Left Knee pain; what's the deal?

[OakLeaf]

I think the point of that exercise is for "alexjoan" to sell humic acid...

[vness]

I think the point of that exercise is for "alexjoan" to sell humic acid... :rolleyes:

LOL Thank You for that!!!!!
namaste,
v

[Kathi]

The pain is not necessarily from the bike or your pedals. I'm also a Speedplay user and I started experiencing knee pain. Because I had been diagnosed with chondromalicia and everytime I see an ortho the cause is attributed to the chondromalicia I put up with it and faithfully kept my quads strong. By the end of the summer my pain had progressed into the back, piriformis, and foot. The ortho treated each area as separate issues. I tried shims in my shoes and had professional orthotics.

My bike fitter recommended seeing a PT who did bike fits so I did. It turns out I had a locked SI joint. Apparently it had been like that for years and caused my right side to weaken.

Now that I know the real cause I work on keeping my glutes strong rather than the muscles around my knee.

I've also quit using orthotics for skiing and walking. Haven't ridden yet this season so we'll see what happens without them.

BTW, one of my symptoms is I always sat a little sideways on my bike.

[itself]

Thanks for all of the tips. I think it is IBS...the pain in the left side of my left knee is so bad that I can't ride my recumbent or my mtn bike. Hiking is no problem, and I don't have the pain off the bike.

Off to PT on Monday, crap I don't know how long I will be sidelined off the bikes. This sucks.

Lisa

[ummbnb]

Just a note on cleat position. I've been roadbiking for over 20 years (with a seven year break in there) and never had any problems. Last year, as I was getting ready to do my first metric century of the summer my cleat came loose. I put it back and headed off. The ride was 100% rolling hills and by about 25 miles I felt the pressure in my knee. I kept thinking it was fine but by 50 miles I could barely pedal. I finally pulled over and made an adjustment - barely moving the cleat - and when I got back on my bike, the pain was gone completely. Amazing. I did have some pain for a few days after but eventually it went away. The cleat was only like a 16th of an inch off and it stopped me in my tracks!

[itself]

Great suggestion on the cleat position, but with speedplays position doesn't matter as there is a ton of float. With SPDs, cleat position absolutely matters. I've made minor adjustments like you did, and found a world of difference!

Lisa

[redrhodie]

I agree with Catriona. I recently changed my saddle position, and that's totally relieved my IT bad problem. I think my body changed in the 3 years since I got my bike, or my riding position changed. Anyway, while my bike was set up on the trainer, I dropped a plumb line, and sure enough my knee was a little far back. 3 mms forward made the pain go away.