My brother suffers badly from his knees burning and finds it hard doing lots of hill work. He hasn’t been biking long but I think it puts him off a bit. Is it the lactose acid in his knee been used up and not replacing fast enough? Has/does any one else suffer and what can you do to provent it!

Not a lot of muscle in the knee itself (apart from a little one called popliteus at the back of the knee) so unlikly to be lact build up if pain in knee joint. Can you be more specific as to where he gets his pain?

You should try using glucosamine sulphate, crondroitin or cats claw. Glucosamine is the moste easily digestible and is very good for knees elbows and connective tissue. A lot of the time with knee’s what happens is that the surface of the joint is worn. It should be like a sponge effect and the sinovial fluid sits in these little pockets and lubricates the knees.

However a lot of the time the surface becomes smooth and then lacks lubrication, which causes friction. I know for a fact from personal experience that glucosamine works. All of the medcal test show that even athletes with excessive damage so knees such as american football and rugby players get relief from using it.

It’s also good for older people, I wouyld give it a go you can find it on ebay quite cheaply.

kaesae = shareholder?

@Rockape – are his socks on fire?

Sounds like he is just unfit.

You should explain to him what the “M” in MTB stands for.

After that, explain what MTFU stands for.

what can you do to prevent it!

Tell him about single speeds.

crotchrocket – Member
kaesae = shareholder?

@Rockape – are his socks on fire?

Posted 8 minutes ago # Report-Post
luked2 – Member
Sounds like he is just unfit.

You should explain to him what the “M” in MTB stands for.

After that, explain what MTFU stands for.

what can you do to prevent it!

Tell him about single speeds.

If you don’t have anything productive to contribute. SHURRUP!!!

You should explain to him what the “M” in MTB stands for.

Multi?

As in Multi Terrain Bike. Or were you thinking Moun? As in Moun Tain Bike

Is he using SPDs? They can cause knee pain if the angle isn’t right.

If you don’t have anything productive to contribute. SHURRUP!!!

That would make this entire forum a very quiet place indeed 🙂

Back on topic – raise the saddle.

where does it hurt?
the knee is a weak link in the whole leg area and a problem somewhere else can lead to knee pain (but not always)

i’m a runner (well i try to be) and my common knee complaints are…

outside of my knee toward the top = tight IT band, in particular toward the top where the IT band curves around one’s hip (not too common in cyclists)

back of the knee /leg toward the bottom = tight hamstrings. quite common for cyclists(!)

if you bro stands upright and crosses his legs, then bends with his back and legs straight, how far toward the ground can he get?

there is another common on on the inside, but i can’t remember that one ….sorry.

—
i’m no physio, i just have a lot niggles, generally from doing to much!

I have a similar issue. My knees get very hot after lots of biking/snowboarding/running etc. On the bike after a while hill climbs hurt my knees and they feel a bit like they are grinding. Walking up stairs is also slightly painful.

I went to see a specialist and had an MRI scan for a suspected cartilage tear (my knee also clicks). Turns out the inside of my knee cap is rough instead of smooth and this causes the friction. I was told it is common in teenage girls (I’m 28 year old male)! The doc told me just to live with it and take painkillers when required.

I now take ibuprofen at the start of every ride which helps and spin lower gears on the hill.

I would suggest he goes to see a specialist or physio.

MRanger – may be worth you seeing a decent physio, if your cartilage behind your knee cap is damage you most likely have a tracking problem (most common reason for knee cap problems but there are others though!). There are things that can done about this, unfortunately it normally gets worse as time go on. Oh and this is not just a problem teenage girls get.

luked2 – Member

If you don’t have anything productive to contribute. SHURRUP!!!

That would make this entire forum a very quiet place indeed

Back on topic – raise the saddle.

quiet is good 😆

I think it was the bone that was rough (I think). I plan on getting a second opinion if it gets worse.

Quiet is good

I guess you don’t run Hope rear hub then 🙄

Big gears/big torques=bad knees.

I used to have very painfull knees mostly riding my Five – I fitted it with a smaller grannny and bigger cassette and am doing more on my HT and road bike and my knees are sooooo much better 🙂

yeah i was thinking overgeared too, try spinning higher cadences/lower gears may help.

glucosamine has recently been discounted in the miedical press as hocus pocus too btw

Thanks for all your help. My brother says it’s not a pain as such it’s more like his knees don’t have the energy after so long and finds it hard to climb so he’s wondering like alot of you have said it’s machine set up. 😕

with me it’s simply a combination of lack of fitness and ischaemic heart disease, but hey i alsolike to blame the bike too!! ;o)

First thing to check is seat height, generally too high = behind knee pain, too low = front knee pain. Also make sure seat is not too far forward or back (or frame too big / small). For seat height do the book in crotch thing against a wall with bare feet, measure to floor and x by .883 Then measure centre BB to top of seat, along post.

Next thing to look at angle of feet on pedals, should be straight forward. Knees should stay close to the top tube too, I was reading how there was a correlation between knee pain and twisting on the down stroke.