Thread: Arg! My knees!
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Old 05-15-06, 05:22 PM
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8bitevolution
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Oklahoma
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Bikes: Surly Cross-Check, 1976 Schwinn Runabout, 1987 Schwinn Traveler

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Arg! My knees!

I bought a Surly Cross-Check complete about two weeks ago and I've been having problems with my knees. Specifically, my right knee.

My LBS has put me on a trainer to watch me pedal, checked the angle of my leg when I'm at the bottom of my pedal stroke and checked to make sure that my knee is above the spindle of the pedal. After making these adjustments, my knees are still giving me problems!

It's mainly my right knee (usually my left knee is fine) and it's actually above the knee cap, not below. The last thing I can come up with is crank arm length - the Surly comes with 170mm crankarms. Bicycling magazine had a formula for crank arm length this month (0.21 mm x inseam in mm) and that puts me around 165 mm.

Should I be seeking out a new set of crank arms? Or is there something else I should investigate? When I take it easy, my knee doesn't hurt but if I start going at a higher cadence, my knee starts hurting. I didn't have these problems on my Trek so I can only assume that I'm not doing anything completely wrong. This also rules out, I think, the one leg is longer than the other theory. Or maybe not? I don't know.

I just want to ride my bike without pain.
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