New knee pain

[nscrbug]

So...yesterday I picked up a new pair of cycling shoes. I found a closeout deal on a pair of Sidi Ergo 2's (men's) from my LBS. I had an extra pair of new cleats at home, so I brought them with and had my fitter set them up for me. Wore them on today's ride, and experienced an odd new pain in my left knee literally from the moment I rolled out of my driveway. I kept thinking (hoping) it was just some odd fluke and would eventually work its way out. But 60 painful miles later, it was still bothering me...even more so, since I had kept riding on it all morning. Going up hills were the worst...felt a really bad twinge with each pedal revolution. The pain is concentrated along the outside of the kneecap. Not really in front or in the back...but laterally. My feet felt fine in the new Sidi's...no foot pain whatsoever. But I have to wonder if it's the shoes causing the pain, because that is the ONLY thing that was changed. I'm going to try wearing my old Northwaves tomorrow, to see if I still get the knee pain. I've been icing it all day, and it feels fine now, but who knows how it will feel on the bike in the morning. Any other ideas???

Linda

[smittykitty]

While I know NOTHING!!!, have to wonder about cleat position????

[nscrbug]

Like I said...my fitter put the cleats on according to the measurements he had and also by visually comparing them to my current shoes. I'm fairly certain that he got the cleat position correct. I have to wonder if it's just the shoe itself? This was my first experience with Sidi's...have worn Northwaves for the past 3-4 years. Could it be that I'm doing something "funky" with my knee because of the different shoe?

Has anybody here gone from wearing another brand of shoe to a Sidi, and found that it just wasn't "right" for them?

[OakLeaf]

Different sole thickness?

[nscrbug]

Ahhh...good call, Oakleaf. You may be onto something there. My Northwaves do seem to have a lower profile than the Sidi. I wonder if the difference in soles could be positioning me higher in the saddle? Would that cause lateral knee pain? I always thought saddle too high = back of knee pain. Mine is situated on the side of the knee...not quite the back.

[OakLeaf]

Just visualizing it, it seems to me that it would make your seat height effectively too low, not too high. A taller shoe would decrease the distance from saddle to pedaling surface.

Knee pain (and swelling) similar to what you describe is what happens to me when my knees are bent too much at the top of the pedal stroke - though I never had an issue with sole height that I'm aware of. Right in the lateral notch between the patella and femur.

Maybe just try raising the seat height a millimeter or two.