Clipless pedals for wonky knee / crooked lower leg

I've been struggling with this and although I'm fairly sure most other people don't experience this exact problem because their bodies aren't wonky, but I'm hoping people on here will have some helpful input.

So basically my right lower leg is on crooked. I'm not disabled (it's not like my foot is on at a 90 degree angle), but when I stand with both knees facing forward my right foot points out to the right somewhat. It's not a hindrance in day to day life but it does mean that I have some troubles with clipless pedals.

When pedaling along my heel has a tendency to hit the chain stay. In an attempt to counter this I adjusted my cleat to limit the inward motion of my heel. Trouble with that is that when I want to unclip, I have to swing my heel out even further than I'd normally have to, because I have to pick up all of the float first, before the unclipping mechanism engages, while the swinging out of the heel is already more difficult to do because that's exactly what my crooked foot doesn't want to do.

So I'm looking for input. I could try a zero float cleat on the right foot, but there seem to be a lot of stories of people buggering up their knees with those. Are they universally bad? I suppose I could also try one of those pedal axle extenders to give my heel some extra clearance? Are there different systems (I've tried SPD, SPD-SL and Look) that don't require the heel swing to unclip?

Thanks for any input!

Speedplay Zero seems to be the go-to solution for wonky individuals (myself included).

Speedplay?

Try a zero float cleat, but don't go for a 200k ride straight away. Ideally ride on a turbo or go for smaller rides to test if the knee tracks properly and there's no discomfort.

Another recommendation for Speedplay Zero. Cost more. Well worth it.

I only found this out recently, but there are two types of SPD cleat if it might help. One is a single-action turn the heel out to unclip, the other is a multi-release action where you can either turn the heel out or pull your heel up to unclip. The two types are SH51 which is single action and SH56 is the multi-release one.

I think your pedal spacers are a good idea anyway. What you don't want to be doing is forcing your foot into a position where it doesn't drop to naturally. If you do that, you'll just be transferring unnatural load to your ankle, knee or hip and it'll cause longer term problems. Higher Q mountain bike cranks may also help because the outward bend in the crank will give you a bit more midfoot/heel clearance. With a square taper setup you'll also be able to run a wider crank axle which will also buy you a few extra mm heel clearance from the stays.

How wonky? Is this overpronation?
Is your foot turning out to compensate for you arch being a little fallen and your ankle rolling in, or is this something else?

I have this same problem. I have addressed it by having custom orthotics built by a real foot doctor (not a bike fit guru or a bloke in a running shop)

I use these in my running shoes and bike shoes, my feet point forwards and I don’t suffer knee pain and I’m fine with clipless.

With any type of clipless (I think) you should be able to unclip by pivoting your heel inwards as well as outwards.

Obviously requires you to have the crank etc in the right position and you might have to use your hand to give the heel a bump but would save overcoming the float.

Thanks for all the valuable input guys. It’s not overpronation as far as I know, I haven’t seen a physiologist about it but my shoe soles seem to wear pretty evenly. It’s just like there’s a twist in my fibula/tibia, from an early age I got made fun of by classmates because my right foot flared out when running. But my knee and foot work as normal and I don’t have pain during or after rides. I just have to stop that heel hitting the chain stay.

Come to think of it, I recently built up a Pompino with a square taper bb from an old mtb because that’s what I had. I intended to replace it with a shorter spindle one but it’s actually been really comfortable (with platform pedals mind). I think I’ll try the pedal extenders in combination with blue SPD-SL cleats (worth a try? Or might as well just immediately try red cleats?) as it’s an economic way of trying to solve the issue as compared to Speedplay Zeros, which I may explore if this doesn't work.

About the latter: I don’t have any experience with them but from what I read they just offer more (and adjustable) float. I’m not sure that’s really what I need, what do people like about them?

Speedplay are popular with people who suffer knee/ankle pain because (I think) they offer unsprung float.

I think there’s 2 schools of thought with float and knee pain. One says more float is better as it allows the knee to find its natural position, the other says that a properly set up zero float system is better because it keeps the knee where it should be.

I think the idea is that the zero float should click out earlier in the twist.
But my suggestion like many others would be upgrade to speedplays.

And how exactly will the speedplays stop the feet from hitting the chainstay? If anything, will make the problem worse

Well you can adjust float in each direction on the cleats. I kept clipping my ankle on my crank arms rather painfully, wound in the screw so my feet can float outwards but not in.

It may be worth reading Steve Hogg's view on Speedplay pedals: https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/04/road-pedals-which-are-best/

I think the idea is that the zero float should click out earlier in the twist.

Yes that's exactly my idea, but I have to agree with:

And how exactly will the speedplays stop the feet from hitting the chainstay? If anything, will make the problem worse

As for

Well you can adjust float in each direction on the cleats. I kept clipping my ankle on my crank arms rather painfully, wound in the screw so my feet can float outwards but not in.

It seems that with Speedplays I'd have to limit inward float to stop my heel hitting the chain stay and crank arm, and also limit outward float to be able to unclip as my weird leg doesn't allow my heel to swing out very far. So it seems that I'd effectively end up with (close to) zero float anyway.

Pedal axle extender and blue cleats are on the way, will let you know how it works out.

You can just adjust any cleat so your feet doesn't float "in". But if he wants to ride with a foot pointing outwards that will force the foot to pedal straight, risking injury

I didn't suggest speedplays. Just answering your question. You can limit inward twist but yeah you want the natural angle. Speedplays come with all sorts of length spindles though so potential for no extenders there too.