Why Fixies are Bad for Your Knees

[objet]

Now I don’t have blissful ignorance as an excuse, more incentive to get those gear-inches under 70

http://yamabushi.wordpress.com/2007/07/03/why-fixies-are-bad-for-your-knees/

[spud]

Eh. I push 79 inches around the street all week with no problems… and when i jump on a freewheelbike, only then do they hurt. Only more reason to keep it fixed i say.

[snowflake]

@spud

Eh. I push 79 inches around the street all week with no problems… and when i jump on a freewheelbike, only then do they hurt. Only more reason to keep it fixed i say.

Well, that article is a bit of a crock really isn’t it.

Riding too big a gear at low cadence is bad for knees, free or fixed. That’s very different from saying fixed is bad for knees.

[SS_Steve]

they didn’t mention anything about incorrect bike setup being a cause.
most knee problems i’ve had were from riding geared bikes

[system]

@snowflake

@spud

Eh. I push 79 inches around the street all week with no problems… and when i jump on a freewheelbike, only then do they hurt. Only more reason to keep it fixed i say.

Well, that article is a bit of a crock really isn’t it.

Riding too big a gear at low cadence is bad for knees, free or fixed. That’s very different from saying fixed is bad for knees.

You can also get bad knees by sucking cock as well

[Wormz]

@spud

Eh. I push 79 inches around the street all week with no problems… and when i jump on a freewheelbike, only then do they hurt. Only more reason to keep it fixed i say.

I’m with you spud, every time I hop on my f-ing mountain bike my knees hurt, though not any other time (riding at 76 inches)

[christof]

An accumulation of uric acid crystals on articular cartilage of joints can also lead to sore knees.

[chromeo]

@"http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html"

Some fixed-gear fans make a point of not using their brake except in an emergency. I am not sure that this is a good idea. Heavy duty resisting is widely reputed to be bad for your legs, and to be counterproductive for building up muscles and coordination for forward pedaling. Google for “eccentric contraction” for more on this topic. Eccentric contraction is reputed to cause micro-tears to your muscle tissue, so it actually weakens your muscles, unlike other forms of exercise.

This is a lot like car drivers who use their transmission and clutch to slow down, even though the car has a special set of parts made for the exact purpose of slowing down. Brake shoes are cheaper to replace when they wear out than clutches are.

I have started using my brake a lot more since reading this.

In response to the original article, I think that guy is a wanker and is prone to hyperbole.

He quotes a lot of medical journals which state that high gear + low cadence = bad (no shit) and makes the leap of faith to assume that:

@original article

So unless a fixie enthusiast rides for very long stretches on perfectly flat terrain with no traffic and no intersections and no head wind and no hills or altitude changes whatsoever, he will spend a fairly significant amount of his time in a gear that is far too high and requires that he put inevitably damaging pressure on his knees.

I probably do get a bit too enthusiastic when I take off from lights but I certainly maintain a pretty decent cadence (certainly over 100-110RPM) even up fairly long climbs (in fact, I find hills tend to cause my cadence to increase)

[horatio]

@chromeo

I have started using my brake a lot more since reading this.

Me too
Ever since I got a road bike, I’m the ultimate lazy fixed rider… Good thing I upgraded my front brake, lets just say it’s getting a good work out…

[objet]

There is a reply to “Why Fixies are Bad for Your Knees” here:

Knee Deep: Fixed wheel riders’ knee problems

I agree that bike setup is a factor too, I had a sore knee that is OK now I have changed my saddle position.

Or maybe I’m just wearing out a different part of my knee…

[b_rad]

reading is bad for your knees.

[fixxxation]

Hehe, he’s obviously got the mechanical knowledge of a chimp.

Regardless of your knees, if you are changing down through the gears to slow the momentum of a vehicle I would not be too concerned with the cost a replacing a clutch plate, the majority of stress is exerted on the transmission internals. Rebuilding or replacing your transmission will cause significantly more damage to your hip pocket then a new clutch plate.

Just another piece of sensationalism me thinks…

[lisanne]

@b_rad

reading is bad for your knees.

Lots of things are… umm err I may leave it at that… :evil: