I am trying to dial in my position on a new bike, new shoe and cleats. The problem I have is knee pain front of knees lower part of the knee cap. Should I start with moving the seat if so back or forward. Any suggestions (knowing the humor of this board most suggestions) will be appreciated.

I had front knee pain on a new bike this year as well, I got my body measured, all numbers were then plugged into a computer program at a lbs. He lowered by saddle and set it back as I was seated to high and forward. Pain went away a week later. Thats the thing with bike adjustments, it takes patience. You could move you seat around and ride with it but you could feel pain, even if the position is dialed in right. the knees have to heal a little bit before you really know if a position feels wrong.

Front knee pain I recommend ice and ibuprofin and rest for a couple days if its still painful

Can be many things....with a new bike not dialed in, it's often saddle position. Drop a plumb line off the top of your knee while you're seated on the bike, with crankarms @ 9:00 and 3:00pm positions. If that line doesn't just touch the front of the crank arm, adjust saddle fore or aft until it does. Good starting point. My knees stopped hurting for the most part once I got this dialed in.

Can be many things....with a new bike not dialed in, it's often saddle position. Drop a plumb line off the top of your knee while you're seated on the bike, with crankarms @ 9:00 and 3:00pm positions. If that line doesn't just touch the front of the crank arm, adjust saddle fore or aft until it does. Good starting point. My knees stopped hurting for the most part once I got this dialed in.

Also, don't forget to take your cleat position into account when doing this measurement.

Be careful... just saying the word KOPS can bring about mass hysteria and vomiting. KOPS meaning knee over pedal spindle... is a basic STARTING point for bike fit. It has some relative shortcomings, but is a good general fit for most people. It starts with the feet, where KOPS wants the pedal axle to run directly beneath the ball of your foot. So, position your cleat so that is the case. Depending on the type of cleat, these should likely be pretty straight, but sometimes they may be cocked a few degrees once you get them set... but start straight and see if the standard float gets you comfortable before you start angling the cleat. Once you get the cleat set... then get the saddle height. Set your saddle level... then take off your shoes and either setting the bike level on a trainer, or having someone hold it upright. Then set your crankarms at 12/6 oclock. With equal weight on both sides, let your feet dangle. Have someone make sure your hips aren't tilted to one side or the other. On the foot that is on the side at 6 oclock, your heel should JUST BARELY touch the pedal surface (flat part where your cleat goes in). Do the same on the other side, it should be the same... that gives you height.

Then... using a plumb line or string with a washer or whatever.... With your feet clipped in the pedals in 3 and 9 oclock, put a string with a weight at the end to the foremost part of your knee and let the string dangle just above your foot. Have someone look at this ... or I guess you can, but this string should theoretically bisect the pedal spindle. If not, adjust the seat fore/aft until this is the case.

Then, remeasure your seat height (some bikes with more severe seat tube angles will change this slightly) and adjust if necessary, and then redo the plumb line again. That is what I would consider a neutral STARTING POINT.

Everyone is different. Best of luck.

information.

http://cptips.com/knee.htm

Set your saddle level... then take off your shoes and either setting the bike level on a trainer, or having someone hold it upright. Then set your crankarms at 12/6 oclock. With equal weight on both sides, let your feet dangle. Have someone make sure your hips aren't tilted to one side or the other. On the foot that is on the side at 6 oclock, your heel should JUST BARELY touch the pedal surface (flat part where your cleat goes in). Do the same on the other side, it should be the same... that gives you height.

Is this a well accepted saddle height adjustment guideline? For me, this method suggests a lower saddle height than the 0.883 * inseam guideline. Guess I'll try both and see which is more comfortable.