hi all , on a climb yesterday i noticed that my right knee tracks significantly inwards during the pedal stroke. Left knee is ‘normal’. It doesn’t hurt at all.

Just wondering if this matters , both physically and in terms of power output and so on. Should I try and correct this and if so how?

thanks!

Short answer – your seat is at the wrong height (not actually an answer)

I had/have the same thing lots of investigations by physio and a mate back home (sports therapy stuff) and the conclusion is one of my glute muscles doesn’t fire or do any work, there is something more involved going on that I have still never actually got to the bottom of (so to speak) best bet is to go and get some hands on examination done, preferably with a bike.

Does it matter?

In my case no idea, in yours really depends on whats actually going on.

Had a similar problem too, suffered knee pain for years despite trying to fix it myself. Eventually booked a session at Cyclefit, where in-depth investigation resulted in a couple of minor adjustments to the bike, arch supports in both shoes, cleat positioning adjustments, and cleat wedges in one shoe. The session took about 2 1/2hrs in total, and is far more than somebody in a bike shop looking at you and saying it all looks about right, far more a medical/physio kind of thing. Wish i’d done it years ago instead of listening to the naysayers.

If you dont have any issues or pain then don’t worry.

My knees are similar. I noticed it many years into riding. No issues ever.

cynic-al – Member
If you dont have any issues or pain then don’t worry.
My knees are similar. I noticed it many years into riding. No issues ever.

I guess my concern is I’m building up a problem that will come back to bite me in 10 years. I know when I went to a chiropractor a few years ago he said I had an ‘unbalance’ in my hips , but that was fairly normal.

It’s MTB , just gone back to cleats around six weeks ago

like had been said, if it hurts go see a specialist, if not don’t
fret. just watch the pro peleton to see how many knee in/out/left/right
shapes you can spot 😉

Can’t help but feeling all this talk recently of tracking and imbalance is just that. Talk.

Does it hurt? If yes, seek help.

If not, it’s probably ok.

My right knee has wobbled inwards when pedalling since forever. My knees have also clicked since I was about 12 (I’m 37). I have had precisely zero knee issues in my whole life (apart from twotting the things into the floor occasionally, with no permanent damage). I reckon that if your knees don’t actually hurt, you’ve got nowt to worry about. 🙂

Swap you for my left. It does exactly the same, always seems to have done, but doesn’t bother me.

Myth Busting & Tips from Team Sky’s Head Physio

As a fitter, I see plenty of knee tracking issues, the causes and impact of which are many and varied.
As mentioned above, saddle position, feet – high arches, low arches – muscle weakness in glut/lower back and reach can all contribute.
That means there are a range of possible solutions; custom insoles, cleat wedges – less applicable for MTB – and physical conditioning.
Equally, sometimes it’s better to do nothing at all.
On one hand, if it’s not causing any physical issues – and there’s likely a difference here between a knee that tracks inward of hip/ankle but straight and a knee that ‘rotates’ through the pedal stroke, with the latter more likely to cause injury – you can choose to leave it alone.
On the other, is it something that’s robbing you of efficiency/power on the bike? Possibly.
In the end, the best thing you can do is find a reputable fitter and see what they recommend, then decide from there.

Mine used to do it but not something that bothered me until I started to get a bit older. Saw some really knowledgeable people in their fields about other things and the knees got cured. My issue was core which seems to have affected everything as you’d imagine but also, run training for a marathon highlighten a weekness in the gluten medius.

If it’s going to cause a problem, it will probably only show when age or workload increases. Or it might never bother you.

It might not hurt now but it might start hurting in a few months/years and then be difficult to fix. I’ve been trying to stop the pain since Xmas, just had my first NHS physio appointment…

Macavity that was a great link 🙂

Im going to go with my natural steeze and just leave it then…

I had this problem but put up with it for years, the inner of my knee would brush against the top tube but i recently bought some super feet carbon insoles and no more problem

If it’s not giving you pain then don’t worry about it. Forcing it to do something that it doesn’t want to do is more likely to cause pain than fix something that isn’t broken.

Get a thorough bike fit and do it as soon as you can.
I had an outward tracking R knee that I ignored. Developed pain after about 5 years of riding and it led to 4 surgeries on the knee and years of being unable to ride. The surgeries helped but what made the biggest difference was a bike fit I had in Boulder Colorado. The trip and fit cost a lot of money but was worth it and I wish I did it when I first started riding.

Unless you are rubbing the paint off the top tube, it’s not a problem. My feet point out. A lot. With cleats pointing forward, my knees track inwards. I corrected it with a shim, but it felt no different. Took the shim out.

Pedalling is a low force, high repetition activity that can tell you pretty quickly if things aren’t right. A minor cleat misalignment will have my knee tell me in a few miles. Once correct, there should be no pain. Regardless of tracking.

I saw a rider from behind with extreme outward tracking. As I passed I noticed that he had the largest legs i’d ever seen. To go with a huge frame. I just thought “good for you out on a bike”. If it isn’t uncomfortable, then there is little reason to be concerned.

Phil Burt’s book is excellent.