jetski

I've only been riding a couple of months now, and mostly off-road, until about the last three weeks. The first time on the road I went with a group of guys on about a 25 mile ride. Half way through the ride I started getting a slight pain in my right knee. I made it the rest of the ride, but by the end, was in considerable pain trying to pedal. I get off my bike, and I can walk around just fine. The pain comes when I have to put pressure on it (squatting-walking up stairs will do it). Feels like the pain is going right through my knee cap almost. Anyway, it gets better after a couple of days. I road the off-road trail about three days after that day, and had some pain, but never got bad again while I was on the trail. Later that day, lots of pain. Got better again in a few days. 4 days after that, I did another 20 miles on the road. Did alright on that ride, never really started hurting too much. 5 days after that, today, I rode just 10 miles on the road, and didn't have too much trouble, but after the ride, started having pain again. Now it really hurts when I put any pressure on it (walking up stairs- sqatting down and standing back up). I had some suggestions that seat hieght could have been the problem, but I feel as though I have properly ajusted the seat height wise anyway since the first ride. Any suggestions to what might be the problem would be greatly appreciated.

velocipedio

The problem is almost certainly related to seat position. I say this because knee pain in road cycling is almost always related to seat position. Try raising or dropping your seat by about 2 mm. That could be all it takes. You migh also want to look into the fore/aft position of your saddle. It could be that you're over extending your knee on the downstroke. Put your bike on a trainer, or have someone hold it while you sit on it. Use a plumb-bob to to see whether, when your right crank arm is at 3:00 [the pedal forward and parallel with the ground], the front of your knee is exactly in line with the pedal axle.

You might want to bring your bike to your LBS to have a complete fit done.

jetski

thanks for the info. I think the seat may be a little far back. I think I might talk to the LBS and see about getting them to help me out. I really want to start putting in some miles, and don't want this to be a problem. Hope that something simple will fix it.

aerobat

If you're using clipless pedals, that could be a cause as well. Check the amount of "float", and your foot position when you're clipped in.

You might want to check out the book "Bicycling Medicine", by Arnie Baker. He has a section on knee pain, related to seat position and clipless pedals.

Good Luck!

pat5319

On the plumb-bob suggestion- measure from you TIBIAL TUBEROSITY, the bump at the top of your Tibia just below your knee-cap. The 'bob line should bisect for general purpose, be just behind your pedal axle for better climbing, a bit forward for time-trials or sprinting. If you adjust the fore-aft you will need to adjust height to compensate for change in position
You may have developed Tendonitis or Chondromalasia, see an Orthopedic Surgeon, preferably one that rides. If you get on this fast enough you may avoid Surgery and just need some therapy. I hope you don't have either condition, but SEE A DOCTOR so you'll KNOW what's going on, BEFORE it gets worse. I've BEEN there, it ain't pretty- especially if you wait.

NOBODY HERE, including myself, can tell you for sure what the problem is and any suggestions could hurt as well as help. If the pain is in the back of the knee, raising the saddle could make it worse!

Ride Smart
Pat

jmlee

Ditto on the seat position. I had knee problems early this year and eventually figured out that my seat was a full 3 cms too high (even though I thought it was right). Ditto on pedal float. Speedplays helped me.

One rule of thumb: pain in the front of the knee means the seat is likely too low, pain behind the knee means it is likely too high.

Also, don't forget that changes in fore-aft position will change the height and vice versa.

Last, but surely not least, make sure that you are not pushing too high a gear, especially on the hills. IMHO, one should keep the cadence above 90 rpms in general and above 70 rpms even on the toughest hills.

Cheers,
Jamie

oceanrider

Don't know what kind of shape you and your knees were in before you started riding. If you were sedentary and just suddenly started hammering, you possibly may have caused some damage to the cartilege. I have a torn miniscus and what you're describing sounds a bit similar to what I go through with the exception that my pain is aggravated by walking. Until the problem resolves, I would suggest you keep it in lower gears and change the position of your saddle as the others have suggested above. If that doesn't help, a trip to a sports minded ortho dude might be in order so they can have a look see with an MRI.

bikehard700

I have the same problem you have... it is the patella tendon. I have had it for years.
I have had surgery on both knees, but the surgeon said bicycling was the second best thing I could do for them,
swimming has less impact, and considered better.
That said, I find the only time I have the pain is;

1) To many big hills in a week (sucks, cause I love hills),
2) When I ride the big chainring to much.

I have had to learn to do most of my riding on the middle ring, I'll use the big ring on descents, and long flat stretches, but no hard "hammering" in the big ring. I climb hills above 5% on the "granny" ring. I don't race, so this works for me.
I think you should check the seat position, as suggested, but if the pain continues... take it easy on climbing, and stay off the "big ring", as much as you can. Don't ride with a group if they ride hard and fast, if you can't.

BTW, you'll be able to do the milage... I'm putting in over 200+ a week, and usually a century for the weekly "long" ride.

Good luck.

jetski

Thank you everybody for the input. I realize that nobody is going to be able to tell me what "my" problem is, but just wanted some opinions from some of you that have had some knee problems also. I really appreciate it. I've never had any kind of knee problems before, and this is very frustrating. I think I might have to give up the weekly group ride for know, cause I'm definetely having to push myself to keep up, and this very well may be adding to the problem. I don't use clipless, just regular pedals for now. I'm also just starting to get back into shape. I also really don't know anything much about correct positioning, except for what people have suggested to me. I really want to avoid a trip to the doc since they always try to drain me of all my money, but will go if this doesn't go away on its own. I'm going to the LBS as soon as I can to see if they can help me with positioning, and then take it easier than I have been for a while, and see if I can't work through this. Thank you everybody again for ideas, and suggestions.