SEAT POSITION: Sit squarely in the seat and put the pedals at the 3 'O' Clock position. Imagine a vertical line running directly from the front of the knee to the ground. This line should pass straight through the ball of the foot and the axle of the pedal. If it falls too far either way, adjust the seat until you are in an acceptable position. Being positioned too far either way can also cause knee issus.

CLEAT POSITION: Cyclists and some keen spinners wear cleats which lock there feet into the pedals. Cleat positioning can be a big cause of knee pain. If a cleat is locked in, and is too far internally or externally positioned, there is the likely hood that injuries will follow. If you wear cleats with no, or cleats with minimal float you should get a bike shop to fit you out. Most knewer cleats allow a greater degree of float to protect your knees.

POSITION OVERVIEW: Having covered the basics, you should be aware that this is a basic overview. Many will vary their position slightly to suit, however they should always be positioned within a suitable range. An individuals anatomy will also have a big play on the risk of injury. Cyclists that pronate, have different limb lengths, have hip issues may also suffer pain from cycling. If you notice any sort of cycling pain you should seek advice off your health professional to ensure that you don't do any further damage (eg: orthotics could be applied for pronation etc).

GEARING: Bigger gears, although making you go faster, also increase the resistance and stress on the legs (and specifically the knee). Although most will be tempted to increase there fitness by aiming to use bigger gears, it is always wise to increase the resistance in slow and safe steps. If you go into too big of a gear, and your cadence drops to below 60 rpm, you are going to dramatically increase the stress on the knee joint. All your early riding should be done in a low to moderate gear to see how your body responds to cycling. Then slowly introduce bigger gears.

CADENCE: Cadence is the speed at which you turn the pedals around. Many casual cyclists spin at a cadence of about 60-70 rpm. The recommended level is to spin at around 80-90 rpm. Many experienced cyclists will spin at around 90-110 rpm. The main issue here relates to the extremes. If you start spinning at less than 60 rpm you are going to dramatically increase the stress on the knee joint by 'grinding'. If you spin too fast (and have bad positioning), you are going to dramatically increase the risk of injury. The message here is ride to do all your early riding in a low to moderate gear in the 80-90 rpm range, until you see how your body adapts. Then gradually trial different cadence levels.

GEARING AND CADENCE: Although your spinning involves a mixure of gearing and cadence, the two variables can have a different impact upon training effect. Training in bigger gears will increase the resistance on the legs and promote and increased amount of leg strengthening (you will feel leg fatigue from doing this). Increased cadence will increase the impact upon your cardio resperatory system promoting cardio fitness (you will feel an increased heart rate). A mix between the two does wonders for overall fitness however the important thing to remember is to train up to use these different variables and don't just leap into them.

OUT OF THE SEAT: When you hop out of the seat you take the stress off the knee joint and use body weight to aid the muscles. This allows you to break the sub 60 rpm rule, and use bigger gears without the stress on the knee. Hill training is a great strengthining technique, but as stated above, do it in safe steps.

CYCLING ACTION: Here is the hard bit. Although riding a bike might seem easy, riding a bike properly is another world all together. Most novices jump on a bike and automatically use a push/push action. This means they push down with the front foot, then when the other foot gets to the front, it pushes down. The next step is using the rear half of the action (often referred to as scraping mud off you shoes). As you do this the legs pull up during the rear half of the cycling action (note: this is often a shock to the muscles not previously trained, so do this in sensible steps early). The next step is to aim for a smooth spinning action with consistent pressure throughout the entire pedalling action (much harder than it seems). You will find yourself spinning at a much higher cadence, and when you strengthen this technique, in a bigger gear (and at much greater speeds).

DRILL: Here is a nice little drill to see how your cycling form has come together. Take one foot from the pedals and place it in a suitable position. Spin with one leg. Novices on a windtrainer, or lifecycles, will hear a clunking noise. Novices on spin bikes will feel there action go quick and then slow. If this is the case, you are still using a push/push action. The goal: smooth spinning circles.