Anyone recommend a good Doc on the Northside of Bris that has a good understanding of cycling, who is good with knees?
Short Story: Sore knee from cycling.
Long Story:
Dec - Jan was a time to get some fitness back in the saddle. So after a good start in Dec I set a goal of 1000km for January. Probably about 300km more than I’d ever done in a month and about 600k more than my average.
I ride 90% road and 10% dirt. I only have a fix geared for the road. I push about 72.5 inches.
I was on track and feeling very strong coming into the last week of Jan. So I upped tha anti, 170km in one day.
Ride felt good but over the next few days off the bike my left knee started to swell and became very “tight.” So I gave it a break for several days. Although a week later, last day of Jan, I needed another 170k to reach the magic mark. Knowing the damage I did lat time I knew this wasn’t on the cards so I targeted 100k’s.
Well, 100 became 125k’s and now it has been 3 weeks off the bike. During the ride I felt good and even the first 24hrs off the bike felt ok, but over the following few days my left knee blew up becoming very immobile. I couldn’t bend past 30degrees and squats are only now just coming back into the picture.
There was no snap crackle or pop, so I am thinking (in my professional opinion) that it must be some kind of irritation resulting in the swelling. I am very keen to get back on the bike but am concerned with prolonging the damage.
In addition to (eventaully deciding to) seeing someone about it I have become resigned to building a geared bike for those +70k rides. I guess I can fiind some passion in the hills but I’ll have to wait and see.
I guess this is the type of info I am looking to get from a cycling orientated doctor. A professional diagnosis of what is wrong and evaluation of possible causes and solutions?
But no, I haven’t had a bike fit done. Will consider.
I had knee pain once so I went and saw an osteo. Turns out all I had to do was stretch my legs/glutes fairly often. Pain gone. That said knees are important and I’d be straight off too see someone who knows what they’re talking about.
Drop your gear inches down for the street. You want less than 65 IMO.
And as GH said stretch after every ride. My knees get sore occasionally but if I stretch everyday for a week the pain subsides
YEP. Two days after, my right knee (primary braking leg) was f’ing saw for a good 24 - 36 hours. Saying that i don’t get the pain often and I only ride brakeless. For me (and my old man) regular glucoseamine seems to be go too for joint pain.
BUT IM NOT A BIKE FIT/CYCLING DOCTOR SO SEE ONE OR BOTH!!
Out of interest I run 82 inches and ride with guys who also run that and higher - don’t blame the gear your running!
I was diagnosed with having Bakers Cyst on my left knee - an aggravation caused by breaking too hard at the wrong angle on my fixed gear combined after I had a slight wet-road-car-dodge bump of the knee on my top tube (At 6’5 & 105kg my legs already have a hard time) The result was a swollen knee after prolonged riding and an inability to walk up stairs/bend the knee due to the pain afterwards - You could actually see the sack retreat back into the the back of the knee joint when given a little push.
I saw a muscular skeletal physio and have been on a six month program which just consisted of 2 easy exercises. Thankfully the physio also told me to continue to ride under 50km a day until the knee healed, as it was ironically the best exercise to do.
Sadly the Fixie has to sit on the wall for a while- the pressure of the constant motion makes on the knee is still there (maybe just in my mind). I have improved slowly after building a properly sized road bike - and can now break to 150k mark without a problem.
but after all that, it could just be a stretching thing.
Just see a sports Physio to begin with, even if they are not a ‘cycling’ physio. If it is complicated, you might need to see someone more specialised, but it might be easy to fix.
When I had knee problems I looked up a local physio where the owner was a cyclist. But when I booked in, I wasn’t given an appointment with the owner and it was fine. They fixed my knees and gave me the knowledge to keep them working.
Was going to start a similar thread but no point now.
So here is me hijacking - sorry in advance.
Not too sure how good fixed is for my left knee. I tore my acl in high school but reconstruction wasn’t neccessary as I’m not a professional rugby star or anything.
I’m running 48/16 and just wondering if I’m slowly damaging my already week knee.
Thats too high a gear ratio for brakeless FG. You’ll defs fuck your knees skidding that - get a 19T cog or a 44T ring. Your knees will thank you.
FWIW I commuted on 48/15 last year because I am lazy and don’t like swapping cogs for track and road. I found it fine but I was running a front brake and have ridden fixed for years.
i don’t have an acl, wore away to dust after an undiagnosed tear 10 years ago. i can ride 72" on the street without too much drama, but 66" is better (was running what i had). i had more trouble riding 66" on a bike that was too small for me though.
before i knew my acl was gone, i rode fixed for years without too much trouble (granted it wasn’t brakeless) and it actually helped strengthen my knee.
spinning is winning though, and 48/16 would probably be too much for me on the street.
I’m with Kanye though, if my saddle height is a touch low, I get pain. Similarly if the angle is off too (as I sit quite forward if the nose is tilted ever so slightly, I get pain).
Make sure your Knees are above the pedal spindle when your right leg at 3pm, and left at 9pm.