Knee Pain W/Seat too High?



RPM

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Nov 14, 2002
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Just wondering about a post I saw here regarding knee pain and seat height adjustment. <br /> Seems the post suggests knee injury when the seat is too high, I've been jacking mine up to alleviate knee pain lately. Am I chasing in the wrong direction?
 
Too low a saddle is worse than too high a saddle. Click here for the thread regarding saddle height adjustment.<br />Let us know.
 
VO2 is correct, too low a saddle can be much more damaging<br /><br />A good way of estimating seat height, is to set your saddle height at 100% of greater trochanter height. measure seat height from the top of the saddle to the top of your pedal, when the cranks are in direct line with the seat tube.<br /><br />get someone to measure your greater trochanter height when you are standing upright, with your legs slightly apart, and in your bare feet.<br /><br />If you have your saddle set well back or forward, then seat height will need to be adjusted.<br /><br />Hope this helps, and always remember to make small adjustments, and don't go on a big ride after adjusting the seat!<br /><br />Ric
 
I asked my wife to measure my greater trochanter and she gave me quite a funny look. ;)<br /> Is that measurement the same as placing a book against the wall and sliding it up till it stops?<br /><br />I just did my last TT of the season so I need to get back to a comfortable road base height and alleviate pain to the left knee.<br />
 
Your greater trochanter is the protrusion of bone at the top(ish) part of your thigh on the outside, which is where the thigh rotates on its axis. if you were (able, and you won't be!) to keep your leg straight and lift it so that the outside of your ankle was touching your ear, where your thigh rotates is the greater trochanter.<br /><br />Hope that makes sense...<br /><br />Ric
 
Yeah that clears up the greater trochanter measurement just fine Ric, I've never tried this measurement before so I'll give it a try..
 
Yeah, I know what you mean by no hard rules, I've used a few over the years from the cycling bible. I just have a suspiscion that I've been compensating with my ankles/calves thus leading to the problem.
 
Be careful though with a seat too high. A seat too low will cause problems specially in 2 points of your knee: In the patelar tendon and in the quadricipital tendon. By raising up a little bit your seat you will release less pressure on those tendons. I will recommend to increase a few millimeters only (0.2-0.3 cm) at a time, staying with that new height for 2 weeks untill you increase it to your correct height. By increasing the seat too much you could have 2 kinds of tendonitis: Semimembranous and semitendinous (hamsrtings).<br /><br /><br />goos luck,<br /><br /><br />IS1
 

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