Knee strain

[J-P.S]

There've been threads about this, I know, but I can't find them at the moment. I have a bit of pain
- only when cycling - in my right knee. It runs over the /top/ of the outside edge of the kneecap,
and feels like a strain. But I don't get it doing anything else.

Is there anything I can do to the bike to ease this? It's a new bike and it's possible I just have
my legs in a different position. Perhaps I should be cycling more/less pigeon-toed?

The saddle is already quite high, and I don't feel like my knees are round my ears at the top of
pedalling.

J-P
--
I could steal a load of mice, get a black marker pen and write down numbers of various football
players on their backs, and then pit two mouse-football teams against each other, perhaps with a bit
of their nasty smelling food as the football. How can this possibly go wrong.

 

[Phil Bixby]

How tall are you and how long are your cranks? Have you checked that your leg is straight when you
sit on the saddle and put your heel on the pedal at the bottom of the stroke?

Phil Bixby York, UK

"j-p.s" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> There've been threads about this, I know, but I can't find them at the moment. I have a bit of
> pain - only when cycling - in my right knee. It runs over the /top/ of the outside edge of the
> kneecap, and feels like a strain. But I don't get it doing anything else.
>
> Is there anything I can do to the bike to ease this? It's a new bike and it's possible I just have
> my legs in a different position. Perhaps I should be cycling more/less pigeon-toed?
>
> The saddle is already quite high, and I don't feel like my knees are round my ears at the top of
> pedalling.
>
> J-P
> --
> I could steal a load of mice, get a black marker pen and write down numbers of various football
> players on their backs, and then pit two mouse-football teams against each other, perhaps with a
> bit of their nasty smelling food as the football. How can this possibly go wrong.

 

[Albert]

"j-p.s" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> There've been threads about this, I know, but I can't find them at the moment. I have a bit of
> pain - only when cycling - in my right knee. It runs over the /top/ of the outside edge of the
> kneecap, and feels like a strain. But I don't get it doing anything else.
>
> Is there anything I can do to the bike to ease this? It's a new bike and it's possible I just have
> my legs in a different position. Perhaps I should be cycling more/less pigeon-toed?
>
> The saddle is already quite high, and I don't feel like my knees are round my ears at the top of
> pedalling.
>
> J-P

it sounds like you are over stretching your joint. I had a similar problem when I returned to bikes
and raising my saddle about 2 " solved it for me.

Albert

 

[J-P.S]

On Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:05:36 -0000, Phil Bixby scrawled: ) How tall are you and how long are your
cranks? Have you checked that your ) leg is straight when you sit on the saddle and put your heel on
the pedal at ) the bottom of the stroke?

Yeah. I had a go on the way home, and it looks like if I cycle slightly knock-kneed then the strain
goes away. I wonder if the pedals on my new bike are farther apart than on my old one?

Anyway, I have the saddle so that my knees have a tiny bend when the pedals are at the bottom: when
my heel is on the pedal instead of the ball of my foot, the leg is practically straight.

I will cycle with my knees slightly closer together - my legs are very slightly shaped like this
anyway - and see if it goes away. It seems to be just that half an inch that does it. An' I tink der
lay-deez know waddeye mean....

J-P

 

[Phil Bixby]

Hiya

Sounds like you may have got it sorted, tho interestingly Specialized SPD shoes claim to tilt the
knee slightly *outwards* to improve comfort. Reason for question about cranks was some bikes seem to
come with long cranks - 175mm in the case of mine - even on medium frmae sizes. I'm medium height
but with short legs and a long body - switching to 165mm cranks made a big difference to comfort.

Phil Bixby York, UK

"j-p.s" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Fri, 14 Mar 2003 17:05:36 -0000, Phil Bixby scrawled: ) How tall are you and how long are your
> cranks? Have you checked that
your
> ) leg is straight when you sit on the saddle and put your heel on the
pedal at
> ) the bottom of the stroke?
>
> Yeah. I had a go on the way home, and it looks like if I cycle slightly knock-kneed then the
> strain goes away. I wonder if the pedals on my new bike are farther apart than on my old one?
>
> Anyway, I have the saddle so that my knees have a tiny bend when the pedals are at the bottom:
> when my heel is on the pedal instead of the ball of my foot, the leg is practically straight.
>
> I will cycle with my knees slightly closer together - my legs are very slightly shaped like this
> anyway - and see if it goes away. It seems to be just that half an inch that does it. An' I tink
> der lay-deez know waddeye mean....
>
> J-P

 

[Pete Biggs]

j-p.s wrote:

> ) How tall are you and how long are your cranks? Have you checked that your ) leg is straight when
> you sit on the saddle and put your heel on the pedal at ) the bottom of the stroke?
>
> Yeah. I had a go on the way home, and it looks like if I cycle slightly knock-kneed then the
> strain goes away. I wonder if the pedals on my new bike are farther apart than on my old one?

They could easily be. If so and the problem can't be solved any other way then it may be worth
fitting different cranks, bottom bracket and/or pedals to get a different "Q" factor.

> Anyway, I have the saddle so that my knees have a tiny bend when the pedals are at the bottom:
> when my heel is on the pedal instead of the ball of my foot, the leg is practically straight.

It may possibly be slightly too high, which can also result in knee strain. To test, I would try
lowering the seatpost by 3mm at a time.

But it might just be New Bike Syndrome. Perhaps you are pedalling in too-high gears without
realising it whilst getting used to the new bike. That's something I've done myself.

> I will cycle with my knees slightly closer together - my legs are very slightly shaped like this
> anyway - and see if it goes away.

You should not have to consiously alter the position of knees, legs or feet, and If fact, I don't
think I could manage to for more than two minutes!

[from orginal post:]
> Perhaps I should be cycling more/less pigeon-toed?

Only if the bike is forcing you to place feet in an unnatural position that you can't cope with, and
then only correct it by adjusting/changing components or position, not by using feet or legs
differently, ie. unnaturally.

Some people are naturally pigeon-toed or duck-footed. Pedals should be able to cope with this. If
using clipless shoes, experiment with cleat position (rotation) or even different pedals with more
float; if toe clips, try loosening straps. (Plain platform/block pedals shouldn't be relevant).

~PB