Back Knee Pain

[norcalbiker]

After riding for many years, last month I decided to lower my saddle about a little less than an inch (1"). I now have a slight pain on the back of my left knee. Coincidence or should raise my saddle again.

[AngryScientist]

why did you lower the saddle in the first place?

[MattTuck]

When I got fit, I was told it can take up to 500 miles to fully adapt to the new position. For me, it was about 400 miles before I was feeling "strong". I did have some pain initially, around the knee, but I just kept spinning and trying to work on my pedal stroke. Went away after about a week, maybe 130 miles?

ymmv

[norcalbiker]

why did you lower the saddle in the first place?


I guess I just wanted to try a little more angle on my knees.

[norcalbiker]

When I got fit, I was told it can take up to 500 miles to fully adapt to the new position. For me, it was about 400 miles before I was feeling "strong". I did have some pain initially, around the knee, but I just kept spinning and trying to work on my pedal stroke. Went away after about a week, maybe 130 miles?

ymmv

Maybe I should keep it for few more rides. It's probably been at least 400 miles since I lowered the saddle.

[mandasol]

Saddle height change of ~1" is HUGE. Especially after years of training your body to ride in the old position. Occasionally I'll make minor changes to my position but no more than about half a centimeter at a time and even that is noticeable, and anything more I'll get pains in all sorts of places - hips, knees, achilles, feet, lower back...

[Charles M]

What was "a little more angle" supposed to accomplish?

Was it a suggestion? And by whom?



If you had no issues and now you do, you shouldn't press the bad situation...

[djg21]

After riding for many years, last month I decided to lower my saddle about a little less than an inch (1"). I now have a slight pain on the back of my left knee. Coincidence or should raise my saddle again.

Assuming that you were riding regularly, 1" is too big of a drop to make all at once.

You may want to have your bike fit by someone who knows what they are doing. If you have concerns that your seat may have been 1" too high, there likely are a lot of other problems with your fit apart from your saddle height.

[wc1934]

I maybe way off base, but I thought that pain the the back of the knee was attributed to the saddle being to high. Conversely, a saddle that was to low would cause pain in the front of the knee.
Other thoughts?

[rustychisel]

I maybe way off base, but I thought that pain the the back of the knee was attributed to the saddle being to high. Conversely, a saddle that was to low would cause pain in the front of the knee.
Other thoughts?

Echo the suggestion that 1in is too much change too quickly, usually.

It is a rule of thumb, and seems borne out by my experience, that too low gives pain at rear of knee, too high gives pain at front of knee (behind patella) and too far back always gives me hamstring issues.

[norcalbiker]

So which one of these gives you pain on the back of the knee? Saddle too high or too low?

[KeithS]

I'm with WC, Saddle too low - pain in front of the knee, saddle too high - pain in the back of the knee. Has always held true for me.

But with the caveat, I'm in the phone business.

[ultraman6970]

1 inch is too much, i agree. even 1 CM is too much. When u move the saddle u need to move it in increments of 5 mm,

[kgreene10]

As you lower the saddle, you also typically want to move it backward in order to maintain the same relative position of the foot over the pedal spindle. Because 1" is a big drop, without moving it backward, you are further in front of the pedal than you had been. I would expect this could cause behind the knee strain.

[mitchel@century]

I'm constantly changing my saddle position- almost every ride! Usually by a millimeter or two up or down or forward or backward. I do randonneuring, and on those long rides I just try to get it perfect.
Once, when I was getting knee pain in the front of my knee cap, the physical therapist raised my saddle quite a bit.

[Vientomas]

I have been suffering pain behind my right knee this Spring. I have been riding a new build and I had the seat set a few mm higher than norm for an experiment. With additional clothing layers (tights and wind pants) I was probably a couple of additional mm's higher. I did not know what was causing the pain, but this thread has helped me to diagnose the problem. I am going to lower my seat a few mm. Thanks to the OP for starting this thread.

[norcalbiker]

As you lower the saddle, you also typically want to move it backward in order to maintain the same relative position of the foot over the pedal spindle. Because 1" is a big drop, without moving it backward, you are further in front of the pedal than you had been. I would expect this could cause behind the knee strain.

I did slide my saddle back a little. Enough to keep the same angle.

[norcalbiker]

So I did a little more research about this. It turns out that saddle too low will give you pain in front and too high give you pain in the back knee. So having said that, it doesn't make sense on what's happening tO my left knee.

[benb]

I have unfortunately had a fair bit of knee pain already. (I'm only 33.. ) The "pain in the back of the knee = saddle too high, pain in the front of the knee = saddle too low" adage probably has some truth but isn't always going to be true..

What the Doctors told me was that once you irritate something, you're going to get some fluid in the joint.. that fluid will travel around as you bend your knee.. depending on where it ends up your going to get pain in the front or the back regardless of what the cause was.

I would really get to a good fitter ASAP.. it's worth just about anything they charge compared to what the medical bills will/could be. The saddle fore/aft is going to come into play in terms of whether or not the knee is happy too and it can get awfully hard to chase down the right position yourself. I am of the opinion the correct position should not be causing knee pain as you transition to it either.. muscle pain/tightness yes, joint pain.. not unless your knee is really hosed up.

Gotta echo everyone else though.. moving the saddle 1" is almost a guaranteed recipe for an injury.

[markie]

I always wonder how close pubic bone height minus 10cm works for people?

I guess it is the Rivendell fit.

http://www.rivbike.com/article/bike_fit/fit_sizing_position

It works well for me. I wonder if the O.P. has got pretty far from this? 2cm is a huge change. Just the thought of that big a change makes my knees hurt.