knee pain. I also found through experimentation that a very slight adjustment up or down made a significant difference on long rides. It made me a firm believer in proper fit to a bike to alleviate any stress in my joints.

One example is if your knee pain is behind your knee then your seat is slightly too high. If your pain feels like it's coming from in front of your knee, then your seat is slightly too low. I also had a wedge installed under one cleat to help my foot stay in its naturally-twisted position. That also alleviated any stress on my bad knee.

For myself, having bad joints, cycling keeps my blood flowing and helps muscle tone which keeps my joints tight together like they should be. Cycling pain-free is, in my experience, all about proper bike fit as it was shown to me by a highly-skilled bike fitter. I learned from personal experience how profoundly different a long ride can be when I am set up properly on my bike.

I hope this is of some help to you for it's not so much your pedal system, necessarily. I have used SPD without a problem. I switched to Time Atac mountain pedals on a new bike and liked them better (I like being able to walk with recessed cleats while off the bike). I now have Crankbrothers Eggbeaters and I like them better than the Time pedals because I can clip into them more quickly. The differences in pedals, for me are more for ease of clipping in and out and having a free float that feels natural. The Eggbeaters, so far, fit that bill for me very well.