Hi all, the inside of my knee hurts when racing (details below). Does anybody have recommendations for sports therapists, physios or bike fitters in the Stroud/Bristol area? And how would you prioritise the above practitioners?

Long story is that the pain meant I retired from Big Dog yesterday to limit damage before the 3 Peaks. The same pain occurred at Gritfest late June, after which I didn’t do much intensity for over a month.

Each episode has coincided with race efforts on the mtb and the pain continues (albeit less so) when walking down stairs and riding any other bike.

I’m guessing sports massage and magic tape isn’t the answer. Likewise with 5 weeks to go to 3 Peaks I’m not sure if there is time for physio to address the underlying issues (I belatedly started working on my glutes a month ago!).

I’ve considered bike fit but I’m dissuaded by the fact that many fitters aren’t physios/sports therapists. Likewise I’m conscious that many therapists might not appreciate bike fit.

So does anybody have any recommendations in the SW? Boardman Performance Centre? Any shops or practices? Cheers

Could be over use, take some time off.

For bike fit and good cycle specific PT, I went to BW Cycling in Bristol. They’re really good, the bike fit was really in depth, talked me through all the different aspects of it and filmed my riding on a turbo trainer. The PT is great there too, they help professional cyclists so they know what they’re talking about.

Could it be the infamous IT band? My missus had that and it caused knee pain by pulling her kneecap out of line. A few sessions with the foam roller sorted it –

So get proper pro advice but a decent chance physio will sort it

It might be the opposite of my recent issue, I had pain on outside of knee, discovered by my own tweaking it was because I didn’t have the cleat pointing enough towards my big toe.

I have bow legs and feet that naturally point forward at different angles.

Get a proper diagnosis from a knee specialist first. I was getting pain from competitive rugby, I went down the physio route (all along chucking all manner of knee snack oil down my gob off Amazon for knee pain), it turned out I had a bony problem which means I need corrective surgery. Playing on and training made it worse, I should have stopped and got a diagnosis from a knee consultant first (xrays and mris).
But this guy knows a lot about both bike fitting and the knee joint so if it’s just a muscle imbalance/bike fitting issue, I’d talk to him
http://www.organicmotioncycling.co.uk/resources/Biomechanics%20of%20Cycling%20The%20Knee%20v2.pdf

Cheers all. I’ve tweaked the cleat position so will see how that goes. Not keen on self diagnosis but added some of those Specialized BG wedges as well.

I don’t think over-training is the cause as the load has been no greater than previous years. Maybe just age!

I’ve got a left knee problem. Started in May/June and grown worse to the point I didn’t ride at the weekend 😟

I think it’s maltracking and / or the knee cap binding through the pedal stroke. If I put my hand on my knee when pedalling you can feel a crunch. Right knee perfect

Been told IT band too tight and need to do lots of stretching / rollering. Doesn’t seemed to have worked yet though so will try to get some hands on therapy plus a sports massage to stretch around the area

I saw Scott Cornish at Bike Science Bristol. Physio, bike fitter and more than decent on the bike. That would be the type of person I would try to see. The person is always more imprtant than the kit they use IMO.

The only problem is he appears to have moved to Geneva!