Originally Posted by
NiGoCo
So my yearly checkup is next month. That's when I'm going to bring this up to my doctor. But what I'm wondering is what would be a reasonable expectation?
Should I expect to be able to ride 8 miles twice a day without knee pain? Or is that just to much to ask for?
I haven't ridden since I posted this. My knees are still hurting even worse. Now my right knee has pain with normal walking.
I am willing to do whatever I need to do to get my knees back. I'm just not sure if that's even a reasonable expectation.
I was reading through your commuter build thread (awesome, BTW) and just wanted to drop you a note that we're similarly sized at 6'0" and 34" inseam. I run my saddles now at about 30 1/2" from center of crank to level top of saddle along the seat tube/seat post. If it moves more than about 1/4" up or down, I get a little pain after 20 miles or so. I run flat pedals and have to be mindful of the sole thickness of whatever shoes I'm wearing. Q/R seat post makes adjustments quick and easy. I have a little arthritis in addition to other issues, but I can say with certainty that having my saddle too high and too far forward was the source of a lot of unnecessary pain for me. It took me about a year to get it dialed in. It usually takes me about 3 weeks, 400-500 miles to get completely adjusted to fit changes, i.e. saddle height, bar height/angle, etc. Changing my saddle height even only 1/8" has me feeling like I'm pedaling in squares for a few days. My knee pain was the worst when my saddle height was 31 1/2" or so, or higher. I had a really hard time figuring out saddle height. For me, inseam x .883 was the best starting point and tweak slightly for best comfort from there.
I went straight into a 25 mile R/T bike commute from nearly zero riding. If I had it to do over, I'd have started on a hybrid or MTB like yours with a triple rather than road bikes with big handlebar drops and steep double gearing. I ride a hybrid with a triple now with drop bars added for comfort.
Not saying that I think your saddle height is wrong or your overall fit isn't right or anything, just wanted to share my experience. Hopefully things will improve for you soon. Knee pain is hard.