Thread started by upstate at 04.11.09 - 5:03 pm

So i've been doing alot of hills of late on my singlespeed. Today when i did a ride to the Griffith observatory, i noticed an incredibly sharp pain in my right knee. i've done hills and this ride before, but I've never felt this pain before.

I ride a lemond filmore with a 44/18 gear ratio, saddle height is correct from when i last checked. clipless. stretch everynow and then.

ideas? gear ratio too high?

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oh yeah its on a freewheel too



upstate
04.11.09 - 5:06 pm

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dang, that's quite the climbing ratio you're running....

is your knee hurting on the upstroke, the downstroke, or all the time?
is the pain within your knee or is it at the surface?
is it localized to the front or back or either side?



Eric Hair
04.11.09 - 5:10 pm

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i only noticed it after the climb as i was descending, I was just spinning out on the way down and thats when i first noticed it. Its mostly on the down stroke that i felt it and it feels like its right below the knee cap to the right.



upstate
04.11.09 - 5:13 pm

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This might help you diagnose your problem.
Knee Exam DOT Como

How are you spinning out on a freewheel? If you have something like bursitis, you're better off coasting whenever you can, so that any inflamation is allowed to subside.



Eric Hair
04.11.09 - 5:37 pm

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you might need to check if your clips are in the right spot...you shouldn't be too forward or too far behind the axle... a lot of time those are not adjusted correctly...

it's not just the ball that is near the big toe that needs to be pretty much centered over the axle, but the entire axis of how your toes bend that needs to be centered over the axle.

a lot of times people adjust only by the ball, and end up being behind the axle, if that makes sense.





adrian
04.11.09 - 5:53 pm

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simplest answer might be to ride around with gears for a while. Your knees really aren't designed for the wide range of torque you are forced to put through them when riding varied terrain on a single speed. That's doubly true for a fixie or if you are spinning on the descents. If the knee pain subsides once you start shifting so that you are riding around in a more optimal gear, then you'll have your answer. If not, you can look into other things. My knees started giving me trouble within a couple of months of my starting to ride fixed and even almost a year since I stopped riding it, my right knee still has a low level ache pretty much all the time.



ideasculptor
04.11.09 - 5:58 pm

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