Last couple of times out I’ve really been suffering with pain just above my knee cap. That fleshy area between the top of the knee cap and bottom of quad muscle.

It just feels strained and inflamed as if I’ve been pushing too high a gear….I’ve not!

I ride flat pedals so I suppose I mash the pedals rather than spin circles.

I recently lifted my saddle about 1/2″ just so I’ve got a very slight bend in my knee at the bottom of the down stroke.

Any ideas/experiences? Other people I’ve mentioned it to has talked about people they know getting pain in the knee cap itself from incorrect cleats position or having the saddle too low but doesn’t really apply to me.

Thanks

first thing I’d do is lower the saddle back down and see if the pain goes away. If that’s all that’s changed then it makes sense to undo it.

WWW – I think thats prob what I’ll do but the new position is whee it ‘should’ be and I raised it a bit as my back was aching…..I’m prob just getting old.

Been having a similar issue, have a read on here: KNEE PAIN >> Bike Fit > Steve Hogg

Sounds like your saddle is too low. Too high and the pain is usually in the back of your knee, and your hips sway while pedalling in a bad way (not like Shakira)

For clipped riders, this works: Sit on the bike, lean against a wall, put your HEELS on the pedals and back pedal until one of the pedals sits at the lowest point of the rotation.

When the ball of your foot is over the pedal axle you have a slight bend, which is about right.

Obviously if you’re riding flats then your feet will be further forward on the pedals, so this isn’t ideal. It should give you a good base to work from though.

Sounds very much like tendonitis of the Quadriceps tendons. I’m suffering from the same at the moment. Its fine if I’m just pottering but any pushing on climbs it will start to ache.

See a physio maybe? If it is tendonitis its a long slow wait to get rid of it.

I’m wondering if a bike fit thing might work, or even going to SPDs and getting them fitted properly……just guessing now tho – how do physios work – I mean, how do you go about seeing one and how much do they cost?

See a physio – pronto. They are the professionals after all.

Do not seek medical advice on a forum.

Particularly on knee pain which can be incredibly difficult to diagnose accurately.

Saddle position. My suspicion is fore and aft position rather than absolute height. Try moving your saddle forward on the rails 0.5cm at a time. Look up “Knee over Pedal” for sighting the saddle with a plumbline from the base of the patella through the pedal axle with the pedal at 90 degrees. It’s a good start and will tell you how far off you are.

I guess (as I ride clipless) that getting a standard foot position relative to the pedal (and hence saddle) is more variable with flats, so setup may take more time.

I had a similar pain on my fixed commuter bike (so daily), until I realised that it had a pretty slack seat tube and a setback seatpost, and relative to my other road bike, the saddle was about 1.5cm too far back (despite being the right height). When set properly, the pain disappeared.

Do not seek medical advice on a forum.

I’m a doctor! Don’t you trust me? 😈

Went to the doctors and she thinks its tissue damage.

Told me to keep exercising but no running (as if I’d run anyway), take 400mg of ibuprofen 3 times a day for 2 weeks and can take upto 12 weeks to feel right again.

Then she had a quick look on the internet and said, actually don’t do too much exercise 😕

So, I’ll take the ibuprofen and won’t push big gears and see what happens.

What is it with people on this forum and mashing of gears? …

Who mashes? I spin at about 90-100rpm. But my fixed wheel saddle position was what caused the knee pain. I strongly suggest that the OP looks at saddle position (and possibly height) then does the same.

TiRed – I’ve adjusted my saddle height, fore/aft & tilt – I’ve used guides I’ve found on the internet and pretty sure I’m in the ‘right’ position now. One thing tho, when dropping a plumb line from your knee to the pedal axle, where abouts do you hold the line……..anyone got a good pic to show?

Yoshimi, good luck sorting that out and paddy thanks for the Hogg link (interesting article about IM tri bikes)

FWIW, I have a tendency to ride MTB with saddle too low and get pain above knee when I do. Currently trying to get used to much higher saddle height for most riding not just XC and uphill. But feels a but weird!

I was recently diagnosed via MRI scan with osteochondral lesions on my tibia & patella. Commonly caused by kneecaps hitting dashboard during car accidents – for me it was a bike off at speed.
Try RICE , anti inflammatories and professional advice…. I’ve had physio ,a small cyst drained from knee and steroid injection.
It has improved but as the consultant said ” you’re not getting any younger , man up you tart” 🙁
(he didn’t say the last bit 🙂 )
best of luck with it.