Can old, cruddy cleats cause knee pain?

[indysteel]

Maybe. Why not clean the cleat and go for another ride? That's likely what the fitter will suggest anyway before putting you in new shoes.

What you've decribed sounds a bit like IT band issues. Do you ride a triple? Is it your right knee?
That's just a wild guess, but I thought it might be worth asking.

[zia]

Hmm, I do ride a triple but I stay 100% on the middle ring. I can't remember the last time I shifted off of it. LOVE the big ring... but then I mash.

It's my left knee. Very strange that I could run 5 miles without a twinge! Luckily, it seems to repair quickly -- only a tad sore today.

I clipped the shoe onto the pedal, but it didn't seem like the mud was interfering with anything. I'll clean it and take it for a ride anyway, though I'm paranoid about making the pain worse. I made an appointment to see the fitter on Thursday.

Thanks for your insights.

[indysteel]

Thanks for clarifying. I had trouble with my right knee that my fitter thought was caused by my triple. The "tread" or width of triples can be too wide for some, which ends up causing IT band irritation. The right knee is often more irritated because the right pedal sits slightly farther from the bottom bracket than the left (because of the chainrings).

Anyway, I mentioned it on the off chance that you might be experiencing the same thing. Like you, my knee pain didn't start right away. I ended up getting a compact crank, and the problem was solved.

That said, yours could be due to any number of things, including your cleat. It could just be that you need a pedal system with more "float," or perhaps your SPD just needs to be repositioned. Hopefully, your fitter can figure it out.