Pain just behind knee..moved my seat

[looseleftie]

Hello,
Three weeks ago, I went for a 100km + ride, 30km in and began getting pain behind my right knee , towards the outside.. This pain then after a few more km's, went into back of calf.. Rested it for week, went for a few rides on and off over last 2 weeks, nothing extreme in either duration or intensity, and pain pretty much gone (just a few twinges really).. This morning, very leisurely 30km ride, with 10km back , the same pain came back.. Sorry hopefully it wasn't too boring in reading this

I had recently moved my seat forwards by an inch and a half or so btw!. Anyway, just wondering, as have never had any sort of drama with my knee/calf as a result of cycling in the 2 plus years that I have been on the bike..Could this be result of moving the seat? What effect does moving the seat have on your muscles and how they contract and what not?
Love any thought here..

I have a weekend of nice weather coming up, and scared that I won't be able to get out onto bike and enjoy it...

[rodneycc]

My rule of thumb is if I'm moving my saddle any more than a coupe of mm then I don't go on a long ride. I do a few smaller rides first even if its just a few kms.

Having said that moving the saddle forward is usually the lesser of all evils. Sore back of knee/hamstring (but not really calf?) is usually saddle too high symptom so you might want to have a play with that (but give yourself a few recovery days first to see how the knee goes).

[Duck!]

Inch and a half is a huge adjustment, almost the entire range of fore-&-aft movement of the saddle!

Moving it forward also has the effect of lowering your seat height, and having the saddle too low is a very common cause of knee pain.

A good guide for checking if your height is correct is to place the heel of one foot on the pedal; your leg should go fully straight at the bottom of the pedal stroke without dropping your hip to reach. Then when you place the ball of your foot on the pedal as you would when riding, the extra flex through your ankle should allow a slight bend in the knee at the bottom of the stroke.

[looseleftie]

When I got a quick fitting from bike shop (bloke who did this , certainly knew what he was doing), I wanted an aggressive set up, the bloke did this, was also was very cautious re saddle height.. Two weeks later, I moved the saddle forward a fair bit also and dropped handlebars by removing a couple of spacers, although last night moved saddle back to almost where I had it upon purchase to see if it made a difference...today , casual ride, yet pain came to me only 13km in.. still ended up completing 40km, but super slow home with slight discomfort..Just wondering by lowering handlebars and raising saddle height, then moving it forward, whether I might be the reason of my own demise????

Now I'm thinking I might have to put the spacers back in to raise handlebars, and ride it as it came at purchase, (at least for a while)..

Frustrating, as I was almost injury free for 2 and a half years of cycling..

[foo on patrol]

Why did you tamper with the position, after having had a bike fit done??

Foo

[looseleftie]

Hey foo, because It was a very standard or should i say less aggessive position basic bike fit that took only about 3 min. At the time it was fine, i just had it in my head afterwards about reducing drag which was 70% yourself .. So in my ignorance, decided lets drop spacers and move seat forwards. .. stupid right !!!

[uart]

Hey foo, because It was a very standard or should i say less aggessive position basic bike fit that took only about 3 min. At the time it was fine, i just had it in my head afterwards about reducing drag which was 70% yourself .. So in my ignorance, decided lets drop spacers and move seat forwards. .. stupid right !!!

Just how aggressive is your current setup? Can you let us know how high is the saddle in relation to handlebars. Place a level (or horizontal straight edge) from the handlebars back to the saddle and measure the drop (top of the saddle to handlebar height). I like to go for about 10 or 11 cm here, but it's a lot down to personal preference and what feels good to you. TBH I think that sometimes getting too aggressive in the amount of drop can be counterproductive for some riders - as it can discourage riding in the drops.

I don't think the drop should be too much of a factor in the knee pain though. Back pain maybe, but not so much knees.

However I'm very much prone to knee pain if my saddle is too low. What Duck said above, moving the saddle forward reduces the distance to the bottom bracket, so effectively lowers the saddle. Raise it back a little. I find that the formula 1.09 times inseam length (top of saddle to top of pedal at lowest position) is a really good starting point.

[vander]

Moving the saddle forward not only effectively lowers the seat height but it can also have a pretty big effect in knee joint forces by moving the knee forward relative to the foot. It also effects muscle activation pattern.

With the issues continuing once moving back this could be an issue of crossing the pain threshold and once you have done that it can take a bit of work to get back below it.

My advice go see a physio who knows about bikes and get a proper bike fit. If the person knows what they are doing if it has only been going on for a relatively short period of time they should be able to get you back pain free pretty quickly with minimal or no time off the bike. (This is my advice as a physio who does bike fits so it may be bias but I get to see how easy it is to have great results)

[looseleftie]

Cheers guys, it's actually been quite a frustrating period.. The knee pain seems to come and go.. Regardless whether it's a 30km to 130km ride.. I rest, moved the seat back, I don't know.. Think I might get that bike fit.. I have a service coming up on bike, and the guy that works there might also have some ideas.

I have been on and off the bike over last few weeks..Coupled with the horrible weather, has proved the most frustrating period ever!! Now magpie season begins very soon, the hits just keep coming

Hey uart, my saddle is approx 13 cm above handlebars.. I actually took the spacers out, when I first bought the bike 2-3 months ago for a lower position, prior to that, no pain.. So may put one spacer back in..

Really do have to get this sorted..

[Duck!]

[
Just how aggressive is your current setup? Can you let us know how high is the saddle in relation to handlebars. Place a level (or horizontal straight edge) from the handlebars back to the saddle and measure the drop (top of the saddle to handlebar height). I like to go for about 10 or 11 cm here, but it's a lot down to personal preference and what feels good to you.

Absolutely saddle-bar drop is a personal thing, and very heavily dictated by the individual's arm:torso:leg length proportions as well as flexibility. Without knowing the OP's proportions and flexibility, it's fairly pointless chucking numbers around, because what works for one person can be very wrong for someone else.

All that said, it could be possible for too much bar drop to be contributing to knee pain; while the lower back would be the obvious place to expect discomfort, poor back flexibility rotates the pelvis forward, which in turn increases the strain through the glutes and hamstrings, which anchor just below the knees.