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Knee Pain

I am recently taken up cycling after availing of the c2w scheme.

Yesterday I did my longest ride of 82km, not much climbing, only 350m however I've noticed on my last two outings that my right knee suffers pain whilst I cycle. I did get a bike fit when I purchased the bike, could it be incorrect setup that is causing the pain? Is this a common sensation among new cyclists? Is there anything I can do to alleviate the stress on the knee?

Thanks

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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6 comments

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matthewn5 | 9 years ago
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This works for me:
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/Store/catalog/fitCalculatorBike.jsp
Worth a try!

Also, make sure you use a lower gear and keep the cadence (rpm) high. Don't try to lug a big gear up the hills, 'spin don't lug' might help to remember.

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glynr36 | 9 years ago
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As much as a fit can solve a lot of problems they're bloody expensive, and I think a lot of places offering them have a vested interest so they can flog you a few new contact points, and then the other risk of you've got a spot on fit yourself and you've just turned over £100+ to find that out.

Self research and investing some time can get you a pretty bang on fit (there's a really good bike fit app for iOS that DCrainmaker recommended).

But that's digressing a bit, with this. Is it a new pain? How long have you been riding for? It more than likely is cleat related, but maybe not position, just that they've worn (if you've had them a while).
When mine start going passing a point of wear I get a pain in my left knee first then right, usually the day after a hard ride.

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crikey | 9 years ago
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Even the most basic fitting session should start with the cleats. If it doesn't, walk away.

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therevokid | 9 years ago
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a "good" fit session will address cleats as well as all the rest of the bike
so suggesting a fit is possibly the best option !

If your fit then presents further problems you should be sorted free of charge.

in my case it was poorly performing muscle groups and imbalances that
caused the knee pains. both of which were picked up by the fit technician, who
was also a very highly experienced sports physio.

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sergius | 9 years ago
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It's massively common unfortunately - and is most frequently a poor fit for the bike.

Rather than suggesting more "professional" bike fits (I'm not a huge fan), I'd suggest you read up on the topic and understand the bio-mechanics of cycling, before trying a series of micro-adjustments over shorter rides to see what works best for you.

This is what I ended up doing last year when I had lots of anterior pain in one knee - which a bike fit just made worse.

Some links to start you off:

http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/articles/footloose/
http://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/406728-inner-side-knee-pain.html
http://www.knee-pain-explained.com/
http://www.cptips.com/knee.htm

For me, it was all about cleat position.

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kwi | 9 years ago
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I had knee pain when I started back into cycling, discovered it was my cleat position and after a bit of adjusting the pain went away.

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