Here's the deal: The areas located above and below my kneecap felt very uncomfortable on a ride Sat at about mile 12 riding El Morro...it started basically on the last climb before the decent down. I was pushing Middle Ring all the way up with a slower cadence being out of the saddle about 30% of the time. The great thing is I prescribed myself to ride it out on Sunday with a nice little SCST action. I took 800mg of Motrin before the ride and found that peddaling on the flat stuff and inclines aggrivated the knee while being out of the saddle going up was the most comfortable. After that day and limping home on my bike I figured I should take a few days off. Any Suggestions or Doctors specializing in Knee's you can refer me too in the OC? Thanks, KRZ :?:
Solution: The Witness We should get a tandem MTB :bang: http://www.ellsworthbikes.com/handcrafted-bike-models/witness/ KRZ
i started wearing petellar tendon straps for my knee pain. the petellar tendon is located right below the knee cap. when i started pushing bigger gears it started to hurt. since i 've been wearing them, no more pain. it's basically keeps pressure on the tendon. i got mine at big-5 sporting goods, it's made by pro-tec, i've tried different ones and these seem to work the best. i just saw an ad in the back of bicycling mag. for one that goes above and below the knee it's at www.cho-pat.com hopes this helps.
Yup. I wore petellar strap for awhile too. They're often called a "Jumper's Knee Strap". And it worked GREAT for a few weeks. A few month's later I had knee surgery. That seems to have fixed it. Here's my advice: 1. RICE. 2. If that doesn't work, goto a doctor. Best of luck.
There are many potential reasons for knee pain, some of which can be serious, and some are minor. If it is severe, you should see a doctor. Some of the causes of the pains may be issues within your legs, some may be a result of proper bike setup, and some may be a result of simply using stuff you haven't used for a while. In case you didn't know, improper seat height can cause knee pains. The most common knee pains I get are from riding the singlespeed (mashing) after not riding it for a while. If I ride a gearie for a couple weeks without riding the singlespeed, my knees really hurt the first couple rides back on the singlespeed. But after a few rides, the pains go away. Since you said you were mashing in the middle ring, I thought that maybe you're knees just aren't used to it. Letting your knees rest is a good idea, too, then ride again when they're better.
Also, do you wear knee warmers when it's cold or chilly outside? I've found that my knees are ALWAYS happier when I wear mine in cooler temps.
too low of a saddle as well as mashing a high gear (too high for your current strength) while seated are both very common causes of knee pain (and possible dammage). Stretch, raise the saddle a bit (even if just for a while), spin a bit faster (lower gear). Also I've heard that some weight training on the ham string adds support for the knee.
Thanks for the feedback guys....I've been riding a lot over the past 6 months with Middle RIng being my best buddy 95% of the time and wear knee warmers (on night rides). I did move my seat back before that Sat ride and have since moved it back to the original location. I also wear the tendon straps whenever I play basketball due to getting jumper's knee. Since my days of throwing down the rock multiple times a game has long past, it looks like I'll be wearing the straps on the MTB. KRZ
Staying in the middle ring may make you stronger, but it can also cause a world of hurt. I found out the hard way and was in pain for 6 months. Later after the damage was done, I went to a sports doctor who told me what I'd done. His advice was I should not have pushed it that hard. Why do you think they have that other ring on there? It's to protect your knees so you don't blow them out on the harder climbs. Sometimes it'll be to your benefit to push an easier gear. I know guys that can spin right on by the whole group spinning merrily along. Learn how to use your gears and it may solve this for you.
Well, as a former "sore knee" guy I have to say not to forget about your crank Q-factor. Not really understood or discussed at length most places because some of us are sensitive and some are not. My store is a SS 'Cross bike gives me no pain but my geared MTB did (after only 10 miles on the flats). Did some work facing BB and getting shorter spindle cranks as well as 165MM cranks that are narrower and managed to get the Q to match. Guess what? No knee pain!! Dunno if it was moving form the 170s to the 165s but I theorize it was the Q.
yea my knee was starting to hurt at the end of the ss lovefest ride for me... i'm not sure if it was due to saddle height as much as me trying to climb out of the saddle in the middle ring on my bike (had to suffer like the ss'ers)... needless to say, it still hurts if i put my weight on it a certain way... will try to take another week off and see how it goes i guess.
I have cartlidge missing and torn from my right knee and aleeve works great because it is a anti inflamitory you have to take it for as long as the pain is present, But the doctors will probably give you the same thing just in a prescription strength. it helps alot more than just pian killers, not as fun though:bang:
I notice knee pain after I changed my SS gear from 34:19 to 34:18 and also climbing in the "big" ring. I'm wearing those straps Slayer is talking about, but I feel the damage has been done. I've since stayed off the SS at least until the VQ and I will go back to a much easier gearing. My knees feel fine after today's climb up SJT, but then again, I didn't hammer.
Yeah...what they said. I tried a jumping exercise to strengthen my legs and guess what? Here came jumper's knee! Like many have said, it was a case of 'too much too soon.' Seat height and fore/aft adjustment are the right places to begin, but in my case it took a bit more bike adjustment to get everything sorted out. I went from a 175mm crank length down to a 170mm. Shorter cranks mean your knees don't bend as deeply at the top of the crank stroke. Crank length--as you probably know--is base on your height and leg length. I'm 5'6" so I was right on the border between using 175 and 170. A side benefit to dropping back down to 170's was better ground clearance. Five millimeters doesn't sound like much, but I can tell you my cranks hit the rocks far less often now. Another adjustment was the addition of a pair of Kneesavers pedal extenders. Kneesavers are spacers that go between your pedals and your crankarms. They are helpful if you have: a--big feet b--wide hips c--toe-out leg alignment I'm "c" toe-out. Spacing the pedals out further lined my legs/knees/feet up in a more natural position. Since things are lined up much better, I haven't had the same kind of knee strain I experienced before. More info: www.kneesaver.net You will need a pedal with external wrench flats to properly install Kneesavers. Newer-model high-end Shimano pedals and most Crank Bros. pedals do not have external wrench flats. It's not a problem for me because I use Speedplay Frogs, great pedals that also features wrench flats. Finally, single speed bikes and middle-ring gear mashing, as mentioned, are just plain hard on your knees. If you climb steep trails, consider a cassette with a 34t low gear. Spinning higher rpm's is not just easier on your knees, it is better for endurance. Get your endurance base established by using lower gears and a higher cadence first and then, as your knees tolerate it, start to mash bigger gears more often. Ibuprofin is good, and I still use it sometimes, but you need to find the root cause of the pain and not just mask it with pills. Good luck! Knee pain sucks, so I hope you find a solution soon.
Referral Dr. Carlos Prietto MD Sports Orthopedist Orthopaedic Specialty Institute 280 S Main St Ste 200 Orange, CA 92868 (714) 634-4567 Appt. 714-937-2124 http://www.osiortho.com/
I had the same issues as a result of the same activity (riding and bball). To solve the problem, I stopped playing bball. Then when I rode, I tried to spin and never mash. If I had to grind up a hill I would stand and pedal. It took a while but the pain went away. Doing this trained me to a) not push such a big gear b) stand more while climbing I also used the jumper knee strap but I found that in my case, the strap was only to alleviate the pain. After I took off the strap, I would feel the pain again. I play bball again and ride and I haven't had the issues come back. Oh and stretching a lot helps too.
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