knee pain under load

[david1701]

Hi Guys,

I've put my saddle up a fair whack because I feel it gives me more power but I've noticed over a long ride my left knee hurts if I'm grinding up a hill (my lowest gear is a 30-32 and I'm not fit enough to spin it all the way up the big steep ones round here). I'm thinking to drop down my saddle a bit and see what happens.

This is on my first bike with drop bars and I've only had it coming up 2 weeks

 

[numbnuts]

Sit on bike and put your heel on the pedal now your leg should be straight in this position, now this is only a starting position and go from there, but only raise lower one mm at a time until it feels right for you

 

[jack cameron]

Hi David...You have said you have only had your bike for a couple of weeks,you really have to give it time.When i get a new bike it takes me more than a month to tweak all these things until i get it right and feel comfortable...it takes a bit of time,then by magic you will have no aches and pains.Trust me,it will all come together......small tweaks are better than overdoing them...good luck..

 

[ttcycle]

Hi David

Would second the above advice - do make small adjustments as large amounts can shock the body and may lead to injury.

You mention that you cycle with a couple of friends - is it possible to get them to look at your cycling/pedalling from behind when you're next on a ride as it's very easy to tell if your saddle height is massively off from this observation. If there's too much bend in the knee the saddle is too low and if it looks like you're pushing quite a lot to rotate the cranks then the setting is too high.

On a subjective note; if you feel you're stretching at all when your leg is fully extended then the issue might be that the height is too much. It should just feel natural and easy.

The knee pain as you've identified may well be down to being in too low a gear up hills- spinning will come with time.

Are you wearing cleats? If yes, have you checked that the position on these is right to allow your knees to sit in the right place when cycling.

There are loads of things to tweak on a bike; it does take a bit of time to get it right.

 

[david1701]

I'm using toe clips not cleats, so I don't think I can adjust there (though my big/little toes do go numb after a while......)

I'll get Neil to look next week as he's a cycling oracle and sustrans person.

How do you guys to very minor adjustments, if I loosen the saddle off it goes all the way back in and I need to start again with a guess?

My plan is to get it ball park, then make very minor tweaks

oh and re spinning it hurts less if I drop a gear so I think its more load than spinning but thats not set in stone.

Cheers for the help, its much appreciated

 

[Baggy]

How do you guys to very minor adjustments, if I loosen the saddle off it goes all the way back in and I need to start again with a guess?

Wrap a bit of electrical tape/sellotape round your seatpost at the point you want the saddle to drop down to, it's a useful guide and will stop it slipping into the seat tube.

 

[Yellow Fang]

When you say you're grinding up the hills, do you mean you're standing up out of the saddle? When my knees were dodgy, I found that doing this hurt them. Instead I found sitting as far back on the saddle as I could worked better up hills. In which case, it might be worth lowering the saddle a bit.

 

[david1701]

Wrap a bit of electrical tape/sellotape round your seatpost at the point you want the saddle to drop down to, it's a useful guide and will stop it slipping into the seat tube.

perfect

@Yellow Fang, I'm good standing, its just when I sit and it gets proper steep that I get the pain, or if I'm in too high a gear on slight inclines ect

 

[david1701]

put it down 5mm now the other side of my knee hurts, somewhere in the middle is required methinks