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General Category >> Technical >> Sore Knees
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Message started by jayg on Dec 21^st, 2010, 6:56pm

Title: Sore Knees
Post by jayg on Dec 21^st, 2010, 6:56pm

Been experiencing sore knees since the cold weather set in. Installed a 165 mm triple crankset in place of the standard 170 mm triple on my X-Stream, and tried to spin more. Didn't help. Recently replaced that crankset with a FSA Alpha, 44/32/22T, 170 mm, mountain bike crankset I got off eBay. It forces me to spin more, which has helped my knees a lot. With a 44/11 gear combination, the theoretical speed of the X-Stream at a 107 cadence is 31.5 mph. Since I've never been able to get a bike over 31.5 mph on the flats, it's perfect for me. I could pull stumps in the 22T chain ring - Bring on Lancaster and Muenster. :)

Title: Re: Sore Knees
Post by kingjason on Dec 22^nd, 2010, 8:22am

Mine were buggin me a little on my Strada. I realized I was about a 1/4 inch off on my seat adjustment then it was all better. Hard to believe a 1/4 inch over extended would do that but it did.

Title: Re: Sore Knees
Post by Bud_Bent on Dec 22^nd, 2010, 8:55am

You're not the only one who seems to need the seat adjustment to be just right, Jason. I've heard that from a number of riders. The main thing is to mark where the seat was to start with, so that your adjustments are precise.

Title: Re: Sore Knees
Post by kingjason on Dec 23^rd, 2010, 9:19pm

You know thinking about it now, I did just set it up like a road bike not figuring in the cleat postion for my SPD's. I never thought about the fact that the cleat is more in the middle of the shoe VS the toe. Also I think the angle of the seat if you go to far throws your knee position out of whack i. Although I never had a problem before and I have been riding recumbents for sheeezz since 1989 or so. Hmmm LOL

Oh yeah it probably did not help that I had two variations of SPD's and the ones on the bike were different then my Shimano cleats. Sooo zero float I am sure did not help either. I really hate that there are like 5 different types of SPD's. You would think I would have checked after I had the same issue with a spin bike not long ago. Some how I always rationlize it out as a stiff pedal or something.

Title: Re: Sore Knees
Post by kingjason on Dec 23^rd, 2010, 9:21pm

Oh and yeah people that buy my bikes probably wonder where all the freakin sharpy marks come from. [smiley=shrug.gif]

Title: Re: Sore Knees
Post by FlyingLaZBoy on Dec 24^th, 2010, 8:20am

I put that same crankset on Terrie's SXP when we got it -- figuring that the 165 with lower gearing would help a bit instead of the 175, since she's anything but a power rider, and is 5'5" vs my 6'1"...

I used to be able to hit 35-36 mph on the proto Xstream during the "final sprint" section of the GDB Mesquite ride, but top out at 21-32 on my current bike... I think it's a combination of 559 (now) vs 650 (then) wheels, slightly less aero position (seatpad foam addition raised me up a bit vs. the pedals), and also being in not-quite-the-same shape as back then.

Hope you never have to use the 22/34 combo, Jay -- you may be able to spin, but the steering at that low speed will become quite the challenge! Dan Schaaf (Squarecorners) told me that John Schlitter suggested to him to drop one hand off the bars and steer with one hand when doing <5-6 mph climbing - it will reduce the steering wobble at really low speeds -- and it works!

Title: Re: Sore Knees
Post by jayg on Dec 24^th, 2010, 8:29am

kingjason wrote:

I tried SPDs when I first started riding recumbents. Not enough float. My knees would start hurting after about 10 miles of riding. Speedplay Frogs solved the problem. Got tired of having to replace the expensive, quick-to-wear-out Frog cleats, and changed to Crank Bros. platform pedals.

Title: Re: Sore Knees
Post by FlyingLaZBoy on Dec 24^th, 2010, 8:34am

You're using PLATFORMS on the Xstream???

Title: Re: Sore Knees
Post by jayg on Dec 24^th, 2010, 9:12am

FlyingLaZBoy wrote:

You're using PLATFORMS on the Xstream???

Candy X pedals are very small, light, and cheap. They permit me to pedal a short distance without engaging the cleats, if I want to. Hey, I'm currently using a mountain bike crankset on the X-Stream. Why not mountain bike pedals? :D

Title: Re: Sore Knees
Post by jayg on Dec 24^th, 2010, 5:42pm

FlyingLaZBoy wrote:

Hope you never have to use the 22/34 combo, Jay -- you may be able to spin, but the steering at that low speed will become quite the challenge! Dan Schaaf (Squarecorners) told me that John Schlitter suggested to him to drop one hand off the bars and steer with one hand when doing <5-6 mph climbing - it will reduce the steering wobble at really low speeds -- and it works!

The bike has the custom cassette that Terry P. installed, when he owned it. The largest cog is 30T. Just to make it easy on my knees, I've used the 22/30 combination riding up the WR Trail detour paths either side of NW Hwy, and experienced no excessive wheel flop. I'm remembering a super-steep hill at Lancaster that almost ate my lunch. At the bottom I shifted to a 30/30 combination (Smallest chain ring was 30T), and before I reached the top was having thoughts of getting off and walking. I think I could easily take it with the 22/30 combination. I'll have to try that one-hand, low-speed steering method.