Three months post ACL reconstruction and the surgeon is really happy with it. I told him about the kms on the fixie and he said that I was doing something right… he’s a triathelete and was quite amused…
i wonder why it is so much harder to do the stretching routine than it is to do the fucking hardest hill repeats on the bike…
'cause stretching requires ‘stillness’ and its bloody boring.
Saw the physio today - elbow with full body weight into my ITB to separate the fibres - up and down up and down - just about the most agonising pain imaginable.
I screamed like a baby.
(maybe I should catch that train afterall…)
its all the seat height
i moved my seat up a bit to get better extension which helped and also started some simple exercises.
do single knee squats and clench your stomache at the same time…this makes the inside muscle work a bit more and hleps with the wandering knee problem. (try standing still after a ride…put your hand on your knee and you’ll feel it pulling to the side…kinda freaky). (these were told to me by a myotherapist friend of mine…so not totally bollox)
i’m currently riding with a gear ratio of 48x15 and i have come to notice that my knees tend to crack at times. It brings me concern as i’m 17 years of age and still growing. Will riding the same ratio for a period of time have a major effect towards my growth?
Gear down. Consider a brake. Junior riders are on gear restrictions for a reason.
Try 48:18 out.
damned, 48x15 it’s a gear for track racing, not for the street.
Blakey is right, go down.
haha, romain, you ride less than that on the track!
me and my mates run 48x19
really good for melburn streeeeetz! :mrgreen:
riding 48:18, bad left knee from years of sport. Some folks have recommended going down in gears. This might be a ratio thread question but how would, say, 46:18 make it easier on 39 year old knees, or would I have to change the back cog too, to make it something like 46:17 or 16?
Na, exactly what i’ve got. spin fast, go fast, die fast! 
46:17 (73") is bigger than 48:18 (72").
46:18 give you a nice 69". I’ve got even lower, 48x20 (65").
Im 21,
I had knee problems riding my city MTB commuter. Since changing to fixed i have had some sore days.
THe best remedy i got for getting rid of my sore knees was setting the bike up properly, Esp the seat. My brother does some triathalon riding and had ppl spend about an hour setting up his bike exactly, he reckons it makes a world of difference. If i wasnt such a tight ass Id do the same.
Basically Being on a fixie has not hurt my knees any more than the MTB did, just because i set it up better.
Also
As noted. Skids dont feel great. For me skidding with left leg is a real fuker.
spining rather than pushing a high gear also helped a bit. but not as much as changing my bike seat.
Im sure stretching and seeing a Physio is great. Il prob start stretching soon i guess. But ATM im just fingers crossed i dont get knee pain again as it also fuks my surfing
will give 46:18 a go, cheers
I find 48:19 suits city riding best. Good Speed and easy to stop.
In a way it depends on your rear tyre as well. I tried out a few brands and some are really hard to skid on.
Also, I think saddle height is very important to the factors of damaging your knees as well cus if your legs stretch too much it causes a lot of tension in your knees and you could really feel it.
I started our riding a roadie (with gears - shimano might I add, cos they are the best :-P) as my first form of serious cycling.
Was putting in some serious k’s about a year back, thought I’ld try some competitive racing, after the first one I was riding back to a cafe to get something to eat and left knee just gave up…Couldn’t even pedal with my left leg, too painful.
Cut a long story short, i went to a physio, turned out I was little flat footed (more so on my left) causing tracking problems, got some orthotics, brought a fixed gear, road bike got nicked, now all I ride is fixed running 42:14 (putting in a little less k’s than when I had roadie) but have never had a problem since.
I still do the exercises (occasionally) that the physio explained to me.
My $0.02 - Go see a physio - and then possibly a podiatrist.
The podiatrist might also be a good idea if you have recurrent problem.
Few years back I’ve got a tendinitis to my left knee. I saw a doctor specialized in sports who found straight away that this come from my feet, and ending up to the podiatrist who give me some a pair of soles.
I used to wear them only in walking/running shoes at the begging, but when I start bike racing and pushing really hard, I had bad feeling in my knees. Since I put the soles also for riding, I don’t have any problems.
Unless you ruptured something chances are you are experiencing itb friction. Very common in sports that use the quads. The itb runs from your hips to you knee. If your hips are out the band can become incredibly tight. Have a feel above your knee on the outer part of the leg youll be able to feel it pretty easily. When the band thightens up it’s caused friction between the band and your knee!
Stretching helps, lots of it. You can sit your bad leg facing the ground and rub a tennis ball between you and the floor for a massage, in the shower use a shampoo bottle to massage the quad or get a physio to do some dry needling.
some decent articles <a href=“http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/fitness/article/health-knee-care-and-maintenance-part-2-17445”>here</a> and <a href=“http://www.cptips.com/knee.html”>here</a>
Prahan sports medicine is a good place to find a physio, doc laken works from there. He’s a fair knob but he knows his shit