Road Bike Knee Cap Pain

A low saddle height will place more stress on the front of the knee.

Road bike knee cap pain. On the mtb the front of my knee was about 2 3 cm in front of the tip of the crank arm. When your knee hurts right on the kneecap patella it s generally a product of your powerful cycling quads. One of the most common overuse injuries in endurance sports is patellofemoral kneecap pain striking 36 percent of professional cyclists and comprising 20 percent of all running injuries. Knee pain generally stems from a muscular weakness or tightness or both says paul butler of pb cycle coaching.

Pain at the front of the knee on and around the knee cap patella is the most common presentation of cycling overuse injuries in part due to the anatomy of this area. Pain at the front of the knee is very common and its proper name is anterior knee pain. There is so much more than can cause knee pain and here i explore many of. If pointing downward it stresses your shoulders and arms.

The overpowering of the vastus lateralis can make the kneecap track too much towards the outside of the femur during pedaling which in turn wears away the cartilage and causes pain. Raise your seat to allow for 27 to 37 degrees of knee flexion at bottom dead center 6 o clock. The patella connects the quad to the lower leg via the patellar tendon and can be subject to forces up to five times bodyweight during running and jumping. Yet it can be prevented and cycling can be a way of warding off and even curing knee problems.

If the seat points upward it places too much pressure on your groin. I moved the seat back as far as it would go but i could neer reach the same position as on the road bike. On the road bike the front of my knee cap bisects the pedal spindle exactly. In cycling the vastus lateralis quadriceps muscle on the outside of the thigh often becomes overdeveloped resulting in a muscular imbalance.

Your quad muscles attach to the shin via the patella and when. Make sure the bicycle seat is level with the floor. Cyclists who feel pain in this area may experience discomfort with each pedal stroke and it may continue even when off the bike. Usually it s caused by tightness in the quads or the fibrous tissue that runs alongside the outer leg.