Postural observations when riding - knee pain

birdy247

Ok,

So I know the obvious answer is get a bike fit (its a ££ thing at the moment), and I can cycle pain free 90% of the time + I have already had my cleats pro fitted.

I only notice the knee pain when doing a longer, harder ride and usually when I back off the pace i.e. when I am cooling down. However, a few things I have noticed when I ride (when I really think about it)

- after long periods pain just below the front of the knee cap (goes when I stop/rest), ITB/quad stretches seem to help this. - like a burning sensation.
- sit slightly to the right on the saddle (i then shift back to the centre)
- right side sometimes feels tighter/it is working harder?
- my right foot is very slightly more toe down than the left
- my left foot points slightly outward so knee comes closer to the top tube than on right
- slight bit more pressure on left hand side on handle bars (noticed in tricep).

Given the above observations, would anyone have any suggestions.

p.s I know this is a long shot

Thanks in advance

RoadieBob

Try lowering the saddle a few mm (2-3 at a time). From -

- sit slightly to the right on the saddle (i then shift back to the centre)
- right side sometimes feels tighter/it is working harder?
- my right foot is very slightly more toe down than the left

maybe your right leg is shorter than your left?

birdy247

RoadieBob wrote:

Try lowering the saddle a few mm (2-3 at a time). From -

- sit slightly to the right on the saddle (i then shift back to the centre)
- right side sometimes feels tighter/it is working harder?
- my right foot is very slightly more toe down than the left

maybe your right leg is shorter than your left?

I have thought this, when I look in the mirror, i notice that (very slightly), my left shoulder is ever so slightly higher than my right. Does that fit with the theory?

RoadieBob

I don't think it's quite as simple as that - I guess it could be, but there could be loads of reasons. I'm not a fitness professional of any kind, just have a casual interest in these things and have first hand knowledge of some of the effects of a saddle being too high, one being a tendency to sit off-centre.

birdy247

Thinking about a chrio + x-ray (i have found one which does this), to check any discrepancies, what you reckon?

RoadieBob

IMHO (and as I stated it is just my humble opinion), if you take your cycling (and other exercise for that matter) seriously and put in lots of miles, it would be worth getting to the bottom of the issue, as trying to work through it could well result in exacerbating the problems you have, and subsequently taking much longer to correct. If one of your legs is genuinely shorter than the other, then this would probably need correcting through the use of shims.

As far as I know the only way to find out if you have a genuine leg length discrepancy is to have an x-ray. By 'genuine' leg length discrepancy, I mean a bone in one leg is actually shorter than on the other leg, as opposed to a functional difference like a tightness in the hip on one side causing a difference in the effective range of motion of each leg.

As you mentioned in your OP that you're on a budget, you might want to send your query to the fitness Q&A at cyclingnews.com (and have a read through some old posts), as Steve Hogg, who is on their panel, seems to have a great reputation as a bike fitter, and speaks a lot of sense.