NZLcyclist

I am currently getting knee pain in my left knee. It seems to be in the joint and not under the knee cap like i normally get from the bad cartilidge there. I only seem to get it when I am riding on my road bike (it appeared last night after 33km when i was in bed) and not when I ride my mountain bike to and from school. I had the pain the other weekend as well but it disappeared, and that is why I couldn't go for a ride with Michael who is watching me and correcting me .

I have Wellgo Look pedals and they are as tight as they will go - I am using the black cleats with no lateral movement - would the red ones be better for me?

Brendon

RacerX

You might as well try the red cleats to see if it helps. I would suggest you see a doctor or athletic therapist as any opinions from the internet may just cause more harm.

The smart thing to do is go easy and see a doctor as soon as possible to diagnose the problem. Knee injuries can become lifelong problems if not treated properly. It may be nothing at all or it may be something serious, so get it looked at!
Good luck

pletcgm

Have you had your bicycle seatpost adjusted by a professional? In all probabilities, your seatpost is too low. That was my problem too. When I went to a professional trainer and he set my seatpost level up, I have never had anymore problems. He put my seatpost up 4 inches. He kept nudging the seatpost up until my right leg was bent at a 30 degree angle when the crank was at 6 o'clock.

DrGonzo

A lot of people have posted this question (as have i) and it seems the most common problem is like what pletcgm was saying about adjusting your seatpost. It's most likely ITBS or whatever, but if it's persistant even after a month of tweaking your seat height definately go see a doctor. Search for knee pain on these forums, you'll find a few threads that are of interest.

NZLcyclist

Well I went for a 68km ride over the waitaker ranges.....a hell ride if you ask me because there is up to 11km of hill at a time.... and my knees are feeling fine! but I do think that perhaps my seat could go up slightly as I have had the bike for about 3 months and I am a fast growing teenager.....!

Brendon

RiPHRaPH

ice the knee for this immediate problem.
try the red cleat for more lateral movement and always try different saddle positions.

corndogggy

I believe I've got ITBS, and from what I've experienced and read, it only happens DURING activity, not afterwards. It's also on the outside of your knee. It's the inflammation of these lubricant sacs that some tendons slide across when you flex your knee. When it gets inflammed, when those tendons slide across them, it hurts. Normally if you quit flexing your leg, it will quit. Since you're fine during activity and it's hurting afterwards while in bed, it might be something else. Running is what kills me. Biking doesn't bother it that much anymore. When it started hurting me, I quit exercising for about 2 years because it hurt so bad. I got fat, then got bound and determined to overcome it, that's why I started biking. I got a thermal neoprene knee brace to ride while biking, and did lots of riding a local 12 mile trail at a lower gear so I'd have higher rpm's but less stress, and the whole time I was on Vioxx. I did that for a month. That was last August. My knee has felt fine while biking ever since, although running still hurts it after a mile and a half or 2 miles. From the end of August until the beginning of Decmeber, I lost 20 pounds just by eating at Subway at lunch and biking that trail 3 times a week.

1oldRoadie

You might also check your "feet to cleat" alignment.

Sit on something high enough that you feet swing free, swing your feet at the knee for a minute, look at you feet and note which way they are pointed (my left foot points way out from an old car accident). Make sure that your shoes when clupped in are pointed the same way as your feet normally point. If not you might be twisting your knee as you rotate around the crank.

1oldRoadie

WOULD SOMEONE VERIFY THAT THE ABOVE MAKES SENSE.

Pat

The first thing to check is your bike fit. Go to someone who has a good reputation and check the fit.

The other thing may be your foot attachment to the pedals. Look's "red" cleats are liked because they let your foot "float" that is vary its angle.

Another thing might just be RPM. The lower your RPM, the greater the pressure on the knee joint. If you feel as if you are "pushing" the pedals, you are probably running too low of an RPM. You should "spin" the pedals. You should at least 80 RPM and 90 RPM is better. Depends on the cyclist though. Lemond ran 80 and Lance runs 100+. I find that when I have knee pain, it comes from getting sloppy and running a low RPM. But everyone is different so that might not be your problem.

Another thing exactly where your knee pain exists is indicative to a degree as to what the problem is. There are a number of cycling books that discuss knee pain in some detail and you might refer to one of them. I don't have any handy right now. Chrondomachlea is felt right behind the patella (knee cap). When I get knee pain - it is on the lateral sides of the knee.

NZLcyclist

I took a few days off, and then started riding with a higher cadence, and using my upper body more when hill climbing etc. No knee pain for a good few weeks now.

Brendon

aerobat

NZLcyclist, sounds like you've got it licked, might just have been from starting unacustomed exercise. One of the books Pat refers to is "Bicycling Medicine" by Arnie Baker. He has a good section on knee pain there, and covers seat height as well as pedal adjustments.

1oldroadie it makes sense to me! I've got a heck of an angle in one of my SPD cleats, and now that I think of it, it's the same leg I broke once.