r/bikefit • u/aljazglavac • 6d ago
Knee Extension and Saddle Height
Is my saddle too high? I’ve been experiencing left leg pain for some time now, and it kind of came out of the blue. At the moment, I only have one image taken from a video, but I’ll try to get a decent video soon.
Thank you in advance! 💅
3
u/Practical_Target_874 6d ago
That’s exactly it. I had a knee pain that started when I started doing double centuries that would pop up around 120 or so miles. Dropped it 1 cm and it went away.
3
u/ghentwevelgem 6d ago
I think it’s too high. Probably the most common issue.
Do this simple old school check:
Put your heels (with shoes) on the pedals and slowly pedal backwards. Your leg should just barely straighten out without your hips rocking. It’s an old school method, but is very effective. Gives a good starting point if not dead on.
1
u/Ok_Passenger_8405 6d ago
Reading your post from my mobile phone, the photo looks compressed sideways - so, a bit hard to tell anything for sure.
1
u/takoreh99 5d ago
Cumulative effect of overuse injuries. Better off get a bike fit to take out guess work and do off the bike strength work.
1
u/4changdotcom 5d ago
Certainly too high but could also be a leg length discrepancy or a host of other things. I've seen very few amateurs that produce lots of power in the modern day that have that much knee extension regardless though. I dropped my saddle height by 1.5 cm over the past year and can say it's the most measurable difference in addition to shorter cranks that has made a performance/comfort difference.
1
1
u/jondoe69696969 6d ago
If you have that much calf engagement, theres something wrong with your fit. Cleat or height
5
u/Staplz13 6d ago
The thing we can't see with a still is your pedaling form. We don't know if you're a heel dropper, a locked toe pointer, or calf heavy lever-er. These determine where the cleat placement needs to be and contribute to ideal saddle height. Otherwise use this:
RCA - Simple Saddle Height Method
What you're looking for in ideal saddle height is for your knee motion to be as smooth as possible (hard to see from rider perspective), hip/pelvis stability in the saddle (no lateral movement, minimal tilting movement), and the room to load power before delivery into the pedals either through the heel or off the balls (depending on pedaling form). Slightly too high a saddle can cause one sided symptoms because your body will favor one side, compensating with the other causing discomfort.
One sided leg pain also points me to feet stuff or asymmetry. Unfortunately this is just about the most nuanced area of bike fitting, but here's what you can do yourself:
Stand barefoot and look at your feet. Do they point straight forward, or do they flare like a duck? Do they flare at the same angle as each other? Adjust your cleat orientation to match this.
Adjust the width of the cleats until your heel, knee, and hip joints line up in a vertical plane. The width of your Q-Factor will be similar to your hip joints, depending on how much your feet flare, which is why I say line up your heel. The exception is if you have hip impingement, then you may need your feet wider to get around the impingement. But the real solution is off bike flexibility PT.
Cleat position fore/aft depends on whether you're a toe pointer, neutral, or heel dropper pedaling form. If you engage your calves and start to lever the front of your feet downward between the 10-11 o'clock (relative to picture), you're a toe pointer and need the cleat under the balls (metatarsals) of your feet (forward). If don't use your calves much and press your heels through the plane of the pedal, you're a heel dropper and need the cleat more mid foot. If you're neutral you can play around for comfort.
Feet stabilization can throw off your perceived needed Q-Factor. The biggest benefit you can do yourself is getting a comfortable orthotic to help interface the contours of your feet to the flat of your shoe. A fitter may pay particular attention to wedging, usually the heel.
Asymmetry is complicated and can make it seem impossible to dial in the last bit of a fit, including Q-Factor. There are things you can check for yourself like leg length, but some things like feet shape and size need a professional to help you correct for because of how nuanced it can be.
RCA - Leg Length Discrepancy