Knee Pain Problem (just one???)

[juvel01]

I think you all are going to tell me this is pedal placement issue, but I'm wondering if there may be something else. 2 weeks ago I went on a 30 mile ride, slow pace (about 15mph average) and not many hills. It was a very easy ride, barely even felt it. However, that night my left knee was really sore and the following day I could barely walk on it. A full week of ice and ibuprofen and its back to normal. I thought it must just be pedal position but it was only my left knee, the right knee was perfectly fine. I'm coming form mountain bikes, just started road riding and I am riding an OCR1 that fits me really well (or so I thought), could I just be doing something terribly wrong?

 

[Carrera]

Knees tend to get used to the status quo so if you raise the seat or change angle, your knees may react to the change. As you've switched from a mountain to a road bike, you're possibly not used to the different angles or even gear ratios your roadbike offers.
I had knee problems as soon as I started cycling and the truth was my knees basically weren't used to pedaling so many miles. I used to get crepitus and crackling in the knee tendons and this went on and off for quite some time.
However, I did some exercises to keep the knee strong and above all I took glucosamine every day. I now shift pretty huge gears even when I climb and my kness are stable and seldom give me much trouble.
All I can advise is if your knee really gets inflamed again, take a few days off and then ease yourself back with spinning rides. If you climb, stand out of the seat to releive joint stress. Try Ibuprofen and also throw in glucosamine. Also try comparing your current seat height with what you had before on your MTB.

I think you all are going to tell me this is pedal placement issue, but I'm wondering if there may be something else. 2 weeks ago I went on a 30 mile ride, slow pace (about 15mph average) and not many hills. It was a very easy ride, barely even felt it. However, that night my left knee was really sore and the following day I could barely walk on it. A full week of ice and ibuprofen and its back to normal. I thought it must just be pedal position but it was only my left knee, the right knee was perfectly fine. I'm coming form mountain bikes, just started road riding and I am riding an OCR1 that fits me really well (or so I thought), could I just be doing something terribly wrong?

 

[lumpy]

Have you ever injured that knee before?

 

[juvel01]

Have you ever injured that knee before?

Actually, yes but it was so long ago I didnt think it would be related. Maybe its just a lot weaker than my right knee.

 

[davidbod]

This is from my personal experience, but pain in one knee can sometimes mean a leg length discrepency. A significant leg length discrepency means one leg is fit correctly at a given saddle height and the other is not, or worse there is a compromise and both are not. Look at your saddle on your most used bike, presumably your mountain bike in this case, and looking at the back sighting down to the nose, see if one side has sagged relative to the other, or if one side is worn more than the other. If so that is the side with the shorter leg.

If you do have a discrepency, get it fixed with a shim. You can look this up on the net and get all kinds of info on it. It can be the cause of many annoying to debilitating injuries from low back pain to knees, but is something easily overlooked.

 

[kettlewon2001]

After reading the post from Carerra, I believe the medical side warrants merit, but his comment about climbing out of the saddle when doing hills is dead on. I tend not to get out of the saddle when doing hills. I push myself deeper into the seat, and drive the hills with my legs. If I continue this method, during any given "hilly" ride, I will always feel pain by the end of the day into the next day. When I alternate methods (seated then standing) or standing only when needed, my knees feel great. And always take the first couple of hills a bit easier - to get some "heat" into the knees.
Hope this helps,
Andy

 

[Carrera]

An expert physio whose book I perused was convinced climbing out of the seat is far less stressful to the knee joint than is seated climbing.
There was a time when seated climbing and large gears really caused my knees to inflame. I could feel soreness around the sides and front of the knee and the crepitus was quite bad in the mornings.
Now I think my knees have adapted and I can actually put huge stresses on them without getting problems. I continue to do strengthening work in the gym and I also swear by glucosamine (which tends to work over periods of months). You can even get a glucosamine gel to rub into the area.
My most efficient climbing is to churn a big gear uphill while seated with my hands draped over the shifter hoods. However, in the event of my knees ever feeling sore, I'll switch to climbing out of the seat as many physios recommend.
I tend to view joint pain as something quite normal and I think these pains come and go. The original poster seems to have swapped bikes and then, all of a sudden, there is joint soreness. I think that provides the clue.

After reading the post from Carerra, I believe the medical side warrants merit, but his comment about climbing out of the saddle when doing hills is dead on. I tend not to get out of the saddle when doing hills. I push myself deeper into the seat, and drive the hills with my legs. If I continue this method, during any given "hilly" ride, I will always feel pain by the end of the day into the next day. When I alternate methods (seated then standing) or standing only when needed, my knees feel great. And always take the first couple of hills a bit easier - to get some "heat" into the knees.
Hope this helps,
Andy