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So I know I have tight hamstrings ITB and use roller stretching to keep the general aching / clicking knees from hurting too much.
Started road riding and upping the mileage, now seem to be suffering a different type of knee pain. It feels like I've banged the front of my left knee, top left of the kneecap itself.
It happened last week after 2 days / 70miles but I thought I had actually knocked the knee on the stem / bar it took 2-3 days to go away. This morning after doing a 75miler I have the same pain and I'm 100% certain I didn't bang the knee this time.
Thoughts before I use google and find that it needs amputation?
Hullo DT78!
Firstly, a massive caveat that without seeing you on the bike and riding etc it is exceedingly difficult to offer any sort of diagnosis of what a problem may be. But with that in mind may I offer a handful of ideas for you to consider...
What have you changed recently? Not neccessarily on the bike but off it too? New shoes? New trainers? Different pedals? Different saddle? Occasionally a small change elsewhere will present itself as a problem on the bike so consider that...
You mentioned that you've started road riding (can of worms...OPEN!), have you ridden much road before? How much time did you spend setting up the road bike? How much difference is there (esp in terms of saddle height) between your mountain bike and your road bike? Are you using the same length cranks? What pedal system are you using? Have you done many 'several hour' rides before?
Where I'm coming from is that you may well be experiencing the wee aches that one gets when adopting to a new bike/position. If there is a significant difference between your saddle height on your mountain bike and the saddle height on your road bike I'd advise you to re-set the saddle on your road bike to the same height as that on your mountain bike and then raise the road bike saddle back to it's 'biomechanically determined most efficient saddle height' at a rate of 5mm per week.
Also examine your pedals, cranks and shoes for variance between legs (example...my feet are different sizes so my cleats get set up differently on each shoe to accommodate this) and between bikes.
Finally...back off the mileage a bit, sort out where the problems lie and then re-build the mileage again.
Hope this is helpful! Also, if you wouldn't mind updating us as to how you're getting on it might be really helpful to see where the problem lay and how you remedied it.
Started road riding and upping the mileage
what roadie said!
....and spin one gear lower than you think you need.
Blimey that's comprehensive 🙂
New bike, pedals, shoes.....new to road riding!
Started out with the same saddle height as my XC bike (which I can ride for several hours with no pain)
Set the bike up in front of a video camera on the turbo to make sure it 'looked' right.
Been experiementing with the fit trying small changes here and there, largely don't notice on the bike but seem to the next day. I was getting numb feet in my new Giros, but put in the specialised BG insteps from my mountain bike shoes and that seemed to sort it.
I was hoping that I could avoid spending out on a full fit, but sounds like I need to stump up for it.
Ok new bike pedals and shoes...you probably need to 'fiddle' around with the seat height a little bit as the different shoes and pedals will have a different distance from the centre of the pedal axle to the base of the ball of your foot.
Also, your mountain bike will probably have a slacker seat angle than your road bike so you may need to adjust the saddle forwards and backwards a little bit too to compensate for this.
Needless to say...when changing things, do it one item at a time and test it for a complete ride.