Should I adjust saddle height or cleat position to stop knee pain?

[JerryGR]

I’ve been trying to dial in my saddle height for months, but I just can’t seem to get rid of this nagging pain in the front of my knees on longer rides. I’ve used the heel-on-pedal method and even the LeMond formula, but something still feels off. Maybe my cleat position is interacting with it poorly?

[MatthewRR]

I spent months chasing saddle height too. I did the heel-on-pedal drill and the LeMond math, but on long rides the front of my knee still ached. I even tried nudging the saddle a few millimeters forward and back, never got a clean fix.

[LilyW]

Cleat position finally felt like the missing piece for me. I fiddled fore-aft a couple times, loosened and re-tightened, watched my knee tracking, and the pain shifted but didn’t disappear. It still felt like a hairline trigger rather than a straight height issue.

[James_M]

Do you think maybe the real culprit is hip stability or ankle mobility instead of knee angle, since the knee follows the bigger joints in the chain during a strong pedal stroke?

[AnthonyS]

I kept a boring little log: ride length, pain level, shoes, cleat position, cadence. Two weeks in and I still couldn't pin it down, but I did notice pain came on when my cadence crept up, so I eased back and it felt a bit better.