slvoid

Ok I've looked in the search function, but I gotta ask again. I have horrible knee pain when I'm walking or on the bike, but only in my right knee at the top. When I press on the area where the knee cap is and the surrounding areas, it hurts. I've heard that pain at the top can be caused by having a seat that's too low. But my left one doesn't hurt and both my legs are the same length. I do use my right leg to start a lot from a high gear at the light (too lazy to shift down) so I stand up and mash on that but I don't do it that often, maybe once a day. It started happening out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago and I can't figure it out.

joejack951

I'm in almost the same exact situation, excpet my pain isn't horrible. More like annoying. Right knee hurts a lot more than the left though. Same spot too. My plan is to keep raising my seat until I know it's too high then see how the pain goes. I know I caused mine by taking up mashing for a few weeks. Stupid move and I really regret it now. Hopefully finding the sweet spot with my seat and going back to spinning will get my knees back to their former pain-free state.

timmhaan

i hear your pain. slvoid - this all started during the century tour, right?

i have, for a year now, been trying to dial in my bike just right for me. seems like i adjust one thing and something else hurts, then readjust and another thing hurts. don't forget to adjust fore-aft position on the saddle - i've found that really can affect the stress on the knees.

my other advice (keep in mind i haven't discovered my perfect sweet spot yet) is to make small ajustments, give it two rides of somewhat long distance, then adjust again, ride more, etc... keep a journal of what hurts at what position and at how many miles. hopefully you can get it just right.

slvoid

People warned me about doing the century on my MTB but I felt fine on it. What got me was 2 weeks later when I went to redo a 60 mile section with my gf. I ended up wearing a pair of regular shorts and boxers and it started to rub my butt raw so I had to adjust my riding position a little and that's when the pain started. I suppose I could take a week off to let it heal but I just can't stand getting around by car or subway anymore.
Regarding the fore-aft position, I currently have my seat so that it's slighty behind and the nose dipped slightly forward cause recently I started doing some out of the seat mashing. Maybe that's what caused it but I doubt it cause it all started right after the 60 mile ride with my gf.

slvoid

Have you tried icing it? I put ice on it for 2 hours and it's feeling better now, doesn't really hurt when I walk around. Good thing I'm going home slower tonight.

joejack951

Haven't tried ice yet. I have been trying to stretch more after my rides and also on days when I don't ride. My biggest improvements so far have come from not standing on the pedals for every hill and readjusting my seat position (going higher and moving it back). If the ice is working for you, then I'll give it a try. Through my adjustments, I've gotten to the point where I won't get pain on a 20 mile hard ride but somewhere around 35 miles it starts to creep back up.

slvoid

EEK, 20 miles, forget it, 20 minutes'll do me in.

slvoid

UPDATE: I put one of those large support bands on my knee at work and at home (not in bed though) and it seems to be helping. Plus I think I know what happened. During the NYC century I had a slow fall that twisted my seat so when I undid the QR to fix it, I must've lowered it too and never noticed till now.
So I moved my seat up and back and it feels better. Plus less mashing more spinning.

timmhaan

up and back, eh? i may be going in the wrong direction. i've slowly been moving my saddle forward and my knee pain (on the outside side) seems to be getting a little worse.

slvoid

Well I can't say for sure cause it's only been one day but it seems to be getting better. What helped the most was wrapping my knee while I was at work.
Are there any positions that you "contort" or adjust your riding style to in the middle of riding that seem to alleviate the pain? If so, maybe you can try to adjust the bike to fit that new style.
That's how I found out was I was pushing myself back a lot more and sitting on the back of the seat and using my arms to push myself up while I was pedaling, that's when I figured out that my seat needed to be moved back and up.