I'm 36 and I've been riding fixed for several months now and have been loving every minute of it.
I have skated for years, and though I rarely experience any sort of prolonged knee pain, it would happen on occasion when sitting in a weird position or crouching for any extended period of time and would get some mild aches and pains here and there.

I hadn't had a bike for years and shortly after I started riding I found that my knees felt better than they had felt in a long time. Strengthening my muscles and using my knees had done away with the aches and pains, and crouching or sitting cross legged wasn't as uncomfortable anymore.

All was going well until I went to the velodrome and blasted around the track without being warmed up.
My gearing was 48x17, which isn't very high, so I probably maxed out at 30-35mph at around 158rpm's.
Let's just say my legs were going up and down REALLY fast. I was also wearing toe clips and straps and I usually ride with Time ATAC's, as my old knees appreciate the float. I'm also slightly bow legged and I had been experimenting with my saddle height and it was apparently a tad on the high side that day as my ham strings and the area behind my knees got tight. The day after this experience my knees were screaming at me and they haven't been right since.

After doing some research online I found that Iliotibial Band Syndrome is pretty common among cyclists as I'm exhibiting a lot of the symptoms (soreness just above and towards the outside of the knee area, tightness on the outsides of my thighs from my hip to my knees) and it seems that having slightly bowed legs would make me more susceptible to it. A friend referred me to his orthopedist, but I've been holding off as I don't have any insurance and it's going to be a minimum of $150 to see him. So I've been off my bike for over a week now, and probably will be for a minimum of six weeks altogether. I've been icing and raising my knees, warming them, massaging my thighs or having them massaged, taking Aleve to reduce swelling as my knees tend to get sore if I do a lot of walking or am on my legs for any period of time, trying to move around as little as possible. I've found some stretching exercises that I can do, but haven't started a regimen yet. I'm hoping all this will allow me to slowly get back on my back and be okay because it goes without saying that I miss it, and I'm worried I may have really f'ed myself permanently. I plan on getting properly fit for my bike and investing in any sort of orthotic wedges to make sure I've got proper knee alignment as it seems I've got too much lateral movement going on.

Anyways, I know this is a lot of information, I just wanted to get some feedback from anyone who has experienced anything like this and if there is anything else I might be able to do, and please tell me it's going to be okay because I can't stand the thought of not being able to ride anymore.

Andrew

If youre so concerned, why dont you go to a doctor?

I was actually thinking about starting a thread about some knee pain I've been experiencing. It started on my MTB while cranking into manuals or taking off in higher gears. Sometimes, as I put a large amount of pressure on my left leg, I get this intense pain in my left knee as it bends and goes away as soon as I relieve the stress on it. It's only gotten worse to the point where sometimes just kneeling down to pick something up will trigger the pain. Riding the fixed doesn't hurt until I try to resist the pedals, especially when I pull up with my left foot. It's driving me mad and I really hope I didn't seriously eff something up permanently. I'm only 24 and shouldn't be having knee problems already! Unfortunately, my bike is my primary mode of transportation and I can't really take a break.

I feel your pain, duder. Let's hope babying your knees will make them better.

Like he said, no insurance.



Anyhow...

I am not a doctor, but:

Symptoms of ITBS cropped up for me six or eight weeks ago, and I've been largely off the bike since then. If it is ITBS, the orthopedist will likely prescribe physical therapy, which will run you even more cash without insurance.

It sounds like you're doing just about everything right. I do a few exercises to strengthen the the quads on my effected leg 4-6 times per week. They're boring and tedious, but they definitely help. Incorporating other (non-leg) resistence training also seems to speed recovery.

This past weekend I was able to do a little riding w/ a brace without much pain. My knee was pretty swollen the following day, so I'm going to another orthopedist tomorrow for a second opinion and hopefully and MRI.

Gearing down also helps, even if it means running a silly-low gear. (46x20 here....sigh...)

Gear down and habitually use a brake. Not being able to ride a bike is ***ing depressing.

I'm running 42/15... Still too high?

i'm running 42 x 16 and will probably gear down to a 40 x 16 because of my knees. Normally it works quite well if i am going at full speed. However, if i am going into a headwide or just riding at a leisurly pace, my knees kill me. I have pain aboe and to the inside. doc gave me a bunch of exercises. You need to stretch out your hammies really well. put your foot on the top of a chair and reach for your toe (do NOT bend over and stretch your back muscles). then stand straight up and hold your foot with your hand behind your back and push against it with your foot but do not bend over.

The wrong seat height with a cadence of 158 can be nasty--- and if you need a little float, well, you could have sore knees. I think you just pushed it too far.

I've also been having knee issues riding the fixed(I'm 32, btw). I found that it helps when I only resist on the up-stroke of the pedal and not the down stroke. Also, getting your bike fit perfect or as close as possible to perfect really helped with my knee issues.

I went to my Dr about my right knee, which was popping and stiff sometimes. Xrays showed nothing was wrong with the knee. Personally, I think it might have been from an old injury when I was about 15 years old and the high gear I was running (52x18)exacerbated the problem. My fix got stolen last week(Grrr!) and I haven't really been riding except for a group chopper type cruise on the weekend.

My knees are kinda sore and I can feel my quads withering away. Luckily, I get to pick up my new Kona Paddywagon tomorrow so I can get back on that horse.

To the Op: Dude! Go to the Dr! Its only money and replacement knees suck, or so I hear.

I have similar issues with my ITB, am slightly bow legged, am 31, and used to get pretty good pain after any longer ride. What is really strange is it cleared up on its own. I never have any problems now. I stretch before and after my rides, warm up slowly when at the begging of the riding season,... now that we are into the season, I just ride my normal pace as soon as I start.

I would say lower your saddle a little. For some reason that may have been part of the solution. I also think saddle time helps too as I occasionally am in a hurry and don't stretch and don't get pain anymore then either.

I find heat to work better than ice once it starts to hurt. I have a bunch of those chemical heat pads that I used to ace-bandage onto my upper knee and then go to sleep. By morning, the pain was nearly all gone.

HTH, sorry I cannot be more specific in what fixed it.

Yikes, no! Cycling-related anterior knee pain is very often caused by having the saddle too LOW. If anything else, raise the saddle. Posterior knee pain = saddle too high.

For *me*, I've also found it helpful to move the saddle forward to that my shin is minimally / never forward of my knee throughout the pedal stroke. Other people have found the opposite true, but the saddle height thing is pretty universal.

oooo, sorry. thanks for the correction!

I appreciate all your comments.
I work from home as a web designer and had some contracts fall through so I'm super broke right now, so the trip to the doctor is out until the cash flow comes back.

I was riding at 48x17 and have since gone to 48x18, though, I'm not riding, haven't been riding, and won't be riding for a few weeks.
Yesterday, I took my brother and his wife to the LBS to get a bike for my sister in law, one of those Raleigh 3 speed beach cruiser jobs with the automatic gear switching. I was really curious about how the auto switching worked and took it for a very short spin, about a quarter of a block and back, and my knees ached....shouldn't have done it, but curiosity got the best of me.

I'm thinking my seat was probably too high considering the tightness in the hamstrings.

I feel like a gimp.
My fiance is out riding her bike right now. It's sunny out and about 73 degrees.
This sucks.

Has anyone noticed there knees getting sore going from clipless to toe clips and straps?
I pretty much got into clipless right off the bat with some used SPD's, and would try going back to toe clips and straps every now and again out of curiosity and for the convenience of being able to wear any kind of shoes, but never much cared for them until I got some nice leather straps. I still didn't like that I lost the bottom of the stroke, but felt it was a minor trade off for short rides and errands. I'd crank the straps pretty tight and feel secure but the trade off was no float, which I think forced the Iliotibial band to rub harder on the outside of my knee with the increase in lateral movement.
I'd like to be able to ride with clips and straps for the aforementioned convenience, of it, but feel I might never be able to considering the condition of my knees and the bowed shape of my legs.
Has anyone tried using varus/valgus wedges in their street shoes to get proper alignment?

A

Go see a massage therapist first , a good one. Stretch the muscles of your legs , most get that way due to over use and not properly stretching the muscles.

S/F<
CEYA!

The best advice i can give you is, unless you are seriously gibbled there's no need to stop biking for any length of time. If you have a geared bike, ride that for a bit and take er easy in low gears.

I have had some of the same issues in the last weeks---bought a new bike & raised the seat too high, which led to lots of posterior knee pain, which has mostly gone away after a few weeks rest & lowering the seat.

What is of more concern to me now is some seeming weirdness around the patella whenever there is lateral movement (eg. when I leave my feet planted and twist my body to do something like look over my shoulder). The patella seems to drag across something and there is either a sharp pain or it kind of goes weak. It reminds me of a cartilage tear I had awhile back. Hopefully nothing like that. Anyway I have been to the doctor (thanks Japanese socialized medicine!) and there was nothing funny on the xrays.

At this point I am just taking things easy, but anyway back on the bike.

Oh look, another knee pain thread...
Gears.

Oh look, another uninformative and pretentious post.
Hobby.

P.S. I developed knee pain on my geared bike. It hurts LESS on the fixie.

my knee pain is exascerbated by raising my seat

what helped me the best was realigning my cleats---they were too far forward. Now they are right under the fall of my foot and my knee is better although not perfect

huh, I had my bike fitted three times by the same guy (mostly due to the seatpost threads stripping) and everything was going great until I put in 60 miles last sunday. the only thing is that he adjusted the cleats on the fly because he had already started the process (he thought they were already placed). I guess I'll try loosening them just enough so that I can slide them around on the trainer. Would I have to adjust the saddle for KOPS as well?

as an aside, I always thought having the seat a little too high would take pressure off the knees, but in practice this is exactly the opposite.

I would do two things see a doctor to look at your knees and knee health over all then i would see a sports medicine specialist to look at what you can do with your bike and as far as training to prolong/promote knee health and third I would go to a shop and get my bike professionally fit to me

In my own experience float in my clipless pedals had caused issues with my lcl and I ended up fixing the problem by going with a zero float pedal system all knees and people are different

and that is the truest statement so far. What works for one may not work for others. Someone like me who is pigeontoed will not have the same relief as someone who is ducktoed after a given adjustment.


Fo me, with my clipless, i found that raising the seat put more stress on my knees as they were being pulled away from the rest of me on the down stroke

If the back of your knee feels tight or swollen, it probably indicates the need to lower the saddle.

We all have different knees with different knee histories.

One fix does not fit all.

A generalization:

Fixed gear bikes do not cause knee problems as often as they reveal them.

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One sees a doctor, usually an orthopedic surgeon, in order to get an insurance-qualifying prescription for a sports physical therapist, orthotist (foot orthotics), or certified bicycle-fitter.
If one does not have insurance, it doesn't make much sense to see an orthopedic surgeon.

Saddle height:

With the pedal full down and the heel lowered (flat foot), the knee should still have a slight bend in it.

Fore-aft saddle position:

With the cranks horizontal, a plumbline hanging from the bump on the shin of the forward foot, just inside of the knee cap, should pass through the pedal spindle.
Just imagine you have no kneecap and hang the plumbline from the knee you would have without a kneecap, which puts the plumbline about an inch behind the kneecap.
Adjust the saddle fore and aft in order to move the plumbline fore and aft.

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A swollen back of the knee takes a long time to heal.

Alternating ice and heat, self-massage, elevation of the knee, baby aspirin, vitamin C and a lowered saddle.

yes but seeing a professional bike fitter can assist you in getting your bike tuned to you properly