Knee pain

[CPP]

What's the saying for pain on the outside of the knee..... saddle up or saddle down.
Thanks
CPP

[thwart]

Usually that's an IT (iliotibial) band problem... Google it to find appropriate stretches, which are very helpful---as well as post-ride icing (after stretches) and 600 mg of ibuprofen 3 times a day for a wk or so... can't help you with the up/down thing though... :confused:

[TAW]

I believe the saying goes, knee pain on top, move the saddle up, knee pain on the bottom, move the saddle down. My knees feel much better with my saddle high. Running bothers the outside of the knees, which is the IT band. The stretch that seems to help the most is the seated one where you cross your injured leg over the other and draw your knee up to your chest.

[Serotta PETE]

If you mean "front of knee" the saddle can come up some.

If the back of the knee than bring it down some (also when you are spinning fast one will have a tendancy to rock back and forth if saddle is too high)

Mark post with a "dab' of magic marker, tape, or mail poiish so you will be able to have a reference starting point. Try in increments of 1/4 of inch or less at first - unless it is a new bike and you have no point of reference.

If no point of reference, than take your shoes off, place your heals on pedals and pedal backward until you find your position. Helps to have someone hold bike while you are doing this. To get seat height in range to start micro adjustment your legs should be fully extended with heals on pedals. This equates to a slight bend when you have shoes on and have ball of foot over pedal. This is a starting point only - - for the type pedals, shoes, size, etc all have a value in determining seat height.

Many will argue that this is garbage BUT it has been working for over twenty years that I know of. A far easier way is to get a pro fitter to see you on bike and set "starting" seat height.

Come to SMILEY OPEN HOUSE IN SARATOGA and he can "eye ball" you on the bike. YES he is that good.

PETE

[Karin Kirk]

Here is a link to an article on knee pain and position on the bike:
http://www.roadcycling.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/3/15

Good luck!

[regularguy412]

When my ex was racing back in the early 90's, she changed to the 'new' clipless Look pedals. In those days, there was no float option,, just the black, flxed cleat. She developed some outside knee pain similar to ( and probably _was_) an IT Band problem. We managed to eliminate the pain by adjusting the 'splay' of the foot / shoe combination relative to the pedal. That is: adjustng how close or far the heel of the shoe comes to the chainstay. In her case, she needed to have the heel slightly closer to the chainstay on the affected leg compared to the non-affected leg, thereby having a slightly toed-out position.

I think many people have these slight anatomical discrepancies. With the advent of float built into either the pedals or the cleats today, many of these issues are 'automatically' alleviated. Howver, some need to be addressed specifically.

You may also need a 'LeMond Wedge' or similar type shim between the cleat and the shoe, which will help correct a leg length discrepancy or a hip/femur/tibia/foot misalignment issue. (I had to shim my 8 mm short right leg to cure a chronic saddle sore problem.)

Mike in AR