Pain in right knee only

[Ana]

The past few rides, I have developed pain in my right knee that presents itself the next day. When I wake up in the morning, the knee is sore when it supports weight. Wearing my running shoes with my insoles (orthodics) helps this pain go away.

I did get a new bike and have only noticed this problem after I started riding it but I transferred my pedals from my old road bike and haven't changed the cleat alignment on my shoes. The seatpost has also not been clamped in tight enough my last 2 rides and so I readjusted it and tightened it significantly.

Any thoughts regarding this or ideas of what may be causing it?

[OakLeaf]

Where in your knee is the pain?

Did your seatpost actually slip to where your seat height was lower than you normally set it?

Are the crankarms on your new bike the same length as on your old bike?

Get a torque wrench for your seatpost clamp bolt...

[indysteel]

What kind of crank do you have on your new bike--a triple, standard double or compact? What kind do you have on your old bike? How sure are you that your saddle is at the correct height? Do you have a leg length discrepancy?

[Blueberry]

Is your saddle position the same front/back as your old bike?

CA

[Running Mommy]

Find an lbs that has a GOOD fit person. A certified fit person and make an appt. Nine times out of ten something like this is is due to a bike fit problem. Something somewhere needs to be adjusted. But you really need a professional to look at you. It's very hard to do it yourself.
A good friend of ours recently made an appt with our fitter because knee issues had cropped up. He's an accomplished cyclist and Ironman. Recently his frame had to be replaced due to warranty. Even though the bike measurements were taken, documented, and the new frame was set up to the original specs, he felt that something was wrong. So he decided to start moving things, and he only made a bad problem worse.
Turns out the new frame has a different seatpost set up, and that was enough to throw things off.
Our fitter found a couple of key issues and addressed them, but because his knee is so angry (he waited too long) he is going into lake placid this weekend injured. So in other words- address the issue sooner rather than later!
Good luck! I'm sure with a good fit person they will have you pain free in no time.

[Ana]

Where in your knee is the pain?

Did your seatpost actually slip to where your seat height was lower than you normally set it?

Are the crankarms on your new bike the same length as on your old bike?

Get a torque wrench for your seatpost clamp bolt...

The knee pain is on the bottom of the front of the knee cap. Although, while I was commuting to work this morning, there also seemed to be pain in the back of my knee. It was absolved within hours of waking and putting on my running shoes. I know that my right leg is dominant and that I have to make a conscious effort not to let it do more work than the left leg.

Yes, my seatpost actually slipped down....I'm in the process of getting a torque wrench :p

Yes, the crankarms are the same length :)


What kind of crank do you have on your new bike--a triple, standard double or compact? What kind do you have on your old bike? How sure are you that your saddle is at the correct height? Do you have a leg length discrepancy?


Is your saddle position the same front/back as your old bike?

CA

It's not at the same position on the seatpost itself, no (the tick marks don't line up).


Find an lbs that has a GOOD fit person. A certified fit person and make an appt. Nine times out of ten something like this is is due to a bike fit problem. Something somewhere needs to be adjusted. But you really need a professional to look at you. It's very hard to do it yourself.
A good friend of ours recently made an appt with our fitter because knee issues had cropped up. He's an accomplished cyclist and Ironman. Recently his frame had to be replaced due to warranty. Even though the bike measurements were taken, documented, and the new frame was set up to the original specs, he felt that something was wrong. So he decided to start moving things, and he only made a bad problem worse.
Turns out the new frame has a different seatpost set up, and that was enough to throw things off.
Our fitter found a couple of key issues and addressed them, but because his knee is so angry (he waited too long) he is going into lake placid this weekend injured. So in other words- address the issue sooner rather than later!
Good luck! I'm sure with a good fit person they will have you pain free in no time.

Ugh. I thought you would say this.

Unfortunately, I am wary to spend additional funds on a fit right now... Nonetheless, I have had a difficult time finding a good fitter for a long time. The one I had in mind moved to another city last winter. The one I had been to was not as meticulous as I would have liked and never followed up. Also, it is rather far away for a fitting that does not meet my expectations :(

::sigh::

I will keep my eyes open for a good fitting and will plan on getting a fitting.

[Running Mommy]

I'm sorry Ana!! I wish you were close so Michelle our fit master could help you! :(
The thing with fixing things yourself is that you cannot see things that the fitters look for because you are on the bike. So even if you have an idea of what you need to look for, it's hard to do yourself.
Sometimes you get lucky and things are ok and you don't need to do much. But when things go awry IMO it's important to have a pro help you.
We can sit here and armchair quarter back things and give you ideas, but with mm's making a difference it's really hard to do.
Like I said, our very experienced friend tried to move things around, but he only made things worse. And he did an ironman on the bike before we fixed it, so he totally aggrivated his knee on the 112 mile bike, then completely ticked it off by running 26.2 miles on it.
And he's doing an ironman (placid) this weekend. 5 weeks later! ugh!! his poor knee!!
When we finally got him in here we could see the tendons running from his bum to his knee, and it looked like if we tapped them they would snap.
Once he was in the right position you could hardly see the tendon, as it wasn't being pulled by each pedal stroke.
I guess that is my long winded way of saying... sorry but you really need to find a fit guru... :o

edit to add..
I saw that you were in MI, so I was going to ask if bikesport michigan was near you. I've never been there, but they have published some great articles in the paszt, and I have a good feeling about them. Then I went in and saw what they charge for a fit. Youch. For what they do, and their credentials they are worth the 250.00. But I was hoping maybe they would have a bit cheaper package, since I am thinking that your issue is prolly a pretty quick fix.

[Ana]

I'm sorry Ana!! I wish you were close so Michelle our fit master could help you! :(

edit to add..
I saw that you were in MI, so I was going to ask if bikesport michigan was near you. I've never been there, but they have published some great articles in the paszt, and I have a good feeling about them. Then I went in and saw what they charge for a fit. Youch. For what they do, and their credentials they are worth the 250.00. But I was hoping maybe they would have a bit cheaper package, since I am thinking that your issue is prolly a pretty quick fix.

Yes, it's too bad I don't have an awesome shop like yours near me :p :)

Thank you for the recommendation...I will keep it in mind :) I may call them and describe the problem I'm having and see if they would do an hourly rate for me or something like that :p They are 33 miles from where I'm at now, though, which is quite a trek....

[Ana]

I think I'll take another ride with the proper seat height and see whether the problem persists :)