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28-06.-2008, 10:05 PM
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#1 |
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Guest
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Knee pain & Saddle Height
Lately I have had some pain in one knee, located behind the knee cap. It
doesn't hurt while I'm riding, but rather when I'm climbing stairs. I'm wondering if it might be that my saddle is too low or high (although I haven't made any adjustments lately). Has anyone had a similar problem? BC |
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28-06.-2008, 11:34 PM
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#2 |
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Re: Knee pain & Saddle Height
BCDrums wrote:
> Lately I have had some pain in one knee, located behind the knee cap. It > doesn't hurt while I'm riding, but rather when I'm climbing stairs. I'm > wondering if it might be that my saddle is too low or high (although I > haven't made any adjustments lately). > > Has anyone had a similar problem? > > BC are you using cleated pedals? if so, try changing the pedal position for when you unclip. i used to unclip with that foot at the top of the pedal stroke, thus accommodating the action with the knee and ankle joints. with the pain i experienced, i figured that unclipping at the _bottom_ of the stroke, thus using rotation of the hip joint, a joint much more able to accommodate such action under load, would fix the problem. and it did. i was reminded of this again recently when i took my fixie out after a couple of months of leaving it unridden. i foolishly kept unclipping wherever i stopped, which was often at the top of a stroke, and sure enough, knee pain returned. the simple expedient of planning ahead and unclipping at the bottom for subsequent rides has solved the problem. hth. |
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29-06.-2008, 12:20 AM
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#3 |
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Re: Knee pain & Saddle Height
> Lately I have had some pain in one knee, located behind the knee cap. It > doesn't hurt while I'm riding, but rather when I'm climbing stairs. I'm > wondering if it might be that my saddle is too low or high (although I > haven't made any adjustments lately). > > Has anyone had a similar problem? > > BC I had that same pain after hiking. I went to my local Osteopathic Physician who does manipulation, and he said that something in the knee had slipped out of place. He popped it back it and the pain went away. He also showed me how to grasp the back of the knee and press on the sore place so that would move the tendon or whatever it was back into position. I only had to do it twice after that and haven't had that pain since. I doubt if it has anything to do with your saddle. In my case, it was walking downhill carrying a backpack. Pat in TX |
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29-06.-2008, 01:30 AM
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#4 |
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Re: Knee pain & Saddle Height
In article <0sKdnZKtPeyFqvvVnZ2dnUVZ_u2dnZ2d@comcast.com>,
BCDrums <bcdrums@comcast.net> wrote: > Lately I have had some pain in one knee, located behind the knee cap. It > doesn't hurt while I'm riding, but rather when I'm climbing stairs. I'm > wondering if it might be that my saddle is too low or high (although I > haven't made any adjustments lately). > > Has anyone had a similar problem? > > BC Yes. Since there's lots of exciting ways your knee can fail, you really ought to talk to a doctor about this. With that disclaimer, the rule of thumb is that if your knees hurt, raise your saddle. Early in my cycling, I had similar knee pain (though in my case it was a knee issue I have had since my teenage years), so I raised my seat. I raised my seat just enough that on my first metric century, I gave myself Achilles tendonitis so bad I couldn't walk for three days. Which was lame. After that, I lowered my seat slightly, and started using 165mm (shorter) cranks. I don't know how much difference the cranks made, but I liked them. I still use them, though I have a fair number of 170s on other bikes, and I don't have Achilles tendonitis problems anymore. On the other hand, I started getting more knee issues (very much like the ones you described) and now I wear knee braces on long or hard rides. -- Ryan Cousineau rcousine@gmail.com http://www.wiredcola.com/ "In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls." "In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them." |
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29-06.-2008, 01:30 AM
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#5 |
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Guest
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Re: Knee pain & Saddle Height
In article <0sKdnZKtPeyFqvvVnZ2dnUVZ_u2dnZ2d@comcast.com>,
BCDrums <bcdrums@comcast.net> wrote: > Lately I have had some pain in one knee, located behind the knee cap. It > doesn't hurt while I'm riding, but rather when I'm climbing stairs. I'm > wondering if it might be that my saddle is too low or high (although I > haven't made any adjustments lately). > > Has anyone had a similar problem? > > BC Yes. Since there's lots of exciting ways your knee can fail, you really ought to talk to a doctor about this. With that disclaimer, the rule of thumb is that if your knees hurt, raise your saddle. Early in my cycling, I had similar knee pain (though in my case it was a knee issue I have had since my teenage years), so I raised my seat. I raised my seat just enough that on my first metric century, I gave myself Achilles tendonitis so bad I couldn't walk for three days. Which was lame. After that, I lowered my seat slightly, and started using 165mm (shorter) cranks. I don't know how much difference the cranks made, but I liked them. I still use them, though I have a fair number of 170s on other bikes, and I don't have Achilles tendonitis problems anymore. On the other hand, I started getting more knee issues (very much like the ones you described) and now I wear knee braces on long or hard rides. -- Ryan Cousineau rcousine@gmail.com http://www.wiredcola.com/ "In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls." "In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them." |
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29-06.-2008, 01:31 AM
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#6 |
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Guest
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Re: Knee pain & Saddle Height
Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> In article <0sKdnZKtPeyFqvvVnZ2dnUVZ_u2dnZ2d@comcast.com>, > BCDrums <bcdrums@comcast.net> wrote: > >> Lately I have had some pain in one knee, located behind the knee cap. It >> doesn't hurt while I'm riding, but rather when I'm climbing stairs. I'm >> wondering if it might be that my saddle is too low or high (although I >> haven't made any adjustments lately). >> >> Has anyone had a similar problem? >> >> BC > > Yes. Since there's lots of exciting ways your knee can fail, you really > ought to talk to a doctor about this. > > With that disclaimer, the rule of thumb is that if your knees hurt, > raise your saddle. > > Early in my cycling, I had similar knee pain (though in my case it was a > knee issue I have had since my teenage years), so I raised my seat. I > raised my seat just enough that on my first metric century, I gave > myself Achilles tendonitis so bad I couldn't walk for three days. > > Which was lame. literally. > > After that, I lowered my seat slightly, and started using 165mm > (shorter) cranks. > > I don't know how much difference the cranks made, but I liked them. I > still use them, though I have a fair number of 170s on other bikes, and > I don't have Achilles tendonitis problems anymore. > > On the other hand, I started getting more knee issues (very much like > the ones you described) and now I wear knee braces on long or hard rides. > |
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29-06.-2008, 01:31 AM
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#7 |
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Re: Knee pain & Saddle Height
Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> In article <0sKdnZKtPeyFqvvVnZ2dnUVZ_u2dnZ2d@comcast.com>, > BCDrums <bcdrums@comcast.net> wrote: > >> Lately I have had some pain in one knee, located behind the knee cap. It >> doesn't hurt while I'm riding, but rather when I'm climbing stairs. I'm >> wondering if it might be that my saddle is too low or high (although I >> haven't made any adjustments lately). >> >> Has anyone had a similar problem? >> >> BC > > Yes. Since there's lots of exciting ways your knee can fail, you really > ought to talk to a doctor about this. > > With that disclaimer, the rule of thumb is that if your knees hurt, > raise your saddle. > > Early in my cycling, I had similar knee pain (though in my case it was a > knee issue I have had since my teenage years), so I raised my seat. I > raised my seat just enough that on my first metric century, I gave > myself Achilles tendonitis so bad I couldn't walk for three days. > > Which was lame. literally. > > After that, I lowered my seat slightly, and started using 165mm > (shorter) cranks. > > I don't know how much difference the cranks made, but I liked them. I > still use them, though I have a fair number of 170s on other bikes, and > I don't have Achilles tendonitis problems anymore. > > On the other hand, I started getting more knee issues (very much like > the ones you described) and now I wear knee braces on long or hard rides. > |
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29-06.-2008, 11:41 AM
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#8 |
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Guest
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Re: Knee pain & Saddle Height
"BCDrums" <bcdrums@comcast.net> wrote in message news:0sKdnZKtPeyFqvvVnZ2dnUVZ_u2dnZ2d@comcast.com... > Lately I have had some pain in one knee, located behind the knee cap. It > doesn't hurt while I'm riding, but rather when I'm climbing stairs. I'm > wondering if it might be that my saddle is too low or high (although I > haven't made any adjustments lately). > > Has anyone had a similar problem? > > BC See a good orthopedic doctor, preferably someone who's involved with sports medicine and works with knee problems. In 1978 I developed severe knee pain 25 miles into a century ride. I had to abandon the ride at 50 miles. From then on I had recurrent knee problems that affected my ability to go back packing and skiing as well as cycling. Some times just climbing stairs I'd feel a sharp pain on the inner edge of my knee caps and one or both knees would start to buckle when I put weight on them. A physical therapist gave me some exercises that helped somewhat but it wasn't until a friend noticed that I was riding with my toes pointed slightly inward. He suggested that I adjust my cleats so that my heels were in and my toes pointed out. That solved a lot of my problems. Recurrent tendonitis and bursitis kept bothering me so several years ago I had MRIs done on my knees and the doctors found bone spurs under my knee caps that had worn grooves into the knee cartilage. I'm now using pedal extenders which seem to help a lot. These allow my knees to track within the grooves in the cartilage when I'm pedaling. Having your seat too low can cause knee problems as well as too high which can result in irritation from over extension. Also "mashing", riding in high gears at a low cadence can result in knee problems especially when doing a lot of heavy climbing. I think that the most important thing is to find what works for your personal physique and ignore most of what the Bike Fit Nazis suggest. BTW, I take 3-4 aspirin before and after riding to control inflammation in my knees. Also it takes me 5-10 miles to warm up so I start off easy. Good luck. Chas. |
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