[senecacyclist]

Originally Posted by photosbymark

As others have already said, knee pain is likely bike fit. Just so you don't feel alone, I'm working through the same issues myself. Yes fit likely caused mine.

In my case I have the seat all the way back, but its still too far forward. The geometry of the bike could have been better for me. The fix is an off set seat post.

The doctor told me, "Make sure you don't put any pressure on your knee when its bent more than 90 degrees." I was. Looking for the seat post online now. Suggestions welcomed

There are all kinds of formulas out there for saddle height. Obviously when it comes to road biking you want it as high as possible for all the reasons of physics which Im not getting into here. The point is, if your knee hurts its almost ALWAYS due to saddle height or saddle placement which are related. Simply stated, if your knee pain is on top of your knee your saddle is too low. You leg is coming up too high and out of you normal range of motion. If knee pain is behind the knee your saddle is too high and you are "reaching" with your leg. Id also like to add here that I have been riding half a century(50 years not miles!) and have never had a knee problem after figuring this simple thing out.

[photosbymark]

In my case senecacyclist it wasn't too low but too far forward. Not by much. It was so close, but my knee was just forward of the pedals. It was so close I could ride the bike for 20 minutes without a problem (ie a quick test ride) but any longer and I began to hurt. Raising the saddle didn't help. Seat was already all the way back. Price of a set back seat post was too costly to just hope I could ride it. I experimented and actually made one with a $20 seat post, a pipe bender. I got it back about 4 inches then had to modify the slot to keep the point of the seat from making me want dinner after a ride. It was definitely not the average project for a bike, but it worked. I got the seat back far enough, but that changed everything else. Needed to raise the handlebars, but not by much so I just rotated them up rather than trying get a riser.

The custom bike for me would have likely been closer to a crank forward, with totally different geometry and a stock bike probably would have been larger if it had been available. Still it was so close, not sure I would have noticed the difference.

[senecacyclist]

I understand completely.And your body is always changing. Whats a good fit today might not be in the future. I have been tweeking my position thru the years and notice that I'm just not as supple as I used to be. Stem comes up, reach shortens. My saddle position though has remained the same once I figured out that I needed a 73 degree seat tube angle to get the right position over the pedals. I have long upper leg for my size so finding a small frame with a 73 angle isnt always easy. With a setback seat post i can get the right position from a 74, and my TT bike is a 75. Still TT for fun!