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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    20

    Question pedals wearing out?

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    Hey all -
    Due to ongoing knee problems (and subsequent million things tried over 7 yrs, including surgery: plica discovered & snipped, still no resolution) I'm wondering about something else...
    I've tried other pedals (Speedplays for a while .. didn't like'em, knee pain didn't change anyway.. maybe I didn't use them for long enough though) ---

    but I'm specifically wondering about something re: my Shimano 535's.

    They were second-hand (but recently overhauled by previous owner) when I got 'em & the knee probs started 2 1/2 - 3 months into using them, in the flat-flat-flat environment of Toronto no less.

    Prior to this I'd been working (cycle msngr) in Vancouver B.C. for a year (read:hills, 8 hrs per day on the bike) w/o ever experiencing any knee pain - albeit on flat pedals...Overall I'd been riding seriously for a year before that.

    (Basically I'm saying: it wasn't a case of too much mileage too soon)

    I can't remember how the pedals first felt - but right now, I've noticed that my foot feels unstable on them:
    Unstable in the sense of rocking (pronating/back and forth) - like the action that a canoe makes in the water when you step into it.

    Do new Shimano pedals NOT have this happening?
    Obviously on a FLAT pedal, one's foot would NOT be rocking upon the surface.
    BTW I'm not talking about "float" - plenty of that. I'm talking about the feeling on the SURFACE: the bottom of your foot bed rocking over the pedal bulls-eye.
    Best description: The way a canoe rocks back and forth in the water as you step in.

    Thoughts?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    North Andover, Massachusetts USA
    Posts
    1,643
    If you're feeling your foot rocking back and forth then you may need to put new cleats on your shoes. I replace my cleats every year.

    If the feeling is coming not from your shoe (that is, the shoe/pedal connection) but from the pedal, then you may need to service the pedals with new bearings and grease.
    www.denisegoldberg.com

    • Click here for links to journals and photo galleries from my travels on two wheels and two feet.
    • Random thoughts and experiences in my blog at denisegoldberg.blogspot.com


    "To truly find yourself you should play hide and seek alone."
    (quote courtesy of an unknown fortune cookie writer)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    20
    Thanks for your prompt reply.
    I can't tell if it's pedal interface or pedal itself (I think it might be both actually) .. will give you suggestions a try.
    Thanks again.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    20

    A positive update

    Hey all -
    I just wanted to inform you that:

    New pedals seem to have solved the problem! ...
    Upon further investigation, I discovered that if I took the Right pedal in my hand (right knee was worst) I noticed that it actually wobbled from the pedal spindle! Like, REALLY wobbled.
    Well.

    I got brand new Shimano 540's in August sometime after my first post regarding this.
    And guess what? I'm riding more than I've been able to in .. uh, forever!

    I attribute this to this unknown problem - no matter what I was having checked out (by docs, by LBS, by whoever specialists in all things bicycles) and no one had ever thought to check the play in the pedal/pedal spindle!

    I am so thankful and wanna share this info, just in case anyone ever experiences this - it's one more thing to check. I believe this was always the root of the problem, as the pedals had been bought second-hand after the previous owner had just overhauled them....hmmm?

    Anyway, thanks for your thoughts and Happy Riding to All.
    I'm Back!

 

 

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