Stance Width & Knee Pain

[shulikrw]

Hey all, about two months ago I installed a set of Favero Assioma DUO and they’re great. However, since installing, I’ve had decently high knee pain mostly in the left knee with some in the right.

Finally, this morning, I realized that my fitter installed three 1.5mm washers on the left pedal and two on the right. When I installed the new pedals I neglected to swap the washers.

Think it could have been my stance width that was causing tracking issues? Just did a quick seven mile test on the trainer and didn’t feel any pain at all. Felt pain after only four miles this morning before installing the washers.

Did I finally crack this?

[BMAC615]

Highly unlikely. If that were the case, people who ride Mountain Bikes would all have knee issues as the Q Factor is much wider than a road bike’s.

It’s more probable that your new cleats were adjusted differently than previously and causing a tracking issue or that you’re over developing your quads relative to your hamstrings which can cause tracking issues or just pushing a lot harder on the pedals and your knee joints aren’t ready for it.

There’s a lot of reasons for knee issues, but, a couple mm offset isn’t likely to be it.

Regardless, ask him why he chose to use all those washers instead of just moving your cleats in a couple mm.

[shulikrw]

Morning and thanks for your reply. I don’t think that we have a clear issue as I did go to the fitter to have them readjusted. In that session, I think we both missed, or didn’t look closely enough at the tracking.

[Spin2win]

Even a few millimeters here or there can have a big impact. I have a 3mm offset in length between my legs. If I just wear shoes normally, I get searing pain in my right knee from just a little walking. But with a 3mm boost in my left shoe insert, things are even and I get no pain. (Doctors try to tell me that only severe imbalances over 10mm can cause pain problems—ha!) So I wouldn’t be surprised if your 5x1.5mm offset could be felt in your knee.

[shulikrw]

@Spin2win Thanks for this, fingers crossed that this does the trick.

[finncox23]

While everyone’s experience is unique, I recently had a fit which leads me to believe stance width and Q Factor are incredibly important. I upgraded my bike recently, including the crankset. I began experiencing knee pain as my training intensity ramped up into into the Build phase of TR. After consulting my fitter and doing a deep dive on component specifications, it turns out that the Q Factor of my old crank was basically 1 cm wider than my new crank. After installing pedal washers to try and correct for this and widen my stance, my knee issues are clearing up. While 1 cm is more extreme than your example, the fitter explained to me that increasing stance at the crank can affect more than a 1:1 change at the knees as you move up the kinetic chain. So, several millimeters of washers can make a big difference.

[codybraithwaite7]

I have the same issue as you. I hope you figured it out

[shulikrw]

I seem to be good. Spent some more time with a fitter who has been great and put a lot of focus on rest, recovery, ice and some PT exercises that I found online.

My main thing, if there was pain, I took some time rather than pushing through it. Limited short term riding a bit but have been pain free for quite some time now.