[QUOTE=marj;64010]
Quote Originally Posted by Tonybob View Post
Hi chaps, obviously new here and would love some opinions / ideas on my knee problem.]


Hi. I recommend you have a physiotherapist check your flexibility, including the flexibility of the soft tissue on either side of your knee cap, check your patellar mobility and check how well your knee cap tracks on the bike. Ideally, you want to find someone you trust (possibly a Physio) to check the set up of your bike and also be mindful of spinning/cadence when cycling. If your cadence (RPM) is too low for extended periods of time this can cause strain and pain around your patellofemoral joint. Good luck. Let us know the outcome.
Thanks for the input, the MRI showed no problem on the patella tracking and the knee specialist checked this (albeit briefly but not on the bike). My cadence is generally high - I have trained to keep it high as possible at all times - 90 rpm.

I think I can only assume that minor adjustments I had made to the bike has given rise to this or at least contributed to it - I had adjusted the seat further forward than normal as well as having to replace the chainset, but the cranks are marginally longer at 175mm instead of previous 172.5mm, I also recall thinking that the 'q factor' was wider (feet on bike further apart) from the new crank. All this could have just started the problems - after reading my journal back, the problem emerged about 2 months after these adjustments were made too. I wouldn't have expected these to have caused such a problem, but if a few contributing factors merge then I think it is a real possibility that my riding style has caused 90% of this problem.

I went out on the bike over a week ago and I can still feel a dull ache in my knee, with only swimming in between this to date. I just know this problem will recur if I carry on.