Can someone help.. muscle pain just above the knee.

[flying start]

Hi all I've started back at cycling after 8 years off bought a kinesis g2 in a small rushed into buying it and was getting pain in vastus laterals in both legs. Had my position in every way possible and no joy. So thinking the bike was to cramped, I traded it in for a giant revolt. All ok for a few days and stated to add 15 miles or so onto my commute home and about 5-6 miles in the pain stated again... could it be my mtb spd peddles and shoes? I've set the position to where I think and still no joy with it all. Its starting to drive me mad I'm going to fit my mtb flats for Mondays commute as I'm away this weekend. See if that makes any difference. Has anyone ever come across this pain in the legs? If all else falls I might need to get a proper bike fit to see whats going on.

 

[HLaB]

What method did you use to set your saddle height?

 

[flying start]

What method did you use to set your saddle height?

Just the heel to the bottom of peddle realy.

 

[HLaB]

Its an OK place to start but you might have to go up a bit; be wary of going too high and straining your calf and only micro adjust (say 5mm at a time).

 

[kingrollo]

Don't know how old you are - but once you have inflamed something - it will take less to re inflame it.

So even if you position is right now - you might still get a flare up.

A stretching regime could be helpful.

 

[rualexander]

Might this be Iliotibial Band issue rather than Vastus Lateralis?

 

[Emanresu]

See a physio then adjust the bike. Pain in one part of the body usually starts somewhere else. If the physio clears you then trying adjusting.

There is a useful site called Cyclingright (https://richtigradfahren.de/en) which is Ergotec. They are trying to sell you stuff but at least they explain why.

 

[MichaelW2]

Too much too soon?
I would stop using the bike or athletic riding, replace the spd with platform pedals and pootle around for transportation.

 

[newts]

A cycling biased physio would be my recommendation. I had a similar problem when I upped my milage a few years ago. This was an illotobial band issue, my right hip was rotating outwards slightly, the knock on effect was the knee was also flexing outwards & not a straight path through the pedal revolution. This was picked up during a bike fit, cleat wedge fitted to straighten the pedal stroke & the knee pain was sorted.

 

[flying start]

Too much too soon?

I would stop using the bike or athletic riding, replace the spd with platform pedals and pootle around for transportation.
This was what I was thinking. I'm going away today untill Monday so no cycling foe a few days legs will have a small rest. I'll pop my flats on when I'm Bach Monday ready for the bike to work Tuesday.

 

[vickster]

Do you stretch gently after your rides?

 

[wafter]

Can't nail it down specifically but I had a lot of knee issues when I first started riding clipless - they've very unforgiving; holding your feet in one position with no translational, and limited rotational float. This is OK if setup perfectly, but doing so is difficult.

I found saddle position to be critical - both height and layback. In addition look at the wear pattern on the underside of your (non-cycling) shoes - if there's excessive wear on the inside or outside you might benefit from shoe wedges (I have these in my cycling shoes). Finally, it's worth considering the "Q-factor" (lateral pedal spacing) across the crankset. This is typically narrower on road bikes, and if you have a wide stance / tend to walk on the outside of your feet, a narrow Q can tip your feet further inward than ideal and cause foot / knee / hip issues.

I've found that I get on much better with MTB chainsets with their wider Q-factor, and am typically more comfortable on these with flats and cages on my Fuji than I do with the 105 road crankset and SPD pedals on my Genesis; despite the assistance of the wedges in my SPD cycling shoes...

In your position I'd maybe try to rule out / minimise foot position problems by swapping the clipless setup for flats / with cages and working on the saddle position (FWIW I use heel-on-pedal too and have no issues), then once you can cover some decent distances without pain, maybe look at re-introducing clipless if you feel the need.. personally I'm not sure I'd both were I doing it all again.