# Do TIME pedals really help with knee pain?



## dkbikes4life (Nov 20, 2010)

I have been having pain in my left knee for 2 years now. It started on a run, but has started recently bothering me while riding. I had an MRI done on Wednesday and the doctor told me yesterday that it is degeneration of the knee cap cartilage. I dont 100% agree with this and did request a referal so I could see a specialist. But regardless of what the problem is, I do have knee pain. 

I currently use cheap Shimano M520's. I also walk on the ouside of my foot. Does anyone have expierence with going from a pedal with not much float to a pedal like TIME's? Can they actually help with knee pain?


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## rockyuphill (Nov 28, 2004)

Both the Crank Bros Eggbeaters and Time ATAC can help with some types of knee pain if you have a lot of over or under pronation while cycling through a pedal stroke. Tell tale if you have heel scuff marks on your cranks arms. When I first switched to SPD from toe clips, my knees did hurt and the Time pedals fixed that, but I did have some additional bruises and contusions for a while till I got used to how much foot rotation it takes to unclip. I switched to CB Eggbeater SL which I found easier to unclip from, and were more likely to come unclipped in a crash.


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## dkbikes4life (Nov 20, 2010)

Funny you mention the scuff marks on the cranks. I do sometimes hit the crank arm.


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## roadandtrail (Dec 27, 2008)

*frog*

I have been battling knee pain for a while. The best pedals that I have found for road and mountain are made by speedplay. The frogs allow easy float and release. I've been pain free for a while now.


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## roadandtrail (Dec 27, 2008)

your friend is correct about not being able to feel them release. I think that is another reason why they are good for injured knees. you dont have to push past a release mechanism. I have never released unintentionally. I really like them.


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## dkbikes4life (Nov 20, 2010)

Those Frog pedals look interesting. I've actually never heard of them. My biggest hesitation about trying those pedals though is that most all of the reviews I read for them were good up untill about 2 years ago. Seems they changed something and people stoped likeing them as much. Another possible problem I see is that I live in Florida which means it could rain any day I'm out riding. Every review said that they basically are useless in the mud.

I think I'm going to go with the Time ATAC Roc pedal soon. I adjusted my cleats a little, loosened up the tension (now 5 clicks from easiest, was 10 I think), and adjusted my seat. Just from a quick ride around the block, the bike was much more comfortable. I'm not going to get to hit the trail for another week and a half, so I'll see what its like then.

Stripes, you said the tension is not adjustable on the Times. From the pictures I have seen there is an adjustment screw for something. What is this for?


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## dkbikes4life (Nov 20, 2010)

Stripes said:


> Sorry, never found any adjustment screw on mine. You were in or your were out of them.
> 
> Great float on them though, and if the tension wasn't too high for me, I would still be riding them. You can set them to either 13 or 17 degrees float, depending on how you have the cleats oriented.


Which Times did you have? The Roc's or the XS's? There is an adjustment screw on them. I'm not sure what it changes though. I have also read that the Roc's take less effert to unclip from than the XS's.

Here is the adjustment screw on them.










I also may be waiting a little longer to get pedals. I think I'm going to upgrade my brakes first. I just have too many close calls on not stopping in time to make riding some technical trails fun. I'm always worried about going off the trail and possibly over a drop. I adjusted my cleats and went for a LONG ride today. It was mostly all on road, but it was a 60 mile ride. It took about 23 miles untill I started feeling and discomfort in my knee. By 30 miles there was some minor pain. Stopped at 34 miles for a few hours at my moms house for about 2.5 hours and took some Excedrin. Rode 26 miles back home with no pain what-so-ever in my knee. My feet were going to sleep though, so I may need new shoes.


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## Maadjurguer (Mar 22, 2008)

dkbikes4life said:


> Which Times did you have? The Roc's or the XS's? There is an adjustment screw on them. I'm not sure what it changes though. I have also read that the Roc's take less effert to unclip from than the XS's.


The adjustment screw turns a post (an asymmetrical one) which in turn, adds compression or reduces compression on the springs.....ergo, it adds to the force required to come out of the pedals.

For my knee pain (ITBS), Times helped over shimano's due to the increased float on the pedal...I also found them easier to get out of in a pinch...which gave me a bit more confidence riding techy stuff when I first started riding. YMMV.


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## madskatingcow (May 23, 2006)

I've ridden Time Atac XS pedals for almost 5 years. I really like them, as my right knee already had 5 times knee- surgery. I switched to Shimano SPD PDM-970 about year ago. Instantly I noticed knee pain after my first ride, so I re- adjusted the cleats a little, with positive result. First thing to notice was that in tech- sections, where you sometimes turn your heels outwards and your knees inwards, I accidentally unclipped very often with the SPD's. There is very little room to turn your heels or you'll unclip. Uphill over roots and stuff I really had to pay attention to this, and in the end, this caused again knee pain. So I switched back to Time pedals. The 5mm float left to right really enables your foot to acquire it's natural position. Only negative is that the springs do really wear out fast carbon soled shoes, so I might put Crank Brothers shoe shields inbetween my soles and Time cleats to save my soles.


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