Originally Posted by Unglued

Seems my join pain may be related to the tracking of my patella during pedalling. Seems like my symptoms fit the description of it tracking poorly and inflaming the entire joint.

Anyone have experience with patellar tendon straps? Do they work?

Originally Posted by Unglued

Seems my join pain may be related to the tracking of my patella during pedalling. Seems like my symptoms fit the description of it tracking poorly and inflaming the entire joint.

Anyone have experience with patellar tendon straps? Do they work?

Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy

Pain on the inside or outside or center? Cyclists usually have patellar issues because of a weak or incorrectly firing VMO. Here's what I know about that:
https://www.bikeforums.net/training-n...l#post16081392

AFAIK there's nothing newer out there than what is discussed in that post. I've used the described knee extension exercise on others with surprisingly quick results.

Most pain that people try to fix with a fit is the result of simple physical problems. I can ride pretty much anything I can reach the pedals on pain-free. That's not unusual and is simply the result of appropriate training.

Originally Posted by Unglued

The joint itself feels very achy almost a burning feeling, so I'm going to say the pain is center, behind the knee cap but higher towards the femur. I've had tendonitis in joints before and this is more of an inflammation type of "ache" than it is a sharper pain associated with tendonitis.

Originally Posted by Unglued

The joint itself feels very achy almost a burning feeling, so I'm going to say the pain is center, behind the knee cap but higher towards the femur. I've had tendonitis in joints before and this is more of an inflammation type of "ache" than it is a sharper pain associated with tendonitis.

Originally Posted by Unglued

I inquired with an LBS with a very good reputation for fits.

The fitter doesn't do any motion capture, but is supposed to be very thorough. Should I be expecting motion capture for $200? There are other fitters in the area that offer motion capture at that price point but don't come as highly recommended.

Originally Posted by sam_cyclist

Your expectation should be to be comfortable on the bike, enjoying your ride, pain free once you are properly fitted.

I'm surprised that you haven't gone back to the bike shop where you bought your bike and told them about your pain issues with fit. That is a logical starting point. They can recommend a fitter or do a more thorough fitting themselves perhaps at a discount.

We don't know what city you are in, so we can't help you choose a fitter.

It's really up to you to make a decision at this point. Right now, you are over-analyzing.

Originally Posted by fietsbob

sports orthopedics is a medical specialty.. there may be the real professionals .

Originally Posted by Unglued

Fitting scheduled next week. Fitter says they'll do whatever they can to get me comfortably riding. Ortho is my next step if fitting can't help.

My guess is that less than ideal fit + new cyclist + big hills = knee discomfort. Let's hope. I very much enjoy cycling and would like to continue.

Until then... no bike, just Ice and advil.

Originally Posted by sam_cyclist

It sounds like you are taking all of the right steps.

Do you have flat courses you can ride on when you return?

Originally Posted by Zerokreap

Personally, I would never pay anyone for a fit. Not to demean anyone's work, but it's not rocket science. There are plenty of information resources available on the web so that you should be able to fit yourself for free. Besides, you will likely find the right setup only after some trial and error. That is to say, you might pay someone to fit you, only to find that the general "rules" they use don't give you the right setup. You might also just start riding with your local cycling club...if you ask, someone will likely help you figure out the best setup for you.

Originally Posted by Zerokreap

As far as your legs hurting...you might just not be in good riding shape yet. It takes a little while. Although you have done some short-distance running, cycling is a whole different thing. So you can expect to be sore at first. Of course, how you feel is based on a lot...age, height/weight, bike setup, what type of riding (flats, hills, both), diet, etc. Personally, I wouldn't be too concerned about soreness. Like someone else said above...do some stretching after your ride (10 minutes or so worth). Start with the big muscles and work to the small. Also, your seat height and cleat positioning will have a tremendous effect on what muscles you're using.

Originally Posted by Zerokreap

Take two aleve after your ride, then another 12 hours later (although advil has always worked better for me, the black-box warning and some chest discomfort have pushed me toward Aleve). Icing the affected muscle (10min on/10min off) for an hour the night after your ride would likely help you a good bit as well. Drink plenty of fluids...but not just water. Go see a sports medicine doctor if you keep having these problems.

Originally Posted by Doc V

Carbonfiberboy is probably right, because that is a common problem of cyclists when taking on new hills or hills for the first time. The first year I started riding my knee pain came from a tight IT band (which foam rolling greatly improved) and weak VMOs. The patellar pain (from patellofemoral pain syndrome since there was no cartilage damage) was diagnosed by an ortho doc. His recommendation was to decrease riding and mix in other endurance exercise. I did not like this answer so I sought out ways to fix the problem. The pain was fixed by:

1) taking a week off the hills with rest, foam rolling and ibuprofen
2) taping the knee with kinesio tape to encourage the knee to track correctly until I could strengthen my VMO. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqaP...ature=youtu.be for taping technique. There are 2 techniques in the video, the second technique starting at 3:30 worked best for me.
3) strengthening my VMO using this technique (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5BDi8Oj5eM) and doing lunges

Now I have no pain and I do not need to use kinesio tape. The bike fitting is a good idea, but if the pain persists after the ortho analysis and fitting, then it is probably a weak muscle issue.

Originally Posted by Unglued

I get it and depending on the situation a fit is probably not needed. I ended up going for the fit, and it was a great experience. Definitely worth doing at least once to have someone show you the ropes.




I'm not worried about muscle soreness, it's joint pain thats concerning. Surprisingly, even with all the hills. I've had zero muscle soreness believe it or not. Just flat out knee joint discomfort. I expected muscle soreness in quads, hamstrings and calves but haven't experienced any yet. Seems like my knees must be a weak link in regards to the pedaling motion that is specific to cycling.





I take advil as needed, but wouldn't take it directly after a ride or run. NSAIDs when taken during a possibly dehydrated state will wreck havoc on your kidneys.

Originally Posted by Unglued

Great article, thank you for sharing.

Raising the saddle has helped quite a bit. I adjusted based on the average of the different methods found online. (Lemond's chart seems to have gotten me near where I want to be). Based on that, it was actually about 1.5cm too low. I may be a tad (1mm or so) high now. I feel some tightening/stretching in the back of my legs at points.

I have some residual pain from when the seat was low in the petellar and quad tendon, but nothing like what I experienced before where it was a global ache in both knees.

I also did the fore/aft alignment (KOPs) as well. I think I'm in a good neutral spot, maybe slighting forward as some recommendations said being a little more forward is less detrimental than backwards. Seat tilt is currently level.

I have a few questions on fine tuning... What is the best bet for climbing. Should I adjust a little more forward or backward? I have a lot of medium sized climbs and any 15 mile route could include 900ft of elevation change over multiple hills from 2-12% grades. I spend most of my time climbing seated, if that makes a difference.


Also, Speedplays seem great. May be my first upgrade as I move along with this.

Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy

OTOH, a minority have knee issues such that their feet must be fixed to keep their knees happy. These folks ride with a zero float cleat/pedal system and perhaps need an outside observer to get their foot angle set properly.