EnderWiggan wrote:
Thanks Tom, I'm grasping at straws trying to figure out the problem. I never had any knee problems until I switched to a shorter crank (165 to 155) and I'm trying anything and everything to sort it out. I've raised the saddle accordingly (played around with the height), I've started to mess around with saddle setback as well, and even cleat position. It only seems to affect me on long rides on the trainer of 2hrs+, although I haven't been outside yet (quite cold here). I believe I've ruled out saddle height, and cleat position. So saddle setback, is where I've landed and was hoping others would chime in.
When you change crank length, if you want to keep the relationships to all the other touchpoints the same, not only do you need to change your saddle height, but you should also move your saddle fore/aft AND move your bars up/down and fore/aft to match.
In your case, that would mean that when going from 165 to 155, you should raise your saddle by 10mm while also moving the saddle rearward 10mm as well. This will keep the relationship of your lower leg and foot the same in both cases in the downstroke portion of the pedal cycle (where the power is produced). Also, that means you will need to raise your bars 10mm relative to the BB along with moving your bars rearward 10mm. To not make the bar changes will mean that the rest of your body angles will be different.
Look closely at the overlay pic in this blog post I did about crank lengths to get an idea of what I'm saying:
http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/...erwithin-reason.html
http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/