Knee Pain

Lets throw some more knee protection/prevention advice out there. I abide by a set of strict rules codged from random internet sources and blokes down the pub. And I swear by them.

Cod liver oil and glucosamine tablets
sub 70 inch gearing
knee warmers if the thermometer is below 15 celsius
ATACs are better than clips and straps = true story. This is counter intuitive but 100% true; you can move your ankle/foot around so much more than in clips so if your pedal stroke is shonky the ATACs will forgive you.

physio will sort you out in a jiffy.

do the proper stretches, give it a little rub, take some oily capsules cher-ching!

Lets throw some more knee protection/prevention advice out there. I abide by a set of strict rules codged from random internet sources and blokes down the pub. And I swear by them.

Cod liver oil and glucosamine tablets
sub 70 inch gearing
knee warmers if the thermometer is below 15 celsius
ATACs are better than clips and straps = true story. This is counter intuitive but 100% true; you can move your ankle/foot around so much more than in clips so if your pedal stroke is shonky the ATACs will forgive you.

Agree with most of this. had 6 months of pain a couple of years back and followed these various rules while recovering:

1. Stop as soon as anything feels unusual.
   
2. Low gear (sub 66gi) and gradual acceleration away from lights.
   
3. Keep knees warm but no tight clothing, added pressure of knee supports made knees feel worse.
   
4. Drink plenty water to keep joints lubricated.
   
   

Cod liver oil and glucosamine never did anything for me.

My Dad seems to have much the same symptoms, the problems arose through the years in many car accidents(driving). Just wondering would any of you know any details on the surgery side of things?
He has gone to GP's before through the years and it has gotten to the stage where surgery is the only real solution. I am using this as a query and as a sort of lesson to you all, his knee gets so bad at times that clutching in the car makes him nearly scream. So catching these problems early really is the trick.

the nhs only pay if your over 50 otherwise you have to go privite

have recently purchased a Bowery and am suffering a pain in the left knee that doesn't seem to happen when I ride my old road bike, I've been told it's probably my position but the position I've set up is the same as my road bike ie: saddle height/bar reach and crank length etc. I'm running it on a freewheel and the chainline seems ok also my shoes and SPD's are off my roadbike, am now thinking of changing the bottom bracket length and cranks....can anyone advise or enlighten me? thanks!

Are you putting more pressure on your knees, i.e. riding up hills without being able to change down a gear, spinning faster on the flat without being able to change up etc,.
Is your knee over pedal measurement the same, i.e is the seat in the exact same position relative to the pedals as your road bike or does it need to be slid back or forewards. Different crank lengths between bikes.

what about the relationship between saddle and horizontal pedal. i.e if you drop a plumb line from the tip of the saddle how far along a horizontal crank arm does it go? if i vary this on any of my bikes i get instant fooked knees.

.....possible could be knee over pedal position because I've measured everything against my road bike and adjusted where neccessary however I haven't tried the "angle of the dangle" from the saddle....will get back with an update, thanks!

how long have you been riding the new bike?
i would try giving it a few more rides before you make any changes to your settup.

also, when does the pain occur? during pedal strokes? right after you get off the bike? the morning after a long ride?

evennumbers....you sound just like my doctor (almost stripped behind the screens) I first noticed the pain only after a riding but recently it's happening while in the saddle! it's the left knee on each pedal stroke

Give it a week or two, same thing happened to me when I started riding fixed... Sorted itself out soon enough... Unless it's knee cancer... In which case you're fucked...
There are many threads on the subject... Insert 'knee' in the search field...

I was under the impression that knee pain was generally due to saddle height... i know you say that u've set up the saddle to same height as on ur road bike, but is it possible that the height is incorrect for you? I know it's fairly unlikely, but i was riding the wrong saddle height for ages without knowing (and got some knee pain as well), i changed the height slightly and all is now sorted. just a thought...

Bike radar has some good articles to help you.seriously. Also check cleats and saddle position.

I had some physio for knee pain over the summer. Is it possible that your rolling out of bed and jumping staight on your bike.? She said that s[FONT=Trebuchet MS]tretching was a good idea. Look up dynamic leg stretches online..its a thought.worked for me.. [/FONT]

Never rule out AIDs.

I had some physio for knee pain over the summer. Is it possible that your rolling out of bed and jumping staight on your bike.? She said that s[FONT=Trebuchet MS]tretching was a good idea. Look up dynamic leg stretches online..its a thought.worked for me.. [/FONT]

Stretching with cold muscles is a bit of a hot potato subject...

what about the relationship between saddle and horizontal pedal. i.e if you drop a plumb line from the tip of the saddle how far along a horizontal crank arm does it go? if i vary this on any of my bikes i get instant fooked knees.

Where abouts should a plumb line hit on your crank arm for best positioning?

My right knee has started to click on the upstroke.

Both my knees make the sound of paper tearing when I bend them... I'm ignoring it for now...
I've shagged my right hip due to extreme skidding... And my right shoulder's fucked...
Probably the AIDz, I reckon... I still roll like a man possessed tho'... HTFUFTW!

I've shagged my right hip due to extreme skidding...
Probably the AIDz,

Wow, you gave your own hip the AIDz? Physically imposs....
You haven't had a Prince like operation?

went for an 8km run one night. legs were dead. then following night went on the rollers (500m) but the saddle sank right down during my ride. bad combo. started feeling the pain the day after.

that was over three weeks ago, and yet the pain is still there. it's a very sharp pain, possibly beneath the knee cap. walking and going down stairs is painful. going up stairs and cycling is fine but starts to hurt at certain cadence.

GP suggests to go for an MRI. might do it anyway, but who would be best to diagnose this kind of injury (physio/orthopaedic/etc)???

My knees have been f@cking me right off ever since I went clipless a few months ago. Think I've finally sussed it now... probably a combination of saddle position and simply pushing too hard in the cold.

The guys in Brixton Cycles - all hail :-) - took one look at my position and said the saddle was too high - dropping 1cm and moving the saddle slightly forward has made the world of difference. Now make a point of getting up out of the saddle on hill climbs rather than pulling up with my knees. Also, carved some of my shoe sole away as this was preventing me getting the full float out of my Time Aliums. Somewhere in all that, things have sorted themselves out.

It's definitely worth taking the time to experiment and sort this out, it was kind of getting me down that even a 50-miler had me barely able to pedal with the pain.

As i understand it, getting out of the saddle shouldn't make that much of a difference? ( based on long chat with fruitbat and dmczone at south beer's last monday) surely gearing is the problem, along with rider position?

i like that 'south beer" diagnosis, that is even better than internet self diagnosis. do you take appointments or is it walk in?

Its a walk in but stumble out..