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single speed is damned fun, but I'm worried about my knee

MMcG

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
I'm loving my new Inbred set up as a SS, but my left knee (the one that has a partial tear of the LCL and meniscus) has been bothering me a bit this spring.

I'm wondering if it can be attributed to riding Single speed - this is the first time I've really given it a true go with teh SS route - I dabbled a bit in the past, but nothing like this year.

Should I keep testing it? :help:
 
Old_Dude

Old_Dude

Monkey
Nov 13, 2001
474
0
~40 min. from the closest trails
Getting a new knee is fairly ho-hum these days . . . after the four months of post-surgery physical therapy you can really start getting on it again like you used to . . . four months after that you'll almost be back to normal again . . .
 
BikeGeek

BikeGeek

BrewMonkey
Jul 2, 2001
4,573
273
Hershey, PA
I was getting knee pain for a while, but made an effort to stand while pedaling more often (when I usually might not need to) in order to keep spinning instead of sitting and mashing. It seemed to help, but I never had a partial tear.
 
bikenweed

bikenweed

Turbo Monkey
Oct 21, 2004
2,432
0
Los Osos
Could you try a slightly lower ratio? What are you running right now?

I've been considering tossing a 12-25 road cassette, a 9 spd shifter, and a super light Gamut chainguide on my bike, hence making a "rigid speed". It'd be like a single speed, but with some slightly lower and higher gears, allowing a similar riding style, but maybe a bit faster.
 
M

mert

Chimp
Jul 17, 2006
46
0
mass
it's the high pressure front moving through. we are getting rain now, and i knew it was coming because last night and this morning my knee with the damaged meniscus was pulsing a little, injured it originally in '88 and ever since then i get a tingle when a front comes through fast...:monkeydance:
 
M

mert

Chimp
Jul 17, 2006
46
0
mass
MMcG said:
yeah but my knee has been feeling this way for a couple of weeks if not longer. It is making me worried ( on top of a million other things).
Click to expand...
we have had some crazy weather lately:biggrin:

seriously, maybe try an easier gear for a while, see if anything changes.
 
bluebug32

bluebug32

Asshat
Jan 14, 2005
6,141
0
Floating down the Hudson
MMcG said:
yeah but my knee has been feeling this way for a couple of weeks if not longer. It is making me worried ( on top of a million other things).
Click to expand...
I had a problem with knee pain last season. For me, it was just a matter of incorporating a few new stretches in for my hip flex. etc. and taking easier rides for awhile while it healed. Not sure about a tear however.
 
mdc

mdc

Monkey
Jul 8, 2006
243
15
Uxbridge
I always seem to get knee pain early in the season because I tend to get a little gung-ho and try pushing to hard of a gear. Now I try to get a month of base miles in using the road bike and do not use the big ring up front-just easy spinning for a month or so.
As for stretching I cannot stress how much I love my new foam roller. It is by far the best $15 I have spent in a long time. Tight IT bands, hip flexors etc have always haunted me but the roller seems to be helping in a big way.
 
M

mert

Chimp
Jul 17, 2006
46
0
mass
if it makes you feel any better i just spent about 30 minutes outside watching my 3yr. old ride her rigid ss. and the first thing she said when we put up the bike was that her knees hurt:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: do you think i spend too much time talking about bikes???
 
G-Cracker

G-Cracker

Monkey
May 2, 2002
528
0
Tucson, beatch!
I'm still getting a tiny bit of discomfort above my right knee. While SS isn't helping, I think I've got it narrowed down to cleat placement because it happens on all my bikes. For some reason, my right heel likes to be further in (toward the bike) than my right, and it's constantly up against the pedal's float threshhold. So I need to rotate my cleat slightly to allow a bit more inward float.

But I've noticed stretching REALLY helps... a little bit before the ride (unless your muscles are already warm) and a LOT after the ride. It helped my knee pain quite a bit.
 
CT QBall 29er

CT QBall 29er

Chimp
Aug 1, 2006
62
0
Newtown, CT
Mark, there are some stretching exercises someone recommended to me on knee pain last summer on a Bikerag post. Also, I found wearing a neoprene knee brace to make a big difference. If that makes you look too old, try a patella strap.
 
P

particle bored

Monkey
Feb 13, 2006
299
0
Most who blame SS for knee problems really need to re-evaluate their riding strategies and techniques.

Knee issues tend to come from bad fit on the bike, or pedaling too big a gear for your strength and fitness.

You can have bad fit on a geared bike. You can pedal too big a gear on a geared bike.

If you have knee pain while SS riding, most likely you need a smaller gear, need to re-fit yourself on the bike, or need to just get off and walk when you are forcing yourself to pedal a gear that's tougher than your strength and fitness allow.

Don't blame SS for something that isn't the fault of SS.

And don't be ashamed to walk, or to run an easier gear. There's no rule that says you have to run 2:1 or any other ratio. You're not a wuss if you run easier than 2:1. Not everyone is a big-gear masher. Remember, Lance Armstrong spun 110 rpm in a tiny gear uphill past big-gear mashing Jan Ullrich in his huge gear and 60 rpm, gave Ullrich THE LOOK, and kept hauling the mail to a TdF victory!

of course the blood doping helped him a little.
 
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