I haven't ridden my latest bike much but went for a longer ride today. I felt some ligament stress on my knees, but no pain.

Is this 'pulling' sensation around the knees an indication of the saddle being a bit too low?

I do plan on changing my bar angle as it now feels tilted upwards too much and I also need to tilt my saddle up a bit more.

However, it's the sensation of pedalling with my knees that I'm curious about.

Pain underneath the patella.

For me, legs tiring out before my lungs, no matter what gear I was in. Having more energy on the way home than on the way out.

That's just my experience.

Why do you ask?

Knee pain is always the big one for me. Can appear front, back or side. I like to have my saddle up as far as I can without hips rocking side to side. I get more power that way and don't need to stand as often.

Saddle should be dead level, there's really no alternative as far as I'm concerned, but YMMV.

If your knees don't complain about the saddle too low, you can move onto perpetually sore vastus medialus muscles. That's how I discovered my saddle was in fact too low, after just 1,000 or so miles.



And remember, saddle angle to be determined by anatomy and body position, not fashion.

It just didn’t feel right. I felt I was pedalling using the front of the knee a bit too much.

Assuming the saddle is set up correctly, a too-long crank arm will feel much the same as well.

My knees are talkers. I let them tell me what's okay. I've never had pain from too high a seat (pain in the back) just in front and on the inside. I just kept moving my saddle up by minute increments (less than a mm each time) and rode for a few days to give time to adapt. When the pain went away, I stopped raising the seat. Also, check that the nose of the saddle is perfectly straight or you can stress one side more. Whatever changes you make, give your body time to adapt and react before you move the saddle again.