Road Cycling - Starting to get knee pain...

On the very top of my knee cap like where the muscle starts... On rides longer than 50 miles, it really starts to bug me.. Is this something that say pedals with more float may help? I really have no clue whats causing it...I've tried moving my foot around a little and it doesn't seen to do much.. I've got lots and lots of miles planned for the next couple months... heh... I can't afford to be slowed down! :)


Thanks for any advice or tips or whatever.. :)

i'd say either lower the seat by a smidge or scoot the seat up a bit. i doubt that its the float (usually lateral knee pain there)

i'd say either lower the seat by a smidge or scoot the seat up a bit. i doubt that its the float (usually lateral knee pain there)

I was thinking I may need to raise the seat... but thats where the guy at the bike shop put it.. and I know I'd probably never find a good spot if I move it..lol... I'll give it a try though..

[Hi
Knee pain is generally a fit problem if it is happening over the long haul. You may want to try pedals or cleats with more float to them. When I try to use the black nonfloating cleats on my look pedals I get pain over distance where I do not with the red 7 degree float cleats.
Hope it helps

I started experiencing a bit of knee pain. Using Look 396s with red cleats so float was not an issue. I moved my saddle around a bit - by the way the saddle is new this year. I moved it a bit in all directions; up, down, forward, back. I think I found the position that suits me best - a bit farther back and a bit higher than what my previous stock saddle was set at. So the last couple of rides no discomfort in the knee nor the crotch.

Each year from about Feb through May I've experience knee pain in this area- except this year. I describe mine as discomfort, because it's not painful so much as aggravating. Around May/June the discomfort would ease off until it went away completely.

This year I did no speed nor hill work until I had a base of around 800 miles and I've had no problems. Another thing I did was buy knee warmers, which I now wear anytime the temp is below 70 degrees.

I think part of my knee problem is just age. I've been a runner and a serious cyclist for some time now and it seem that my body (knees particularly) need a slow build up before I stress them too much.

Good luck with your knees. It's no fun when you have a major joint like that bothering you.

On the very top of my knee cap like where the muscle starts... On rides longer than 50 miles, it really starts to bug me.. Is this something that say pedals with more float may help? I really have no clue whats causing it...I've tried moving my foot around a little and it doesn't seen to do much.. I've got lots and lots of miles planned for the next couple months... heh... I can't afford to be slowed down! :)


Thanks for any advice or tips or whatever.. :)

i would suggest trying different saddle positions. forward and back, etc... according to a biking book i'm reading now, a line drawn from the top of the knee cap should bisect the middle of your pedal when the crank is at the 3 o'clock position. it's probably easist to have someone look at you on a trainer to get this measurement right. try pedaling for a while trying different fore\aft positions on the saddle.

My guess is that your seat is too low!!

Seat height can be a very tricky thing to adjust. You have to move by millimeters at a time and then ride for a bit 50-100 miles over a week before going any further. If you jump it up too fast you are going to DEFINETELY feel pain!!

I would make a small mark where you are now and move up a couple of mm at a time.

My experience (and trial and error pain) is that pain at the top of the knee is from the sadle being too low and pain in the inside aspect under the knee cap is from it being too high. The Old School way to find the RIGHT seat height is to sit on a trainer (or get a friend to hold your bike up) and unclip so you can put the heel of your shoe on the pedal. When your leg is straight or just the SLIGHTEST bit hyperextended you have what should be a good height for you. DO NOT JUST GO TO THIS HEIGHT RIGHT AWAY!! YOU WILL DEFINETELY CAUSE DAMAGE AND PAIN!! Make the transition slowly over time.

Depending on the pedals you are using changing to one with more float may or may not help. I use SPD's and once I got my seat position (height and fore/aft) set up right the pain in my knees went away!!

Nothing against the LBS you use, but some people are better fitters than others. If your problem continues, go to a high end shop that caters to Tri guys or more adanced riders and pay the $75 for a professional fit (probably using a fit bike). Then you will know where it needs to be and they will advise you on how to gradually adjust the fit to get there without injury.

Good luck...Bill