I'm very new to cycling. I watched "Slaying the badger", got inspired, bought a TREK Madone 3.1 on a whim and decided to get into riding. I've ridden mountain bikes on desert trails casually for the last 20 years. I own a beach cruiser for bar/hopping and going to college football games. I've always owned a bike since i was about 5 (and usually rode them) but never been seriously into cycling.
Anyways, around August 6th I buy the Madone, go riding a few times and have a great time. One day I decide my seat is too low and only raise it a little bit (about an inch). Later I found out an inch is a lot but I was ignorant. I go riding that night and get home and the tendon on the outside back of my knee is sore. I ride again the next day, same problem and I have to cut my ride short. It's sore for about 4 days, mostly a very minor ache only when i flex my knee.
A cyclist tells me I probably raised the seat too high. I don't ride for a week and take advantage of the free bike fitting that came with the bike. What a world of difference that made! (one of the adjustments was lowering the seat) Well, for the first 5 miles, then the tendon started aching again. I try to ride the next day and same problem and I cut the ride short. I decide I must not have healed and it needs time to rest.

I don't ride for 10 days, take the beach cruiser on a 15 mile ride and I feel great, no pain or ache. Thinking I'm healed, I try riding 3 days later and after 5 miles the tendon starts aching. I cut it short. I tried lowering the seat a half inch from the fitting and it helped a little and make it 8 miles the next day before I run into the same problem.

Is is possible there is something wrong with my bike (I did have a nasty wreck the first ride)? Is it possible I really damaged the tendon that badly? I really feel like the bike is continuing to re-injure the tendon. I have never, ever had an injury from just riding a bike. I'm 39 FWIW.

I'm very frustrated, I have a great time on the bike. I read the forum's and I get excited and then I go out and I can't ride 5 miles on the new bike. Any ideas?

Are you riding clipless pedals on the Madone? If you haven't done it yet, you may want to research a bit about q-factors and, if you are using clipless pedals, cleat rotation. I say this because it may be that the beach cruiser bike you have has a wider q-factor (essentially, space between the two pedals) and platform pedals and all of that allows your foot to be in a position that doesn't cause you as much pain. Fortunately, q-factor and cleats can all be adjusted.

You are doing the right thing by not pushing it until you figure out what is causing the issue. Don't want to make things worse!

It's highly unlikely that a brand new rider to road bikes would be on clipless pedals. That said, this sounds like a classic situation where the seat is not positioned properly. Knee pain is almost always an indicator of this and whether or not it's in the front or back tells you a lot.

Ace, take the bike back to your shop and have them watch you pedal for a bit in the parking lot. A good mechanic will be able to look at your pedal stroke and leg extension and adjust your seat based on that. Once you're "dialed in," you won't have anything else to worry about.

why is that? Everyone I know, including myself started on clipless the first day they ever got on a bike.

Position can be finicky and can take some time to dial it in. Instead of asking a bunch of random people who really can't diagnose your situation without being there to see what your problems are, take the bike back in to your bike shop or find another place that will do another fitting. Explain that you already had a basic fitting but are still having pain. Show them specifically where and they can play around with you set up to help make proper adjustments.

I'm sure that's true, but your experience doesn't represent the vast majority of people. Most adopt it relatively soon, if they stick with cycling. But they're not on them from day one, generally.

Bike Fitting Specialists - Cycling Knee Pain

itbs

Thank you all for the responses.

Yes I am using clipless pedals as I transferred them from my mountain bike which I had ridden previously pain free for a couple of years. I have mountain biking shoes I'm using with them that I purchased on at the same time. I did have the professional fitting done and he watched me pedal for a good 5 minutes in the final setup saying it looked perfect.

Is it possible I bent the pedal in a crash? I had the clipless pedal from day one, they installed them for me the day I purchased the bike.

I just read about ITBS and the ache feels like the tendon behind the knee rather that the outside of my knee. It feels like the tendon that connects the hamstring to the knee. I will try going back to the LBS where I purchased it and see if they have any other suggestions. When I read about tendonitis it fit the description but I'm not a doctor so that's an uneducated guess.

Pleasure to meet you. Bikes from Sears didn't have clipless pedals in 1960, when I was five years old, and I didn't go clipless until the early 90s.

First order of business is to be sure you do not still have an ongoing injury to the knee. A visit to your doctor or orthopedist should fix that. If it's not your knee, then it could be any combination of any number of things. Seat height, seat forward adjustment, crank arm length, shoes, pedals, wedges needed on your shoes, etc. See? could be anything. You need a really good fit. Not just driving up to a lbs and asking for the owner to take 15 minutes and fit you, but you need a really good fit. There are two or three that are very, very good. Retul fit and BG fit are two I recommend. If you're riding one bike and it doesn't hurt, but your road bike does, then it's the way the bike is set up. Cycling should cause suffering, not this type of pain.

Yeah I'm with you. The confusing part to me is that I had what I would consider to be a good fitting. It was about an hour and 15 minutes. He had me do a flexibility test, did a bunch of measurements, adjusted seat height, seat forward adjustment, about 3 adjustments on the handle bars. The bike feels like it fits and it comfortable, you know, except for the aching tendon. I wonder if it just hasn't had time to heal yet.

I experienced knee pain when I first started riding road bikes, too.

Is there any swelling associated with the pain? Are you R.I.C.E.ing your knee after your rides? That's the first thing I did, eventually my knee pain disappeared.

1) Ditch the elevator boots, Ace.
2) Find a competent fitter locally and give him some money.
3) Talk to your MD.

Unfortunately, most of the answers weren't responsive to your question/problem. I'll try.

Rule #1 is that you should see a doctor if pain persists. Advice from total strangers is dangerous, even if well meaning.

That said, I had a similar outer knee pain problem and it was the IT band that runs from your hip to your ankle. Had some professional physical therapy but three things helped. The therapist suggested a foam roller to stretch out my legs. (Just Google foam roller) She also suggested stretching my hamstrings and quads with yoga belts. I got yoga belts but some rope would do. I lie on my back and put the belt around the ankle. Then gently pull toward my head. I then flip onto my stomach and pull the ankle towards my head again. The biggest help was getting new shoes. The Specialized BG shoes have a small pad in them that helps align the foot to the knee. Within five miles the shoes made my riding painless. I suppose you could get the Specialized foot pads that come with the wedge and use them in your existing shoes.
The important thing is that I had the same problem as you, went to the doctor and got better. See your doctor. For all we know the people on this forum are the trained moneys and bears riding mini-bikes in the circus, myself included.

See post #7 .

Why? What does itbs mean?

I'd put flat pedals (from the beach cruiser?) on the road bike and see if you still have pain after that 8mi ride. Also are you spinning or slow RPM grinding when you ride?

I suffered through months of knee pain and finally resolved it by having different shoes for different bikes. There was some subtle difference between the fit on at least two of the bikes and the cleat position on the SPD shoes. I wear the wrong shoes and my right knee hurts after ~40mi ... I wear the right shoes and I can ride a 200 miler pain free.

Let me google that for you