Hip pain & bike "tweaks"

[Craig Williams]

I wondered if anyone else has had this problem and can help with suggestions, especially related
to bike fit.

Toward the end of last riding season, I began to have mild pain in my right hip, not while riding,
but afterwards (described below). So after consulting with our family MD (an active outdoors type
who seems to be knowledgeable of sports medicine), I took a few months away from riding. He checked
for the normal symptoms of hip deterioration and found nothing indicative of that.

Now spring is on the horizon, and I went for a fairly easy first ride of the season. The pain was
there, and felt like it was on the top of my right hip joint as I was pedaling, more like a
tightness on top of the leg where the femur and hip meet. Afterwards there was a dull ache (mild but
noticeable).

I'm 6'0" and weigh 165 lb. I ride a 59 cm road bike (c-t) with Speedplay Zero pedals. Last year was
my first on this bike. Prior to that I had been riding a 60 cm bike with toe clip/strap pedals, and
had been since 1994. I tried to match the setup of the new bike to the old when I built it. I ride
recreationally, 20 to 40 miles per ride, with an occasional metric or true century. (Giving all the
details in case that might help in figuring out the fix)

The cleat position on my Lake shoes is fairly far back. I had the cleats near the center of the
shoes (left-right), but moved the cleats in before the ride I mentioned above, so as to put my feet
a little farther out. My saddle is adjusted fore-aft to very near the KOPS position.

My intuition tells me that something in my bike setup needs to be changed. Any suggestions with
regard to saddle height or angle, cleat position, etc. would be appreciated. There are several
variables here, and I'd like to start with the most likely contributors.

Thanks for your ideas! Craig [to reply directly, change the VERB to a NUMERAL]

 

[Bill Bushnell]

Craig Williams <[email protected]> wrote:

> Now spring is on the horizon, and I went for a fairly easy first ride of the season. The pain was
> there, and felt like it was on the top of my right hip joint as I was pedaling, more like a
> tightness on top of the leg where the femur and hip meet. Afterwards there was a dull ache (mild
> but noticeable).

Craig:

You might look up the symptoms for Iliotibial Band Syndrome to see if they fit your condition. ITBS
symptoms occur usually on the outside of the knee or at the outside of the hip, where the iliotibial
band, a tendon, stretches tightly over the bony protuberances at the top and bottom of the femur.
This tendon sometimes gets tight and then irritated when it rubs or "snaps" over the bone. For me
ITBS sometimes flares up when I make a significant change to my riding position. There are several
good web sites that discuss ITBS and how to treat the symptoms, usually through stretching and other
exercises.

Good luck.

--
Bill Bushnell

 

[Dennis P. Harri]

On Mon, 17 Mar 2003 02:26:33 GMT in rec.bicycles.misc, "Craig Williams"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Now spring is on the horizon, and I went for a fairly easy first ride of the season. The pain was
> there, and felt like it was on the top of my right hip joint as I was pedaling, more like a
> tightness on top of the leg where the femur and hip meet. Afterwards there was a dull ache (mild
> but noticeable).
>
It could be that your seat height is wrong, though usually if it's too low, your back would hurt. If
there is a good bike shop in your area that can do a good fitting for you, it would probably be
worthwhile paying for it.

I was lucky after I had my knee scoped to fix a meniscus tear a few years ago --- my post-op
physical therapist was a cyclist with fitting experience who helped me adjust my bike for
optimal fit.