Pain in my knees

[bikergal]

Hi everyone. I'm new to biking and this forum. I have been lurking for a couple weeks while I become more familiar with cycling. I just bought my first road bike last week. It is an '05 Roubaix Elite Triple. My husband and I went out riding this weekend. We did 37 miles with 2400 ft of climbing. This is the longest ride that I've done and the first ride on my new bike. I noticed that while riding down the hills if I had my left pedel all the way down I felt pain on the outside of my ankle. I didn't feel this when I kept my right pedel down. Also this morning when I woke up the outside back of both of my knees were hurting. The left side hurts more than the right. Any ideas on what might be causing these pains? I have a 50 mile ride coming up this Saturday and I would like to fix these problems before I cause anymore damage to myself. Any advise would be welcome! Thanks

[maillotpois]

Did you get the bike fit to you when you bought it? If so, you should go back to the shop and have them readjust it. Tell them what hurt and when, and they should be able to tweak it If you did not get the bike fit to you by someone who really knows what they are doing, you should probably make an appointment to do so ASAP. It sounds like the seat may be a teeny bit too high, but it is almost impossible to tell without looking at you. It also sounds like you may have a slight leg length discrepancy, which is pretty common, since one side hurts more than the other.

Take the bike in to a shop and have them fit you.

[bikergal]

Thanks Sarah. I did have the bike fit when I picked it up. I will try adjusting the seat and if that doesn't work I will bring it back into the shop.

Shelley

[bouncybouncy]

fit! fit! fit!...make sure the bike fits! i cannot help much on the proper positioning but there are plenty of girls here who could...i was fit by a lbs (local bike shop) owner who is trained in the art of "fitting" he is also a well-trusted friend who has happily taken many $$$$ in exchange for some neat cycling parafanalia...

anywho here are a couple places to start while the pluthera of info comes flying in from the TE gals at this site...

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=5616&highlight=bike+fitting

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=4403&highlight=bike+fitting

good luck...and pedal on!!!!:D

[maillotpois]

Thanks Sarah. I did have the bike fit when I picked it up. I will try adjusting the seat and if that doesn't work I will bring it back into the shop.

Shelley

If you did get it fit, I would take it in to the shop before you start fiddling with it. Like I said, it could be that the seat is too high. But only having someone who really knows what they are doing look at you on the bike will tell for sure.

[Nanci]

Plus, if you hadn't been riding a lot, and then did a ride like that with all that climbing, I think your knees are going to feel it anyway.

Nanci

[allabouteva]

Nanci is right. For me when I climb, especially if it's steep, my cadence drops really low to the 50s, and that really stresses my knees. There's not much I can do, because I'm already in the lowest gear!:rolleyes:

I had my bike professionally fitted by a physiotherapist friend who is a mad keen cyclist and specialises in sports physio, when I found that my LBS didn't do it quite right.

[salsabike]

Here is a link to one of the most sensible and complete discussions about cycling knee pain, and what to do about it depending on which part of the knee is affected. You have lots of company (or I wouldn't know about this article!). Have fun on your 50-miler!

http://cptips.com/knee.htm

[RoadRaven]

Sounds like your seat is too high... might just be by millimetres, but it doesn't take much.
Try lowering it a little

Good luck, BikerGal