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Standing + Big Gears Always = Knee Problems?
Steve Sr. wrote:
Hello, Before I get to the details let me start by saying that I am in my late 40's. Before anyone suggests bike fit as a cause let me say that the bike fit is good as evidenced by no knee problems until starting the above. I have also been riding about 100 miles a week through the winter so this isn't a spring over doers thing either. I have recently been trying to increase my strength by pushing hills while standing and slightly bigger gears sometimes while riding. I have noticed an increase in strength but unfortunately my knees don't seem able to take the added stress. So here I am sitting by the computer with my knee wrapped in an ice pack. This is probably patellar tendinitis as the pain seems to come from tendons on the top inside and bottom outside of the kneecap. The best I can tell is that the knee gets inflamed which then causes tendons and such to move out of place causing even more problems. So, am I doing something wrong? Other folks I ride with, some younger, some older, don't seem to have a problem standing or pushing bigger gears. Is there anything I can do to solve this or have I been genetically unlucky and born with bad knees? If not I have probably reached my cycling limit. Steve, You've got to sneak up on it a little. Remember that your muscles can write checks that your tendons and ligaments can't cash. So you've got to strengthen your connectors with some additional patience. Immediately go back to spinning easier gears--the knee pain should go away. Then slowly build up resistance to let your cords catch up. You'll be painlessly powering big gears before too long. If your knees still hurt even while spinning easy gears, you've got some other problem. Maybe a loose, worn out, or misaligned cleat, something like that. Robert |
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Standing + Big Gears Always = Knee Problems?
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Standing + Big Gears Always = Knee Problems?
Steve Sr. wrote:
Once the inflamation starts even easy gears become a problem. It becomes a repetitive motion thing. If it flares up in the middle of a ride it appears to do more damage just getting home. Then I would guess your problem is not due to too-large gears but to some fit issue. Most likely your seat is a bit low, or your cleats are misaligned, or something. I have had knee pain that was caused by excessively worn cleats, which allowed my feet to roll a bit from side to side. Good luck. Robert |
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