leg pain

davecooper

I put a similar post on another forum but did not get a lot of joy. I am getting a pain in the back of my leg after a few miles and would like to know where best to find out why and whether it is a riding position problem. Obviously my doctor can tell me what is hurting but he is not a bike rider so probably cannot advise me on riding position. This is currently bad enough that a 25 mile ride will keep me off the bike for the next two or three days at least.

carlstone

Have you tried warming up and down pre and post ride, also stretching? Also is your saddle comfortable and not pinching nerves etc?

davecooper

It is certainly not as bad if I spend the first few miles spinning in low gear, but this does not seem to be a complete fix. The pain is in the soft area just below the back of the knee joint toward the outside of the leg. It is only in my right leg. It feels as if raising the saddle would improve it but it is already quite high for my size anyway. It also feels as if twisting my foot to bring my heel closer to the chainstay would help. I know I could experiment, but if anyone has any experience of similar then it would be a great help.

powenb

This is a complete guess. But how about trying the Specialized BG inner sole?
The dealer will also be able to get you on a turbo trainer to see if your knees are in line.
If they aren't they put shims in to make your leg line up correctly.

Might be worth a go.

davecooper

Thanks. I hadn't considered going to my dealer for advice. He may be able to spot any problems as soon as he sees me on the bike.

ut_och_cykla

sitting here feeling the top of my calf :oops: my guess would be that you are over reaching with your right leg, overstraining the top outside of your calf muscle. Perhaps your hips lean left, forcing your right leg to overstretch. It wouldn't have to be much to cause inflammation & pain afterwards. Perhaps your cleat is wrong too. Other fitness Q& A pages would suggest a turbo and an observer/video camera to detect faulty position, but perhaps a freindly LBS is easier!

Uranus

rule of thumb (or big toe):

pain in front of leg (quads) - saddle too close to pedals
pain in back of leg - saddle too far from pedals
pain in knees - trying too hard, too soon ( or bad pedal / cleat / shoe position).

rampax

Hi
I get a similar thing:
After about 15 miles of hilly riding I start feeling tight behind the knee.
After about 20 or more, the pain moves to the side of the knee, and becomes really bad eventually.
After seeing various Podiatrists it looks like its down to a combination of causes:
Principally I have poor foot posture - (Forefoot Varus), which causes the knees to twist slightly with each stroke. To aid this I am looking at Shoe orthotics to correct this posture problem.
Also my Illiotibial Bands are very tight, so I am now on a course of stretching to try and loosen them up.
Its likely to take a long time to sort out, as I have been walking/riding incorrectly for 35 years, and am now asking them to work differently. The stretches are killing my hip joints.

I will keep you informed.

redddraggon

I get knee pain, I'd always put it down my playing of too much rugby. But since getting clipless pedals the pain has got worse.

The clipless pedals do not allow me to have my foot at the correct angle without hitting the crank. Because of this my brand new overshoes were destroyed by rubbing on the cranks as well as knackering my knees because of the impossibility of getting the correct angle on the pedals.

rampax

Yes, my "natural" foot position is quite "Charly Chaplin", so I often have problems with my heels clipping cranks, and shoe rubs etc.

Audiolathe

I'm curious to know whether you have tried riding without cleats to see if you still get the pain where you mention?

The location of your pain sounds to me less like an issue of saddle height, (refer to previous advice about saddle too high/low), but more about the position of your foot in your shoe and the position of the shoe on the pedal. Also worth checking is whether your legs are slightly different length, (like mine are and thus I have to compensate with cleat positioning), but to geth started I'd suggest you go on your regular training ride with normal pedals and a good pair of sneakers to compare how that feels for your knee.

If it is indeed an issue of foot position, it may be worth while investigating clipless pedals with more lateral float like TIME RXS for instance, mind you too much float can be a bad thing too... also the position of your foot inside the shoe can make a big difference, hence the earlier reference to Specialised BG shoes..