I went for a ride earlier and now my knee is killing me!

[DarrenL]

Hi All

I went for a lovely bike ride earlier round a National Trust site. It was Morden Hall Park for those in the know.

Anyway, I haven't cycled for a couple of month due to various reasons but decided this morning I was missing cycling too much so I went for a ride.

After around 15 miles my (dominant) right knee starts to hurt with that generic ache. I'm sure all riders get this at one stage or another.

I suspect the pain is caused by two things:

1- the saddle has dropped/moved
2- My right foot seems to settle at a slightly different angle to my left knee. I use a toe cage.

Luckily an Evan's has opened in Wimbledon so i'll be popping in there at some point.

In the mean time does the collective PH massive have any tips to correct my riding position?

I really wanted to cycle to work tomorrow, but I don't think I should if my knee is hurting me this badly!

Daz

[Justin S]

a saddle too low will give you knee pain,so adjust it better . Make sure that as the crank is at the furthest point away from you, your leg is not fully stretched and you are not moving your pelvis also. Use this as a guidline, as everyone is different.You say you are using toeclips, what kind of footwear are you using?

[Pupp]

I'd consider moving from toe clips to modern clipless pedals, like SPD or egg beaters. Toe clips will hold your foot in one alignment that most probably won't be the alignment your knee prefers; the clipless pedal will keep your foot securely on the pedal whilst allowing significant alignment float that will give your knees a much happier time.

Don't worry about the clipping in/unclipping aspect, it quickly becomes second nature and if you can get in and out of tight toeclips ok, you'll master it in no time.

And make sure that saddle is high enough as said above

[DarrenL]

I'm actually using a foot cage (made a mistake in my orginal post) I have a feeling the seat has slipped down, i'll raise it and see how that goes!

Thanks guys!

[robpearson]

hows the knee today?
you might try doing some other forms of exercise like swimming or a few squats to build up the rest of the muscles around the knee if you find this keeps happening. I had alot of trouble after a snowboard related knee injury and have had to spend ages rebuilding strength to support the joint alignment properly.

[BliarOut]

When sat on the seat normally your heel should be on the pedal when it's at it's lowest point. The saddle should be horizontal (easy to line up on pointing in brickwork if you haven't got a level) and when you put the pedals at the quarter to three position your knee joint should intersect a vertical line with the pedal (plumb) to get the fore and aft positioning right.

[BOR]

It might also be worth forcing yourself to use lower gears than normal. Pushing too high a gear won't do you knee any favours.

[Captain Beaky]

BliarOut said:

When sat on the seat normally your heel should be on the pedal when it's at it's lowest point.

I've seen that advice many times but never with any specification on footwear. For example the difference in hip-to-heel between my MTB SPD shoes and any road shoe will be significant, even if the cleat position is identical. And that's before I get my Bay City Roller boots out

Does anybody have any thoughts on this ?

[BliarOut]

Captain Beaky said:

BliarOut said:

When sat on the seat normally your heel should be on the pedal when it's at it's lowest point.

I've seen that advice many times but never with any specification on footwear. For example the difference in hip-to-heel between my MTB SPD shoes and any road shoe will be significant, even if the cleat position is identical. And that's before I get my Bay City Roller boots out

Does anybody have any thoughts on this ?

Wearing the shoes you typically ride in.

[Captain Beaky]

BliarOut said:

Captain Beaky said:

BliarOut said:

When sat on the seat normally your heel should be on the pedal when it's at it's lowest point.

I've seen that advice many times but never with any specification on footwear. For example the difference in hip-to-heel between my MTB SPD shoes and any road shoe will be significant, even if the cleat position is identical. And that's before I get my Bay City Roller boots out

Does anybody have any thoughts on this ?

Wearing the shoes you typically ride in.

But that doesn't work: my MTB and road SPD shoes would indicate quite different saddle heights, despite having the same cleat position.

[Rolls]

But you'll have road spds, and MTB spds on different bikes, no?

[Captain Beaky]

Rolls said:

But you'll have road spds, and MTB spds on different bikes, no?

Usually, yes, but I'm bilingual

And there's only one correct seat height whatever shoes I wear.

[BliarOut]

Captain Beaky said:

Rolls said:

But you'll have road spds, and MTB spds on different bikes, no?

Usually, yes, but I'm bilingual

And there's only one correct seat height whatever shoes I wear.

It's not that critical, my legs are 2" different in length. You try setting a bike up 'properly' for that

[Captain Beaky]

BliarOut said:

Captain Beaky said:

Rolls said:

But you'll have road spds, and MTB spds on different bikes, no?

Usually, yes, but I'm bilingual

And there's only one correct seat height whatever shoes I wear.

It's not that critical, my legs are 2" different in length. You try setting a bike up 'properly' for that

Crikey. Would you like to buy one Bay City Roller boot ?

[BliarOut]

Is it a left or a right and how much?

[Captain Beaky]

BliarOut said:

Is it a left or a right and how much?

£20 for the pair and I'll throw in a tartan scarf to tie around your wrist

[BliarOut]

Have they got cleats?

[Captain Beaky]

No, but they have a compass in the heel