Knee pain

rock_bus
rock_bus Posts: 35
Suffered with severe knee pain yesterday so like some advice on poss adjustments.
Pain on front and left side of my left knee.
Right knee fine so think it might be cleats (too much play?) or saddle position rather than saddle height?!?
Anyone have any ideas of possible cause and tips or links to good sites for getting cleat and saddle position right ?

Ps yes, if I can't sort myself I'll invest in a proper bike fit! :wink:

Comments

  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 16,434
    for ideas, try...

    http://www.cptips.com/knee.htm

    also...
    https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bi ... can-it-be/
    ...look at the list of other articles, there're some good ones on saddle position

    if you get knee pain take it seriously, back off until you know the cause and have a solution

    fwiw i had a few years of intermittent knee issues before finding a physio who found the causes and the solution, now i have a combination of footbeds, wedges and a shim, but no pain
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • john1967
    john1967 Posts: 366
    i had similar problem with my right knee.Regular use with a foam roller helped to cure it.
  • Knee pain is a symptom of a whole LOT of things.
    -You're going at nominal speeds and efforts before warming up
    -You're climbing steep hills before warming up
    -Your resting day is overdue
    -You're not stretching (properly or enough)
    -You're developing a chronic injury
    -Your saddle isn't positioned correctly (Height and distance from BB)
    -You're not pedalling correctly
    -Your cleats are not adjust correctly (it's not uncommon for riders needing each cleat adjusted differently.
  • bluemoon17
    bluemoon17 Posts: 718
    Been suffering with severe knee pain for a month now. Have taken two blocks of ten days rest with a 20 minute turbo session at the end of each and still struggling with it.

    Haven't made any changes to my position, but it did start to occur after my first long hilly ride in a few months. Anybody got any suggestions other than to try another 10 days rest and check again?

    I haven't had a bike fit, although I am certainly open to the idea of it.
  • Would definitely recommend a bike fit, obviously they do vary from place to place, but i'm sure you can get recommendations locally. I have just had one & the fitter gave me loads of tips, & was very helpful.
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    Link below to various knee problems and cleat position.
    http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/t ... t-2-17445/
  • As previous replies have said, it could be a multitude of things but as john1967 has mentioned a great place to start is foam rollering and stretching. In my experience if the bike set up is roughly correct then knee problems often come from tension or tightness in your hip flexor, IT band or the various thigh muscles above the knee.

    Time to get stretching!!!!!
  • JohnGill10
    JohnGill10 Posts: 1
    Delighted to find this, and appreciate everyone's tips.

    Starting having getting pain in right knee while spinning over winter, which translated into riding my road bike out on the roads. naively went out for a ride without sorting out the problem and compensated for the pain by pushing more through my left leg to get through it - now the pain in my left knee is severe and I haven't ran or cycled for almost 3 weeks.

    time to sort it out!
  • kingrollo
    kingrollo Posts: 3,198
    As previous replies have said, it could be a multitude of things but as john1967 has mentioned a great place to start is foam rollering and stretching. In my experience if the bike set up is roughly correct then knee problems often come from tension or tightness in your hip flexor, IT band or the various thigh muscles above the knee.

    Time to get stretching!!!!!

    Pretty much this.

    One thing though - don't assume that resting is always the answer. I went to see a physio with knee pain - she poked and prodded - reckoned it was a bit of roughness at the back of the knee cap. She said that provided your not in agony cycling might actually warm the knee up and help - but mimimize hills.

    I raised my saddle a few MM - and rode and it does seem to better when I have cycled in the last day or two.
  • Websta24
    Websta24 Posts: 162
    I've suffered with knee pain in the past, you can spend hours on end adjusting bits and pieces on the bike without finding any real remedy. You may make an adjustment that works but then has negative effect elsewhere!

    Best bet is to make an appointment with a bike fitter that also has a physio background.

    I had a fit and the first hour focused completely on myself, my flexibility, limitations etc and that was the basis in which he then completed the rest of the fit. He completely moved my cleats and added insoles into my shoes to correct an imbalance. Since then I've had no pain and i'm more comfortable than ever on the bike (funny that)
  • thebikerdude93
    thebikerdude93 Posts: 15
    edited March 2018
    Why not try some gel insoles to stop the shock damaging your knee and then do some resistance band training?

    http://footreviver.com/product/work-boot-shock-resistant-insoles/

    https://nuovahealth.co.uk/product-category/resistance-bands/
  • Not the answer here but a general comment to many of you with longer term knee pain/ soreness etc. After years of sports ( football, squash, hillwalking etc etc ) my knees are pretty much shot and I've needed two operations. I've taken cod liver and Glucosamine Sulphate daily and truly makes a huge difference. No more finding it hard to walk at night and I'm able to do everything comfortably. Stopped taking it a couple of months ago out of interest and left knee started playing up again so went straight back to them and no issues since.
    If you do take I would suggest taking half dose for a few days initially.
    Really has given me a new lease of life!
  • reacher
    reacher Posts: 416
    Speedplay, worked for me, no more problems. The differance was astounding almost immediately
  • stevewj
    stevewj Posts: 227
    reacher wrote:
    Speedplay, worked for me, no more problems. The differance was astounding almost immediately

    same here having tried SPDs, Crank Bros and Look - Zero's did the job.
  • For quite a while I suffered from patella tendonitis; a persistent pain at the front of the knee below my knee cap, either on the bike or when walking down hill. I think thus may have been caused by too much mashing in high gear on hills soon after I started cycling seriously. I was recommended to move my cleat as far back as possible on my shoe, for me this worked very well with the pain reducing over a few weeks and now not noticeable at all
    I want to climb hills so badly;
    and I climb hills so badly