Cycling is considered easy on the joints — yet knee pain is the most common problem among road cyclists. The good news: in most cases the cause isn't the knee itself, but the bike setup. And the location of the pain tells you fairly precisely where to look.
| Pain location | Typical cause | First step |
|---|---|---|
| Front (kneecap) | Saddle too low or too far forward → high patellar pressure | Check knee angle (target 140–150°), raise saddle or move it back |
| Back (behind the knee) | Saddle too high or too far back → over-extension, strain on the hamstring tendons | Lower saddle in 5 mm steps |
| Inside (medial) | Cleats too far outward, knee caves inward (valgus) | Check cleat position & knee tracking from behind |
| Outside (lateral, ITBS) | Cleats too far inward, saddle too high, unstable leg axis | Check cleats, train hip stability |
Instead of guessing, you can measure the relevant values yourself in 10 minutes: set up your phone to the side, film 5 crank revolutions — the analysis calculates knee angle, hip angle, KOPS (in real centimetres via your crank length), and from the rear view, knee tracking (valgus/varus). On top you get concrete correction recommendations like "raise saddle about 1 cm".
Start your free video self-check now →Always change one setting at a time, max. 5 mm at once, and give your body 1–2 weeks to adapt. Save every measurement — this way you can see over time whether the pain decreases with the correction.