Cycle fit and Knee pains

[l4dva]

Hi guys,
Not sure if this is the right section to be posting this but ill try anyways.
Since starting cycling about 6 months I found my knees hurt while riding and some times while not riding. I tried a few things out and after a month or so I got some SPD's and MTB shoes and the knee issues all went away! I was cycling almost daily with no problem!
About four weeks ago I did a 70 mile charity ride. The longest ride I had ever done to date, my usual commute is a 14 mile round trip and I had done about two or three weekend rides that were 30-40 miles long. So I prob didn't have the greatest amount of training but I still did the 70 mile ride any ways.
After about 50 miles into the ride I started to feel the knee pain come back, not so bad that I had to stop so I continued and made sure I finished the ride. Anyways since then my knees both hurt while on the bike, as a result I have only cycle about 3 times in the past month. I can walk around no problem; they do feel a bit achy at times when not on the bike but not nothing major.
Who can I see about this who can help me establish what my problem is? Can any one recommend a cycle fit place or trainer or something in the Birmingham area that would be able to help me sort this out? I am only 24 years old and it’s really bad that im getting knee issues at this age!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Kirit​

 

[accountantpete]

You can try adjusting the seat position. First of all try raising the height of the seat until the leg is almost totally straight at the bottom of the pedal rotation - this can minimise the load on the knee by spreading it through the rest of the leg.

If you are having slight pains whilst not riding then a trip to the Doc may be your best bet - get some x-rays and find out the root cause.

 

[Wheeledweenie]

You can try adjusting the seat position. First of all try raising the height of the seat until the leg is almost totally straight at the bottom of the pedal rotation - this can minimise the load on the knee by spreading it through the rest of the leg.

If you are having slight pains whilst not riding then a trip to the Doc may be your best bet - get some x-rays and find out the root cause.

I'd agree. My knees really hurt until someone moved my seat up for me. It was like a miracle cure!

 

[l4dva]

I think my seat height is fine, I thort I had got the whole cleat position/seat height right when I first had these problems months ago when I got back into cycling. I don't think the seat post has dropped but I'll check this again.

I think the trip to the docs maybe needed to see what's going on, I reckon it could be somit internal, I could be completely wrong though.

 

[SimonRoberts0204]

What sort of rate are you pedaling at? For knees (and overall efficiency) a faster rate in a lower gear, though feels at first unnatural, is definitely best. Pushing too hard in a low gear can quickly do in your knees, back, earlobes...etc xD

 

[on the road]

If your seat position is fine and everything else seems fine, then the next thing to do is to look back over the time that you've had the knee pain and see if there's anything different you've been doing over that time. And it might not be cycling wise.

 

[l4dva]

Simon - Earlobe pains?!? lol I get that when the girlfirend start her nagging sometimes but never on the bike

On The Road - I haven't really done anything out of the ordinary, the only thing I can put it down to is the distance, most of my rides up untill that 70 mile ride have been fairly short

Up untill that 70 miler, I had began to gradually start using the higher gears more and increase my speed a fair bit. I stopped using the granny chainring (on my commute anyways and I have a fairly big hill to climb). But all that I found comfortable and didn't have any problems. It was only on and after that 70 miler that the knee issues came back