Knee pain while biking...any suggestions?

I’m suffering mild/moderate knee pain while biking (and only while biking). Right knee, in the soft area directly below the knee cap. Not enough to stop riding, at least not yet. I ride with the Speedplays with float on a Calfee Luna-Tri with approx 76 degree seat angle. I suspect a bike setup problem, but don’t know where to start. Raise or lower saddle height? Slide seat more fwd. or back? Maybe cranks are too big? Or, just mess with small adjustments until I find something that works? Any ideas or experience would help. Thanks!

I agree. Definately start with saddle height. A saddle too high or too low can cause knee problems. Here’s how to measure and use the ,883 formula. http://www.coloradocyclist.com/BikeFit/index.cfm

I have never (in my limited experience) heard of knee pain caused by saddel fore/aft adjustment or crank length unless they were part of some other problem i.e. saddle too high would be aggravated by extra long cranks.

check saddle height first. Float is a common culprit but you said you are using pedals with float. If saddle height doesn’t do it, maybe you are riding with too low of a cadence? What about heel drop or cleat placement?

My favorite source of knee pain is trying to turn too large a gear, especially up the hills. If you aren’t spinning at 90 even up the hills, get lower gears. Let your roadie friends laugh at the pie plate on your back wheel if they like.

My second favorite source is having saddle too low.

Yes, I have been there and done both. I have had no knee trouble from cycling for over a year now.

I have experienced the same problem you describe, my solution was not seat height, but a combination of cleat and pedaling action (style) this exact issue was discussed in Inside Tri article some time back. I noticed that if I am pushing a big gear, particularly in aero (& steep seat bike), I have a tendency to point (and push) with toe down action, after a while this starts to bother the knee (same spot as you described) so now I make an effort to have a more even stroke with a flatter foot, particularly when going over the top (from 11 to 3pm). Works for me. The other thing was to check the cleat position.

On my road bike I dont have this problem at all, and the seat height by pure coincidence is 5mm lower than the tri bike, I came by this seat height settings by trial and error. Amusing to read Dan’s article on seat height, I think he calls it method 3. My road bike is a 74-75 v tri bike 78+

This leads me to think about application of force and the possible differences between the two bike set ups. This might be opening a whole can of worms and bring out all the PC/slam/FIST/76 degrees proponents, if so I apologize in advance!

I have had knee issues recently trying to set up a new training/road racing bike that my wife got me for Christmas. Here is what I can offer:

  1. Adjust your cleat to a neutral position. Not too forward and not too rearward.

  2. Knee pain in front and below knee cap:-> saddle too low. Raise in small increments.

  3. Tendon pain in back of knee or dull pain down leg from behind knee: → saddle too high. You’re hyperextending the tendons during the stroke.

These rules of thumb seem to help me a lot. Pain went away almost immediately.

Hope this helps. Good luck!