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Covered knees = knee pain?

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  • April 27, 2015 at 8:58 am #23860
    sergius

    Something I’ve noticed recently, is that I only seem to get sore knees when wearing full length tights, and seemingly not when wearing shorts.

    I had a bit of knee pain last year, which I got sorted as the summer progressed with various changes to cleat position. Since then I’ve made no adjustments to my position on the bike.

    My knees got a little sore when I picked up the riding again more seriously after Christmas, originally I thought this was just a fitness thing as I was ramping up the mileage. I tend to be wearing full length tights over the winter, as we’ve hit April I’ve been able to switch to shorts and have done numerous 70+ mile rides with no pain in my knees at all – which I figured was my fitness coming back, all good.

    I did a fairly cold/wet Sportive on Sunday, 80 miles long which I wore full length tights for. After 40ish miles I started feeling my right knee a little, not debilitating – but enough to know it wasn’t quite right. I’d done 75 miles of much of the same course the weekend before with no problem, so I was a little surprised and it got me thinking:

    – Is it just the fact that my knees are covered (one assumes movement is more restricted), that is causing some knee pain?
    – Is it a weather thing (sounding like an old man), my joints are just happier in glorious sunshine than on a cold/wet/miserable day?
    – Does the pad/shorts make an appreciable difference (other than comfort on your nether regions) for things like knee tracking.

    Thoughts?

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  • April 27, 2015 at 12:16 pm #843589
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    Rich_O

    Good advice – except the OP’s
    Good advice – except the OP’s problem is the other way around. His knees hurt when he wears full length tights and not when he wears shorts. Strange, but that is the problem.

    April 27, 2015 at 11:06 am #843587
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    OnTheRopes

    Try leg warmers/knee warmers
    Try leg warmers/knee warmers with the shorts you prefer.
    Maybe Castelli Nanolight leg warmers for example

    April 27, 2015 at 10:32 am #843585
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    DaveE128

    I think the most likely
    I think the most likely explanation is that you wear tights when it’s cold, and your knees hurt when it’s cold. Try warmer tights perhaps?

    April 27, 2015 at 9:53 am #843583
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    Yorkshie Whippet

    March Knee!
    I get a pain in
    March Knee!
    I get a pain in my knees when it’s cool and shorts are on. Someone explained it as the cold air rushing to the back of the knee and tighening the ligaments. As result unless it’s 12 deg or above the shorts stay inside.There is an element of different clothing as some pads are thicker than others, especially a set of well worn ones. This may alter your saddle height by only a few millimetre but it could enough if you are already on the upper “limit”.

    Other than that it’s a multitude of possible sins.
    Best advice I’ve found is Steve Hoggs way of raising and lowering the saddle by 3mm. Well worth checking his website. Gearing, some of us using compact chainsets tend to spin a little too small a gear, some using 53/39 may tend to grind too high a gear slowly. Either way can lead to over use of the knee and subsequent pain. Find out if your right leg is the same length as the left, apparently most people have one leg longer than another. If so try extender plates on the soles to even out.

    Another thing could be the float on cleats. “Normal” pedals like Shimano, Look etc play hell with my knees, so I switched to Speedplay and will not go back. Some people are able to maintain a static postion, other of us move around alot on the pedals.

    April 27, 2015 at 9:16 am #843581
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    sergius

    CXR94Di2 wrote:Odd, maybe

    CXR94Di2 wrote:
    Odd, maybe trying a couple different pairs of tights to see if its still a problem. sometimes the smallest adjustment can cause an issue.

    That’s actually one of the reasons I ask. Up until last weekend my full-length tights have been a fairly cheap pair of DHB ones that I bought last winter. My normal bib shorts are a pair of Castelli ones which were much more expensive and are theoretically of higher quality.

    I actually picked up some high-end Castelli tights in the Wiggle warehouse sale, pondering whether the pad/fit in the DHBs was the problem. Last weekend I wore the Castelli tights for the first time – lovely and warm/windproof etc – but I did have the knee discomfort in them just like the DHBs.

    April 27, 2015 at 9:08 am #843579
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    CXR94Di2

    Odd, maybe trying a couple
    Odd, maybe trying a couple different pairs of tights to see if its still a problem. sometimes the smallest adjustment can cause an issue.

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