Sore knees

[tintman]

I have been getting sore knees when I ride regularly. The phisio recons my knee cap doesn't track straight over my knee due to my outer knee muscle being stronger than the inner. The specialist I went to for a second opinion said basically the same thing and that it is the most common knee complaint for bike riders. It doesn't seem to be cadence related as I have tried using easier gears and still get the same problem. Has anybody else had this problem and what did you do about it?

raise your seat

[josh]

I would be suggesting something to the effect of what fuzzy said.

If you raise you seat, to me it feels like all the lower muscles are sharing the work. You can really feel the difference when ur pedalling on the dh bike with the seat down.

[josh]

That will be $100 thanks!

[Ghost]

Damn you guys reply fast! :shock:

To third the sentiments...

raise your seat

This allows your muscles to contract to their extent rather than hitting a wall of sorts half way through their movement. If you are riding Downhill it's obviously stupid to have your seat too high or you're going to eat it sooner or later. Thing is, the distance you should ride in a Downhill stance will not be sufficient enough to destroy your knees. I suspect you're riding around on the flat too much with your MTB setup.

take my money :o:o

[Adi]

Yea, My knees did that 2 weeks ago, didn't ride for 3 months, and then go out on a bike trek with my mates looking for DJs after 3 months of being bike-less done something like 65-75km, my knees were farked after that.

But Generally raise your seat as everyone has said. Lower it when you are doing jumps or whatever,a nd raise it when you are cruising to places. ;)

[tintman]

My seat is as high as I can go without having a straight leg on the bottom of the stroke. I'm going to the bike shop to have the bike professionally set up later this week i'll see if that helps. If all else fails i'll have my knee caps surgically removed, I can't see any need for them.

[wombat]

Take up sailing. No seriously, my best mate and his brother have been sailing laser's for ages (his big bro won the worlds) and they had the exact opposite problem, their inner muscles were too strong due to all the hiking. So the nswis physio prescribed cycling.
Of course this is incredibly impractical advice but eh.
My knees are stuffed, a few years of skating did a lot of damage, especially since I was already suffering from what you are now, but they're nat as bad as they were.

Sorry, this was a remarkably useless post.

[Ryan]

Are you using clipless pedals tintman? Because the float or lack thereof on some traditional clipless systems can seriously aggravate knee problems...

[josh]

Well lets think about it then shall we. Basically what Wombat said is good advice. You really need to build up full leg strength. Try going to the gym and do all sorts of different leg muscle exercises. evening out your muscle strength will help combat the problem I would think. Also, stretch before riding! Helps alot.

[tintman]

No I want the easy fix.
Yes I will have to keep up with the exercises the physio gave me even though they are incredibly boring & could take upto 3 months to help, why isn't there a cycling exercise I can do?

[Turley]

My advice is to head down to the jimp and do some curls. Ie lay on your stomach and there will be this funkity defice which you can curl you leggs up to your bum. This strengthens your muscles under your legs. Also, try doing one leg at a time to see if one leg is stronger than the other. If so, try and rectify this just working both legs on the weight that is optimal for your weakest leg :)

[MrPlow]

Do yer knees click and grate and carry on (and pain)?? mine do, and the doc told me to take some salmon oil tablets from health shop. Tried it, and it seems to work, gotta use good brands though. It's like chain oil for your joints!!!don't start drinking "finish line" though, tastes ferrell!) also did the physio suggest excersises to do?

[perfor8r]

My seat is as high as I can go without having a straight leg on the bottom of the stroke. I'm going to the bike shop to have the bike professionally set up later this week i'll see if that helps. If all else fails i'll have my knee caps surgically removed, I can't see any need for them.

Getting your setup looked at is a good idea. If it persists, get a kiniesiologist/sport scientist to look at your pedalling motion. There may be something in your movement that's doing the harm.

goodluck!

[CHEWY]

yea i used to get sore knees too a couple of years ago, and they used to grind and grate whenever i stood up. and now there fine and i have no idea why

[tintman]

yea wall squats and lunges, said it could take upto 3 months to improve in which time i'll be fat and unfit again.

[stewyg]

well i do a bit of ridin, although my legendary bro got me a sick new frame, so im ganna start riding more, and a fair nit of skatin, my knees lock occasionaly and give me a bit of pain during speed skates. so i might try the salmon oil and the exercises, stop the pain b4 it starts, but skatin uses alot of opposin muscles to riding to what i hear, so perhaps that might have some of the effect of sailing? plz tell me if im wrong

[MrPlow]

[Getting your setup looked at is a good idea. If it persists, get a kiniesiologist/sport scientist to look at your pedalling motion. There may be something in your movement that's doing the harm.

goodluck![/quote] Yes, a kineseologist is who proscribed my salmon oil. Weird stuff thay do, but it works!!

[SquarkyD]

i used to have that problem but after a bit of gym work and lots of BMX it sorted out perfectly. then i ripped my ACL in a crash :(

[bassmonkey]

I started skateboarding when I was around 12-13, and I was in physio for my knees by the time I was 16. By the time I was 19 I could predict cold fronts in the weather by how stiff my knees felt. Skating is bloody evil for the knees, that's fer sure. I haven't been skating for the past few years and my knees seem to be improving quite a lot. I was hoping that the pedalling had been doing some good rather than harm. I really have to make sure to wear my knee/shin armour as much as I can though. If I even have a reasonably minor smack of my bare knee into the frame I'll be feeling it for a couple of weeks.

SirVH: My knees still crunch around a fair bit thanks to my cartilidge (sp?) being shot from skating, so I might have to try that salmon oil gear out and see how it goes, cheers.

[perfor8r]

Yes, a kineseologist is who proscribed my salmon oil. Weird stuff thay do, but it works!!

Yeah it's insane!

Either way Tintman, take the time to get this sorted out properly now so it doesn't flair up down the road (10-15years). Would suck to have to stop riding!

[wombat]

I started skateboarding when I was around 12-13, and I was in physio for my knees by the time I was 16. By the time I was 19 I could predict cold fronts in the weather by how stiff my knees felt. Skating is bloody evil for the knees, that's fer sure. I haven't been skating for the past few years and my knees seem to be improving quite a lot. I was hoping that the pedalling had been doing some good rather than harm. I really have to make sure to wear my knee/shin armour as much as I can though. If I even have a reasonably minor smack of my bare knee into the frame I'll be feeling it for a couple of weeks.

SirVH: My knees still crunch around a fair bit thanks to my cartilidge (sp?) being shot from skating, so I might have to try that salmon oil gear out and see how it goes, cheers.

Oh man you almost told my story!!!
But you think your cartilidge is bad, my dad doesn't have any at all! It was removed due to some hockey injuries, not fun.

[rockyash]

I am on crutches at the moment after having an ACL reconstruction last Tuesday. I completely tore my Anterior Cruciate Ligament in half which left no support in my knee making it all sloppy and easy to pop out. I tore it when I crashed racing BMX one night. I think the main reason for my initial tear was due to a muscle inbalance between the quads and the hamies. This is common in sprinters. In my training I mainly focused on developing my quads because I hated doing hamstring curls etc. My advice to you is stengthen your antagonist (hamstring) muscle or you'll be heading down the same path as me, which isn't a pretty one. 6 months off riding so far and probaly another 5 at least to go.
:(

[Simo]

all that's been said is good advice, raise ur seat, build up leg muscles and drink beer. Well, that wasn't in there but it can't hurt!!! :lol:

as for cracking/creaking bones, i am the living proof that no-body need cartliage (sp?) Whenever i make a fist all my fingers crack, wrists crack, knees, back, elbow pops out, shoulder cracks etc. All painfull, all combated by pills :lol:

[tintman]

I don't get any clicking or grinding just pain and pressure behind the knee cap. Thanks for everyones advice it seems i'll have to drink discusting fish byproducts and get buff in the gym. Thanks