# Hard on the knees?



## emvath (Mar 16, 2004)

As a beginning cyclist I have a questions (and slightly nervous concern) about my knees. Although I'm only in my late 20's, I have had terrible knees since childhood. My doctor told me, (when I was 22), that I had the knees of a 60 year old. There is just very little cartalage in there. So my question is, is cycling hard on the knees? And if so, what can be done to limit the damage done? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## dan0 (Oct 12, 2005)

it can be
I have bad knees (I'm alot closer to 60) there are a couple of pedal options that will help if you ride clipless, Frogs have I think 11 degrees of play and Times have around 6 . Using these pedals allow your foot to move side to side so you don't stress your knees as much. if you dont ride clipped in then any pedals should be ok
the second factor is seat height and adjustment. if your seat is too low it will bother your knees also if your bike is small for your size


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## Ridge (Nov 12, 2005)

*Welcome, The good news is*

biking is alot easier on the knees then some other physical activities and with proper fit I would think you would be ok. I'm in my 20's too and my knees don't hurt after a long ride like they do sometimes after a trail run or hike, b-ball, etc. My legs are still tired though,  The best saddle height for xc for me to avoid knee pain has been so that the leg is not quite fully extended at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Also adjust the saddle front and back on the seatpost to find the best setup. I would go to lbs and have them help you with a fitting. Good Luck.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

My doc told me the same thing when I was 17. I had to see an orthopoedist, get physical therapy...everything short of surgery. I had to stop playing soccer entirely for a couple years...had to stop playing competitively for good. I took up mountain biking as my physical release, and believe it or not, my knees actually got better. Not as a result of biking, but biking wasn't doing any extra damage, that's for sure.

Pay extra attention to fit, pedal selection (if something hurts, change it), and shoes and you should be just fine.


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## fred3 (Jan 12, 2004)

Why don't you just ask your doctor? While the advice here is meant with the best intentions I didn't read one post that said they were actually trained to give you a responsible answer.


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## dan0 (Oct 12, 2005)

fred3 said:


> Why don't you just ask your doctor? While the advice here is meant with the best intentions I didn't read one post that said they were actually trained to give you a responsible answer.


Sorry Fred but I did ask my doctor, I went to an orthopedic specialist, I asked why my knees hurt and what could be done. His response " you're getting older" and " what do you want me to do" I replied make them stop hurting. Complete waste of time.
I've found with much research, avoiding impact, strengthening the surrounding muscles, and avoid kneeling on hard surfaces works best for me. Mtn .Biking takes care of all 3, just make sure you're bike fits properly. BTW how many doctors are trained properly?
how many are C & D students? Just because someone has a degree in medicine does'nt make them an expert in all things regarding health. I've found more usefull advice searching 1 night on the internet than I got from 3 different doctors!


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## rcharrette (Dec 14, 2005)

*Bike fitting*

I think the best thing you can do is get your bike prefessionally fit. In some cases if you have good insurance this will be covered (My Wifes fitting was). The fitting will set correct seat height, reach and cleat alignment to reduce knee stress. I use FitKit  for my fittings but their are several other good ones out there.


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## dan0 (Oct 12, 2005)

rcharrette said:


> I think the best thing you can do is get your bike prefessionally fit. In some cases if you have good insurance this will be covered (My Wifes fitting was). The fitting will set correct seat height, reach and cleat alignment to reduce knee stress. I use FitKit  for my fittings but their are several other good ones out there.


I have to agree, I had this fitting done (I did'nt know that they were using the fitkit) best $100 I ever spent on MTB


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## ferday (Jan 15, 2004)

after 2 ACL reconstructions and countless consultations with the best orthepaedics in the country, i say biking is good for your knees! i started biking 10 years ago (i'm 30 now) when i had my first ACL surgery and the doc told me all i could do was bike for a couple months, i got hooked and now i freeride/DH very hard, as well as regular riding.
FIT, TECHNIQUE, and STRENGTHENING are the important points. as long as i keep up on these three, i can ride all day, anywhere any type of riding without any knee pain at all.

good luck!


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

My knees are a bit vulnerable too. Here is one point that I did not see above: I find that riding in a too high gear can be hard on my knees. Whenever possible, try to pedal fast in a smooth circular motion, instead of stomping on the pedals.


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## pornstar (Aug 15, 2005)

dan0 said:


> Sorry Fred but I did ask my doctor, I went to an orthopedic specialist, I asked why my knees hurt and what could be done. His response " you're getting older" and " what do you want me to do" I replied make them stop hurting. Complete waste of time.
> I've found with much research, avoiding impact, strengthening the surrounding muscles, and avoid kneeling on hard surfaces works best for me. Mtn .Biking takes care of all 3, just make sure you're bike fits properly. BTW how many doctors are trained properly?
> how many are C & D students? Just because someone has a degree in medicine does'nt make them an expert in all things regarding health. I've found more usefull advice searching 1 night on the internet than I got from 3 different doctors!


If you cant kneel on the ground maybe you have "Bursitis" its also known as the "Housewife syndrome". The Bursas, i dont know their name in English are something like some bags around the knee that are filled with liquid and they expand upon preassure so if you hit them much or are on your knees alot or you stress the joints frequently then you start getting this syntoms.
Its pereety easy to know if you have got this problem because its of a ery quick appearence its just that one day you cant get on your knees on the floor or even n the bed.
I started with the problem because i aggresive skate and the falls where hard on concrete.
If thats the issue desinflamatory and biking will help. Remember if you go biking you need to use light to medium gears not hammer uphill so a good bike is iportant... a light bike so the uphill is easy and you dont hammer a 30 pounder uphill.


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## emvath (Mar 16, 2004)

thanks for the help folks! I think i'll take most of your advice and go into my lbs to discuss more with them about fitting my bike and different pedal options (mine are crappy anyways).


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

fred3 said:


> Why don't you just ask your doctor? While the advice here is meant with the best intentions I didn't read one post that said they were actually trained to give you a responsible answer.


It really depends on the medical condition responsible for the bad knees as to whether biking will be good or bad. Obviously, noone here is qualified to make that evaluation, and even if someone on this forum was an orthopoedist, the evaluation would be impossible. You're right with that regard.

This thread is full of responses from people who have had knee problems of their own, and have found bicycling to be quite compatible with their bodies. In my case, a patellar malalignment due to a muscle strength imbalance (from too many years of playing soccer) was the root cause. Physical therapy corrected the strength imbalance, and time allowed my cartilage to heal at least somewhat.


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## outdoornut (Aug 13, 2005)

Over the years I had really screwed up my knees. At age 41 my doctors told me I had to have surgery. I told them they had to wait till fall. My kids had just started riding bikes and I purchased one to ride with them. Mostly a local rail trail and park. Well, the more I rode the less my knees seemed to hurt. One delay after another and next thing you know three years had gone by and I told the doctors to forget the surgery thing. I wasn't even needing pain killer much. By that time we were riding XC alot.

Well, last year at age 50, we rode every weekend, many times 2 or 3 times a week, every day of my several weeks of vacation time, all spent in the mountains of WV. ( Pocahontas County Rocks ). Purchased a Giant AC "All Condition" in July last year and started doing 3 to 5 foot drops on very agressive XC trails and truly fell in love with the downhills at Snowshoe. Getting ready to start on my tenth year of mountain biking at age 51, without that surgery my "Doctors" so deemed that I had to have. I haven't had to take pain killers, for my knees anyway, for that same amount of time. Of course the pain killers still come in handy for the fractured ribs and all the other bumps I get from pushing my limits.

"Doctors don't always know best"...........! Just a thought...........


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## Blaze One (Jan 11, 2006)

i am in the same sit. I am 22 , s yrs ago i dislocated my knee , and i have arthritis in the other , I don't play bball anymore , so i am starting to do some light trail riding in the spring( currently looking for my first bike , a hardtail ) . i am glad to hear that this is not a "bad" sport for people with knee probs . I was going to come on here and ask this exact question .


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## Rufudufus (Apr 27, 2004)

I traashed my ACL 20 years ago. Only bothers me after 2-3 hours of riding, and even then it's not very bad. I say go for it. Probably good to avoid single speeds, don't want to torque on the knee too hard!


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## todd_freeride (Aug 9, 2005)

I shattered my kneecap a couple of years back. so my right knee isnt the best. but i've never had any problems with it. all my problems from riding comes from in the shoulder. but thats DJ and freeride, I did a XC race once, couldent walk the next morning. kinda strange actually.


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