In knee'd of some painful advice!!

kleinalpine

Retro Guru
Hi , I'm after some friendly advice regarding painful knees. I went riding yesterday on my new steed and after about 15 miles I felt some pain in my right knee on the out side edge, unfortunately I had another 15 miles to go , so had to push on through the pain . By the end of the ride both knees where killing me on the outside edge to the point where I could barely cycle let alone walk. I'm currently riding a full suspension with spds. Ive never experienced this before on other bikes. I've been reading a lot into this matter and have found lots of different articles with different ideas and theories. If you can offer me any advice on what you may think could be causing the problem or problems that you've experienced that would be greatly appreciated!!
Cheers
Ben
 
Angle of cleat might be out. This is known to cause knee pain. For me though, I get it on an inline seatpost, as opposed to the standard layback, all other things being the same. Hence I have a Tioga T-bone seatpost used once for sale
 
Not knowing what your prev bicycle was for comparison, my guess is the difference in seat height between bikescoupd withthe agle our cleats ae at.

Maybe post some side on pics of both bikes for us to see?

You can drop a plumb line from the saddle tip to see how far infront/behind the b/b axle the tip of the saddle is, and also compare seat heights using a tape measure.
 
Maybe you can try a pair of speedplay frogs they have much more play then SPD. 25 degrees instead of 10 degrees. It worked for me.
 
you need them to fit how you use them. Sit on a wall or something that you can't touch the floor and look to see how your feet are. Then match as closely as you can with the cleats
 
minor_LEGEND":20fgqvq5 said:
You can drop a plumb line from the saddle tip to see how far infront/behind the b/b axle the tip of the saddle is, and also compare seat heights using a tape measure.
I would agree with this.

If you are sitting forward or backwards in relation to the pedals, it can cause pain. As little as 10mm in the forward / backward position of the saddle can make a difference.
 
NeilM":3tqhnbba said:
minor_LEGEND":3tqhnbba said:
You can drop a plumb line from the saddle tip to see how far infront/behind the b/b axle the tip of the saddle is, and also compare seat heights using a tape measure.
I would agree with this.

If you are sitting forward or backwards in relation to the pedals, it can cause pain. As little as 10mm in the forward / backward position of the saddle can make a difference.

^^^ This.... or your saddle height or position has probably moved forward a bit. I suffer from knee pain in my right knee and am sensitive to both, as well as correct cleat alignment. Sitting further back on the bike helps me a lot too.Whatever you do, stop riding it until you get it sorted as knees have poor blood flow and take A LONG time to repair themselves.
 
Thanks for the advice received so far, I'm 6ft and my last bike was a size large hard tail (Scott). Being 6ft I've always found my self between large and medium sized frames. After owning my scott I always felt the bike was quite a stretched out racey position so this time round decided to go for a medium full suspension ghost. I fit into the criteria for this sized bike . I'm quite long in the body I would say, so after the first ride I felt I was slipping of the back of the saddle so decided to get a lay back post. It seems as though it's going to be tricky to narrow this problem down to one thing as when setting the saddle position correctly you need to allow for sag and also when the suspension is in full flow as this is changing the position of the ride continually. How far behind the bb should you be at a stand still?
Cheers
Ben
 
By getting a lay back post you've changed your relationship with the pedals, you should have adjusted the bar position.
And there is no right distance behind the bottom bracket.

The best thing to do is to duplicate your hard tail position.
Get some big zip ties, let most of the pressure out of your shocks and use the zip ties to stimulate your "normal" sag, then get busy with the tape measure and allen keys The important measurement is distance from and setback from the bottom bracket. Everything else you should be Ok having a bit out.

If you are using the same pedals and shoes as the ht is unlikely to be a problem with them.

If you're still not sure what you are doing, try and find someone who does. Bad position over long periods of time can cause serious (and permanent) damage.
 

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