Cyclocross - knee pain

so on yesterdays maiden voyage on my CX bike I found that while I am on pavement I am getting some knee pain on the front of my left knee cap. I noticed though once I was on the trails the knee pain went away and everything was good. On my way back home once I hit pavement again my knee started to hurt.

Any suggestions on a starting point? I imagine I may have to adjust my cleats. Maybe move the seat. I am trying to avoid the $150 bikefit.

thanks

Frontal knee pain can indicate the saddle being to low, too far forward or even too far back.

I would try to set it up just like your other bikes (assuming you have some that don't hurt you) in terms of saddle height/fore/aft and cleat position.

Did you change your crank length? Going from a 170 to a 175 or so can feel very different to your knees.

Are you somehow riding in a different position when on the road vs off road? This can be pretty common if you are going to the drops vs upright and casual pedaling. Many of us move on the saddle a little bit to compensate for surface and wind conditions. A slide forward to get more power can result in the same effect as lowering your saddle as far as your knees are concerned.

Knee pain can be a killer and has to potential to wreck a season for you. I had an ITB flair up a couple of years ago on a freezing cold 60 miler and had to limp home. My ITB has been sensitive ever since. My advice....figure it out before it gets you....DON'T RIDE THROUGH IT.

thanks dude. now that I think of it yeah, the crank arms on my TCR and my fixie are 170mm. The crank arms on the JtS are 172.5mm...

I'll play with the seat adjustments too.

How funny, we both have TCR road bikes and Kona Cx bikes....just sayin....

It's amazing how the smallest adjustments can affect a ride. I'd been having knee pain (outside part of the knee...probably ITB related) on my road bike for a while. Finally adjusted the saddle forward (about 5mm) to match the position on my cross and fixed gear bikes. Made all the difference in the world.

Another contributor could be the Q factor. I've found on triple cranks I'm much more prone to knee pain than on a crank with a narrower Q.

Hrmm... I'm not sure about the Q-Factor. Both bikes is SRAM/ Truvativ cranks and are compact doubles.

i had the same issue... i adjusted me seat and it solved the problem