TheCannon

Hello guys and gals,

Been on my first three rides and all was great except my 3rd ride. I am experiencing some top of the knee pain. It's more of a soreness pain rather than pain from an injury. I'll give you some history.....

I just completed 11 years in the Coast Guard as a boat operator and law enforcement officer. My last year in the USCG I was experiencing knee pain from operating surf boats for many years. Docs said I had a torn meniscus. I had surgery just two months ago. I use to love jogging but can't do that anymore for now. I decided to get a bike to stay fit. My first two rides (2 miles then 5 miles) were great. Yesterday I went on a 8 mile ride and now the top of my knee caps on both legs are sore. I've never felt this in my knee before but it's frustrating. I'm tired of having knee issues. I thought cycling would help keep me fit and also be therapeutic from my recent surgery.

I was thinking during my ride that maybe my seat was too low. I read that a seat thats too low can make the muscles in your hips and quads twist causing patella knee pain. My wrists, arms, shoulders, and back of the neck were also getting fatigued during the ridge after about 3 miles. I am wearing normal running shoes with the stock pedals with cage.

I am going to start focusing on hip workouts at the gym on non riding days. I also want to setup my bike so that I am more comfortable and reduce possible injury, the problem is I don't know how. The seat was adjusted during the fitting but I was wearing sandals with hardly any soles. Wearing shoes with a thicker sole makes me believe I need to adjust the seat higher now.

Questions:

How high does the seat need to be? What's the proper leg angle when the pedal is all the way down? How should I adjust the bars to reduce wrist, shoulders, and neck fatigue? What is the best position for my feet on the pedals?

Thanks guys! I am really loving this sport/hobby and I don't want to give it up like I had to with jogging.

ShortLegCyclist

It may not be just the seat height, the other thing that has caused me knee pain is referred to as the Q factor, or the distance between the two pedals.

If too narrrow or too wide, you will get knee pain.

Because you are coming off an injury, I would suggest you invest in a professional bike fitting session at a local bike shop.

They can get you set up perfectly for your body and give you better advice than is possible to get on any internet forum where none of us can see you in action live.

after the fitting, take pictures of how the bike is set up, where the saddle is, where the seat height is, how high the handlebars are, etc.

And yes, you should always be fitted in the same gear you will be riding with. Changing shoes to thicker or thinner soles changes everything just as it would if you grew an inch or shrank an inch in height.

Jarrett2

McBTC

It's probably chrondo malacia (no, I'm not a doctor be very skeptical) if the 'pain' seems to in the patella and if so, work on spinning lower gears more an pushing higher gears less.

fietsbob

May be trying to go too fast and straining unnecessarily . enjoy a slower pace. use your 'in the marina' speed..

Ursa Minor

The basic rule for seat height is that your knees should be over the pedals when riding. If the seat is low you will see your knees flare out to the side. If the seat is too high your hips will rock back and forth.


Charlie

TheCannon

Just called the store I bought my bike from and asked what a professional bike fitting consists of. Wow! They definitely did not fit me properly when I bought the bike. All they did was find the right size frame and raise the seat a bit. I'm on my way there now to get properly fit.

Machka 

Read this article to give you an idea about what causes knee pain ...
CYCLING PERFORMANCE TIPS - Leg, Knee, and Hip Pain

jfowler85

First thing I thought of, too.

TheCannon

Great article! I just got my bike fit so we will see what happens. I need a couple days off though to allow my knees to recover. I think the problem was a poor fitting to the bike and I was riding in the higher gears lower cadence to get a greater workout. I will stay in the low gears and raise the cadence to see if that helps.

alcjphil

Riding at low cadence in high gears is a typical new cyclist mistake. Another is to start off much too quickly. You need to allow muscles to warm up before you increase effort.If I were doing an 8 mile ride, at least half that distance would be dedicated to warming up. In fact, many reasonably fit new cyclists could go much farther had they taken the first 15 minutes of their ride to their warmup. Starting too quickly could also be a factor for you, so the next time you go out give your body a chance to warm up before you push at all

TheCannon

Will do thank you!