• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Become a Premium Member
  • About

Road Bike Rider Cycling Site

Expert road cycling advice, since 2001

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Bikes & Gear
  • Training & Health
  • Reviews
  • Cycling Ebooks
    • Ebooks Training
    • Ebooks Skills
    • E-Articles Training
    • E-Articles Nutrition
  • Member Area
  • Newsletter

Why Does Riding Hills Hurt My Knees?

knee pain short steep hills

Question: I’m a MTB racer who purchased a new road bike last summer and have trained hard on it, especially on short steep hills. This has made a huge performance difference in my MTB riding, but do you think pushing the bigger gears is why my knee hurts? — Paul Y.

Coach Fred Matheny Replies:  It’s hard to be certain, but you might look at these variables:

  • Are you sure your position on the mountain bike and road bike is the same? Besides seat height, you need to check setback. Sometimes a saddle that’s too far back on the rails, putting you excessively rearward of the bottom bracket, can cause knee problems.
  • Are your cleats set with the same amount of toe-out or toe-in on both sets of shoes and pedals? Even if you use the same shoes on both bikes, the narrower bottom bracket of the road machine’s double crankset changes your effective foot angle and can cause knee injury.
  • Do the pedals on both bikes allow the same amount of float (foot rotation)?

I bet you’re attacking those hills in a bigger gear than you’d use for a similar grade on your mountain bike. Due to the uneven nature of singletrack, you tend to use a lower gear and spin up so you don’t lose momentum when you encounter an obstacle.

But on a road bike, you can hunker down in a big gear and crank hard. That’s a sure cause of knee problems if you aren’t accustomed to it.

Learn more:

How can I gain climbing power?

What is the best out of saddle climbing technique?

 

Next Article: How to Safely Panic Stop on a Bike

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. james witte says

    May 11, 2020 at 2:35 pm

    Does your new bike have a longer crank?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent Articles

  • Newsletter Issue No. 1053
  • Can you use Shimano rotors with SRAM brakes? (Or vice versa?)
  • 16 Tips for Increasing Your Annual Cycling Mileage
  • Intense Exercisers Have More Plaques but Fewer Heart Attacks

Recent Newsletters

Newsletter Issue No. 1053

Newsletter Issue No. 1052

Newsletter Issue No. 1051

Newsletter Issue No. 1050

Newsletter Issue No. 1049

Footer

Affiliate Disclosure

Our cycling expert editors and writers choose every product we review. We may earn an affiliate commission if you buy from one of our product links, at no extra cost to you. This income supports our site.

Follow Us

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook

Privacy Policy

Still Haven’t Found What You’re Looking For?

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...