unusual pain above the left knee

philbar72

recently, I've been having a minor issue with my left knee, or rather the quadriceps tendon, during warm ups (it subsides after a while) it feels genuinely quite painful and if I am doing a training loop where I am pushing hard, the lower part of my leg also freezes up (not sure on the terminology there). I also notice that my cleat position on my left foot is incredibly sensitive, and I am persistently changing it.

I'm wondering if I need small shims as my left leg is very very slightly shorter than my right. my right leg has no issues.

if I'm not riding too hard the pain goes away pretty quickly. any advice folks?

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Leg warmers to stop knee area getting cold in autumn weather?

philbar72

its seemingly not about temperature, oddly. I've had a knee injury in may and its affected my sprint, I'm worndering if everything is aligned as it should be. I might get a consultation...

kingrollo

Do you use footbeds ? might be worth a shot

and/or if you don't already some sort of yoga stretching regime.

bungalballs

Maybe ask a friend to follow you and see if one hip drops more than the other with each pedal stroke. If so, maybe drop your saddle a bit, but even better go for a proper bike fit.

philbar72

I'm all bikefitted up. position is seemingly perfect and the hips are good I do plyometrics and yoga.

might try dropping the saddle a mm or 2, just to see what the impact is.

zefs

If it started at the time you increased training load it could be an overuse injury. Correct bike fit would not cause pain.
For the cleat, you could mark the back (or start) of the 1st metatarsal of your foot and place the center of the cleat there, if your feet point at a direction when walking you should use a slight angle as well (it's the opposite when looking at the cleats).

Do you feel the shoe dragging your foot on one side?

philbar72

zefs wrote:

If it started at the time you increased training load it could be an overuse injury. Correct bike fit would not cause pain.
For the cleat, you could mark the back (or start) of the 1st metatarsal of your foot and place the center of the cleat there, if your feet point at a direction when walking you should use a slight angle as well (it's the opposite when looking at the cleats).

Do you feel the shoe dragging your foot on one side?

good pointers. the shoe doesn't drag, it just feels nowhere near as stable as the other foot. on the first choice bike I think the sensible thing is to check the pedals as well as they may be worn, and also check the cleats again.

zefs

Not stable as in it moves within the shoe? or you feel like reaching for the pedal?
If it's the first are you sure it's the correct shoe size? (should feel snug), also check if the arch support is correct. If it's the second could be a too high saddle.

philbar72

that's the thing. shoes feel good, arch support doesn't feel bad either, though that makes me think, I tried some new insoles. I think if I drop the saddle a mm or 2 I think that'll help. will give that a go.