AT Cycling Log - 100,000 miles done! Next stop ???

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K

KMc

Golden Member
Jan 26, 2007
1,149
0
76
2 trainer workouts this weekend:
13 miles Saturday
17 miles Sunday

Total: 44,515
 
_Rick_

_Rick_

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2012
3,987
74
91
Once more 19.
With the higher saddle (more than a millimeter above max...) the knee pain appears to be less significant, but still present, and notably happens on compression, i.e. lifting the knee up from the bottom stroke, where the forces on the knee should be at their lowest. This makes it a bit bizarre, and I'm more and more at a loss as to what to do about it.
Maybe dropping the saddle back down could help, but currently it feels quite good, from a power and aero point of view....

44617

edit:

current setup
1796066_10203162607566848_688053367_o.jpg
 
Last edited:
P

pm

Elite Member Mobile Devices
Jan 25, 2000
7,419
22
81
I took a bad fall on ice while running about a week and a half ago... broke my little toe and cracked two ribs... So I was down for about 7 days... most of which involved a lot of sleeping. I can take a deep breath now and it doesn't feel like a knife anymore, more like it's tight... and my toe aches but I can put it in a cycling shoe... all this sitting around was driving me slightly loopy... so I did 7 miles on the trainer two nights ago and did 12 miles tonight. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 50F here in northern Colorado where the weather is wildly unpredictable and I'm planning on heading outdoors again while the weather is not bad.

Rick, that seat looks really high to me... I understand about knee pain but that looks like it could lead to back problems or other ergonomic issues. But I don't know much about these things so I guess if it feels good, then go with it for a while... but if it was me, I'd visit a physical therapist about my knee pain to see if I could solve the problem by increasing the strength of other muscles around my knee with other exercises.

+19
Total: 44636
 
_Rick_

_Rick_

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2012
3,987
74
91
Hmm, the saddle is around 2 inches above the 109%, but max half an inch higher than a 25° at full bottom would suggest - mostly because of the pretty thick cleats, and the fact that I'm trying (foolishly?) to get extra torque from ankle movement, which obviously lengthens the overall stroke over a flat-foot setup.

Just checked the other axis, and it appears that the front-back adjustment is pretty much spot on, with the knee being just above the pedal at mid-stroke.

I'll try going down a few millimeters for the next ride, and I'll also try to do some stretching before the ride - it might just be muscles pulling on tendons because they're not flexible enough in the cold, or something bizarre like that.
 
K

KMc

Golden Member
Jan 26, 2007
1,149
0
76
_Rick_ said:
Hmm, the saddle is around 2 inches above the 109%, but max half an inch higher than a 25° at full bottom would suggest - mostly because of the pretty thick cleats, and the fact that I'm trying (foolishly?) to get extra torque from ankle movement, which obviously lengthens the overall stroke over a flat-foot setup.

Just checked the other axis, and it appears that the front-back adjustment is pretty much spot on, with the knee being just above the pedal at mid-stroke.

I'll try going down a few millimeters for the next ride, and I'll also try to do some stretching before the ride - it might just be muscles pulling on tendons because they're not flexible enough in the cold, or something bizarre like that.
Click to expand...

I had to go back and review your older post about the specific location of the pain. Interestingly, I've struggled with this exact same thing. 2 things have helped me:

1) Lowering my saddle. Currently, I use the 88.3% of inseam (bottom bracket to top of saddle). This helped quite a bit. I was probably at least an inch over this to start with.

2) IT band stretches. There are numerous ones to try, but the one that seems to work for me is to stand up, cross your right foot over your left foot, then bend over and touch your left hand to your left toe. You'll feel quite a stretch on the outside of your left knee when you do this. Then repeat with your left foot over the right and touch right hand to right toes. I do these before every ride, twice on each foot, about 15 seconds per stretch.

I hope you find something that helps. Remember that saddle height changes may take a few rides to really feel the full effect. Good luck!
 
_Rick_

_Rick_

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2012
3,987
74
91
KMc said:
I had to go back and review your older post about the specific location of the pain. Interestingly, I've struggled with this exact same thing. 2 things have helped me:

1) Lowering my saddle. Currently, I use the 88.3% of inseam (bottom bracket to top of saddle). This helped quite a bit. I was probably at least an inch over this to start with.

2) IT band stretches. There are numerous ones to try, but the one that seems to work for me is to stand up, cross your right foot over your left foot, then bend over and touch your left hand to your left toe. You'll feel quite a stretch on the outside of your left knee when you do this. Then repeat with your left foot over the right and touch right hand to right toes. I do these before every ride, twice on each foot, about 15 seconds per stretch.

I hope you find something that helps. Remember that saddle height changes may take a few rides to really feel the full effect. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips, I'll give it a try once the current pain is gone, and the weather is as nice as it is today :D
 
F

FleshLight

Diamond Member
Mar 18, 2004
6,883
0
71
_Rick_ said:
Hmm, the saddle is around 2 inches above the 109%, but max half an inch higher than a 25° at full bottom would suggest - mostly because of the pretty thick cleats, and the fact that I'm trying (foolishly?) to get extra torque from ankle movement, which obviously lengthens the overall stroke over a flat-foot setup.

Just checked the other axis, and it appears that the front-back adjustment is pretty much spot on, with the knee being just above the pedal at mid-stroke.

I'll try going down a few millimeters for the next ride, and I'll also try to do some stretching before the ride - it might just be muscles pulling on tendons because they're not flexible enough in the cold, or something bizarre like that.
Click to expand...

This guide helped me immensely:

http://bikedynamics.co.uk/kneepain.htm
 
_Rick_

_Rick_

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2012
3,987
74
91
Had a mechanical, or just misjudged the corner entry speed?
Hope you didn't hurt yourself too badly, and the evac was mostly a precaution...

Get well soon!
And very determined of you to log every last mile :-D
 
F

FleshLight

Diamond Member
Mar 18, 2004
6,883
0
71
_Rick_ said:
Had a mechanical, or just misjudged the corner entry speed?
Hope you didn't hurt yourself too badly, and the evac was mostly a precaution...

Get well soon!
And very determined of you to log every last mile :-D
Click to expand...

Mostly my negligence - going too fast and didn't see that the turning line was filled with dirt. Ended up going off the road. Nothing on me is broken - my bike didn't fair so well - broken top tube on my Ridley frameset and broken right SRAM red shifter. The real damage will be whatever the ER + Medevac costs.
 
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