Did my first 100 mile event today – and the last few weeks leading up to it and the ride today (successfully completed) I’ve been suffering with pains on the outer side of my right knee.

I’ve googled and tried to tweak saddle height, fore and aft, cleat alignment, pedal tension but no joy – the pain still exists!! And its a pain that only occurs on the bike – no where else!

Unless anyone has a nice pearl of wisdom I am thinking now the only solution is a bike fit!

Based in Essex – word of mouth is better than google so anyone recommend a good budget bike fit place in the East (happy to travel a little if comes with recommendation and the price is right!)

Or a better money saving solution??

Cheers.

up your cadence

Already sit between 85-95 so don’t think thats the issue – google suggested over 75 but that would be too slow for me!!

foam roll your IT Band

I had a similar experience training for a 130 mile job a few years ago. Thee pain was pretty severe.

Long story short, SPDs were the problem for any distance more than 30 miles.

Did all the bike fit/physio/cleat alignment etc to no avail. My own conclusion was it was the ‘pull’ action.

Did the ride on flats just fine! (Edit, you’re taking road – I was MTB)

Get a foam roller and learn how to use it, do some glute strengthening exercises to increase hip stability, theres a few good stretches that can help too..

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJBOwaoVBFw[/video]

Just out of curiosity: How tall are you, and how long are your cranks?

I ride SPDs (same shoes on MTB and road) and think road on flats would be a killer.

Had read about the IT band – if that makes it more flexible and less likely to be painful them i’ll give it a go before spending £200ish on a bike fit!

Just out of curiosity: How tall are you, and how long are your cranks?

6ft 1in – 175mm

I’ve been getting pain aroudn the right hand side of my kneecap for a while, dont really notice it for the first 20 mins but then gets incredibly painful.
The physio is pretty sure it’s a patella tracking problem caused by muscle imbalances in the leg. Basically my quad on the outer is pulling my kneecap over and out of alignment. Lots of foam rolling, stretching and strengthening of the inner quads. Might be worth getting checked out by a physio, as these things dont tend to just go on their own!

I went through nearly all the equipment changing options following knee pain, before discovering that stretching cured it, but your case may well be different. I would still give stretching/rolling a try before going down the bike route.

I had exactly this. My right cleat was moving imperceptably when I unclipped by swinging my right ankle out. Only ever noticed the effect of a degree of misalignment after very long rides.

My solution: yet another cleat check, a good tighten, and get in to rolling out of those cleats instead of twisting out.

Bike fits: Had a good experience with Pedal Power in Ipswich, hear good things about Elmy in Ipswich.

Bike advice & fit from a physio: my wife’s a physio, she steers me towards Physio Bob at physiofixx.co.uk in Stowmarket.

Pedalpower is a lot better than Elmys, Mark knows his stuff.

ITB irritation. Move your saddle forward 0.5 cm on the rails and a little lower. Foam roller can help, but saddle position is everything. What is the seat tube angle? A degree difference between bikes is a whole cm in fore aft on the rails. You are over extending your ITB and it is rubbing against a bony attachment site on the outside of the knee.

Had just the same issue training for the Trans-Portugal. I upped my resistance training to strengthen around the joints, did a bit of physio to help heal and repair the damage, but the biggest change was cleat position. Read this blokes article. I drilled my shoes, moved my cleats way back.. cured. Good Luck https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/11/knee-pain/

There’s probably 101 different solutions, mine for pain in the same place was playing with saddle height and wedges under my insoles.

Never paid for a bike fit, just played around to find what was comfortable, although I’d be interested to see if I’ve go it right or if I’ve just worked around some other problem.

And added tot he list of “thing you probably don’t stretch enough which will f*** your knees and back” hip flexors (just don’t do it in the same room as your GF if you’ve been dating a long time or have only just met).

I rotated my cleats slightly so that my toes pointed out more. I think I sat on a table and dangled my legs, and noted that my feet naturally pointed out slightly. There wasn’t much adjustment in my cleats, but it was enough to help my knee travel in the right plane.

I also locked down my pedals to eliminate float. It seems better to be locked into position.

My cleats are also positioned to the rear.