Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - LBS owner tells me that fixies kill your knees. True?

I went to my favorite and biggest LBS store and was kibitzing with the owner, a long time track/road racer and expressed my interest to him in fooling around with a single speed for training and commutes.

The first thing he said was , "track bikes are fun, but they kill your knees when you're on them for a long time".

True or not? :)

I am goin to go with true, spinning or mashing.

at first, i had a lot of soreness getting used to backpedalling to slow down. my legs hadn't ever really had to do anything like that before, so it took a little time to build up to it. i felt the soreness right at or near the knee cap. but it decreased after only a couple weeks.

Its hard to say. I have heard this many times, but have begun to doubt its validity. I have bad knees and have to say that I think the muscle development in the area that riding fixed has given me far out weighs any negative on the knees.

My knees pop going up the stairs, seems to be louder now after a fix.

What's that tell ya? Not much.

Also depends on the gear. If you try and run a track gear(say more than 80-85inches) on the street, I could see it catching up with you after a while.

People with bad knees will say anything kills your knees. People with good knees will just ignore them and keep on cycling.

Mashing is probably the least healthy, but I don't think spinning is any worse for your knees than riding a geared bike. High cadence spinning while descending hills or just riding really fast on the flats definitely puts more "miles" on your knees than coasting on a different kind of bike.

Maybe you'll need a knee job sooner than you would have otherwise, but at least your heart will be extremely healthy at 80 when your fixed-couch-riding buddies will be spilling over their belts and wheezing trying to carry themselves up a flight of stairs.

one opinion can't ever be admitted as truth. we should never listen to teachers, preachers, or lbs owners in this regard. what's good for joe is bad for jack, and what's good for both of them is bad for two other people. if your knees hurt, look into it. if your knees don't hurt, have fun. if there is always one "no" answer among an infinitely large group of "yes"es then the statement can't be entirely true. i ride a track bike, have ridden a track bike for 7 or 8 years, up big hills with a big gear, down small hills with small gears, i mash and skid and ride fluidly, and my knees are fine. i'm young, though, so i could still get hurt.

People with bad knees will say anything kills your knees. People with good knees will just ignore them and keep on cycling.


lol. yep - that's pretty much how it is.

I am having some problems with my knee, but when I start riding again Im going to 46x17, 72.52in with 17 skid patches. I will move up when my knee's get stronger.

Get a a fix and start you gearing low if your worried about your knees.

note: if you are worried about your knees, or if your knees hurt --- you are not riding correctly. change your form and position and you will have no problem at all (unless, of course, you come into it with a pre-existing condition).

...and also can give you a hernia..

also do something to make your hammies stronger

Its hard to say. I have heard this many times, but have begun to doubt its validity. I have bad knees and have to say that I think the muscle development in the area that riding fixed has given me far out weighs any negative on the knees.

+1

I agree with some of the other responses. Knee trouble has more to do with pre-exisiting conditions, improperly fitted or adjusted bikes, and pedaling in too high a gear than anything else.

I have knees that are genetically bad and have taken some hits over the years, and I ride fixed. I keep my gearing low (69" at present), and I run a brake that I actually use a lot. Pedaling fixed for a long time gives you some different muscle soreness in the knee area, but then you get stronger and that goes away. What will always hurt you a little bit is getting going from a stop. There's really no way around it, you just have to be mindful of the joint tracking and not try to jump on it too hard, and it's no worse than going up stairs or anything else that requires fully weighting one leg in a bent position.

I thought walking your track bike is hard on your knees.

I thought walking your track bike is hard on your knees.

only with road shoes

only with road shoes

Truth.

long cranks are bad for your knees too. and tubulars give a nice ride and flat every thirty feet. and your knee should be over your pedal spindle. and if you don't watch out they'll steal your kidneys and liver during the night and leave you in a bathtub full of ice with a note taped to your chest. and and and...

I messed up my knees in high school. They're a lot better now that I've been riding again for a few years, most of the miles in that time being fixed. Push too big a gear all the time on any bike, fixed or not, and you'll mess up your knees. Keep it within what you can control, though, and you'll probably be OK, IMO.

search the thread ken cox started about a year back. lots of great info about fixed and knees.

Improperly fitted/adjusted cleats can do a lot of damage too especially with pedals with out large amounts of float. I couldn't get it right so I just switched back to clips and straps, I couldn't stand the fiddling and don't have money for a pro fit.

I've never felt any knee pain while riding my fixie until I rode San Francisco Critical mass in February. It wasn't even because of the hills, I had been riding them for days beforehand, it was because we were riding so damn slow for so long! I would creep a few inches, trackstand, creep, trackstand, creep and it really messed with my right knee, but I haven't felt the pain since and before that the mystery of fixed knee pains always eluded me.

Yea that mass sucked.

People with bad knees will say anything kills your knees. People with good knees will just ignore them and keep on cycling.
I used to be person B until I had bad knees. Now I'm person A.

my bad knees are just "runner's knee". That is, you get inflammation in the cartilage from unevenly developed muscles (among other causes like pushing yourself to hard while training and such).
If you got bad knees there are exercises that help work on your hammies (such as lifting your left and holding it in place); or you can do multiple sports that will work on different muscles in your legs. Point is that all the muscles have to be able to withstand the same resistance from your bike, unfortunately bikes pump up only specific muscles.

in todays world breathing is bad for your health.

hell, when i was a boy...

I went to my favorite and biggest LBS store and was kibitzing with the owner, a long time track/road racer and expressed my interest to him in fooling around with a single speed for training and commutes.

The first thing he said was , "track bikes are fun, but they kill your knees when you're on them for a long time".

True or not? :)


Total BS from the LBS. I can name about 5 other sports right off the top of my head that are harder on your knees than riding fixed, which is totally low impact. Hell, walking to the store is harder on your knees.

In my experience... it will kill your knees if u have the cleats in the worng position... second... obviously if u want to ride a heavy gear such as 48x15 or some like that in the street u'll get something hurt in the knees... fixed gear its fun but u have to be smart and no screw up doing stupid things suchs as use a heavy gear in the street (thing that makes sense to many people apparently)

cya...

Typical LBS hype! I'd rather get my anecdotal evidence off the internet.... it's cheaper. :rolleyes: :D :rolleyes:

Dogbait

my knee only bothered me for the first month. i've felt great ever since.

when i ruptured my quad tendon (yeah, not quite a knee) the orthopedic surgeon told me the best rehab was.......riding my bike.
low gear, spin + brakes and you're fine.

Total BS from the LBS. I can name about 5 other sports right off the top of my head that are harder on your knees than riding fixed, which is totally low impact. Hell, walking to the store is harder on your knees.
I've done alot of research, been to a clinc. wha tI above described, effects cyclists, runners, swimmers (hell my sister had the same condition in highschool and they say swimming is low impact!), etcetc. As long as you are athletic and move your legs in a sport, you risk certain knee injuries. The fact that I'm lanky only increases the chance of it.

My knees pop going up the stairs, seems to be louder now after a fix.

What's that tell ya? Not much.


My knees crack/pop less now...just to confuse the issue.

The funny thing is how hard it is for a young person to listen to what an old person is saying until the young person becomes an old person telling a new young person EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE TOLD!



"Youth is wasted on the young"

it's never actualy been proven. plus, people ride fixies in diffrent ways.
i ride with a front brake and 72 gear inches. my knees haver NEVER hurt, i can skid, but i never use it to stop. (when it rains i skid for fun cause it doesn't require any force, so your knees won't hurt). skidding is the only part that's bad for you knees, everything else is fine.

if you have a front brake then there's not much of a diffrence from riding a road bike as far as knee problems go. i never stop pedaling on my road bike (bad habit, doen't get you anywhere).

Today, I had to ride a bike with a seat way too low. In the past, I've never had pain of any kind from riding fixed. Now today, when I went to resist the pedals on this gimped bike with a stuck seatpost, my knees instantaneously began shrieking in pain. Therefore, I'm thinking whether or not fixed does any damage to your knees is highly dependent on if you're positioned on it correctly for proper leverage.

skidding is the only part that's bad for you knees, everything else is fine.



actually, resisting the pedals also puts a LOT of strain on your knees.




Furthermore, why don't people actually do research on this instead of saying "this has never been proven"? It seems to me that it would make more sense to have facts and science to back things up one way or the other before people start spouting unsubstantiated anecdotes.

You want to mess up your knees. Take the seat off your bike (a bike with a freewheel of courts) and ride it. I rode this setup on a comfort bike that I got from a shady character for $20 bucks and because having no seat meaks for a great theft deterrent.
Then Last december I rode the bike for 30 miles. Throught most of that ride I felt major pain in my left knee.

I never had any type of knee pain in my life befor, so I thought I had caused iraversable knee damage. I never thought that knees heal like your skin, but after a month I was back on my bike.

Through the month I was supposed to be healing, I rode my fixed gear bike a handful of times because it was excruciatingly painful to accelerate and stop my brakless fixie. My knee is pain free now, and I ride my bike everyday like there is no tomorrow.

this is off the subject but hilarious. i used to work with a really old rasta mountain man from jamiaca at this health food store in sarasota and i had bad knees. one day i was complaining about them and he told me that to fix my knees i should cut a cocnut in half, fill it with rum, light it on fire then put the coconut half on my knee and let it "suck all de juice outta de knee."

http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed-knees.html


interesting...

i started having some knee pain when i went from 40x14 to 40x16, i mean my ride was all around more enjoyable but i think the increased spinning confused my bulky legs, it's gone now, also an old woman at works swears that if you soak golden raisins in gin for atleast 3 days and eat 7 a night it will heal any joint pain, she's like 80 and spunky as the kids we work with, i haven't tried it but i beleive her, but again it's a one cure to one person deal

i tend to think you either have good knees or you have bad knees. i think i have good knees (thank the lord), but i try to keep skiddin' to a minimum. it's fun but it puts strain on my knees (mostly my right one as i can only really skid with the right one forward). plus it eats up tires. i only do it now on damp pavement.

You want to mess up your knees. Take the seat off your bike (a bike with a freewheel of courts) and ride it. I rode this setup on a comfort bike that I got from a shady character for $20 bucks and because having no seat meaks for a great theft deterrent.
Then Last december I rode the bike for 30 miles. Throught most of that ride I felt major pain in my left knee.

I never had any type of knee pain in my life befor, so I thought I had caused iraversable knee damage. I never thought that knees heal like your skin, but after a month I was back on my bike.

Through the month I was supposed to be healing, I rode my fixed gear bike a handful of times because it was excruciatingly painful to accelerate and stop my brakless fixie. My knee is pain free now, and I ride my bike everyday like there is no tomorrow.




why would you buy a stolen bike?

I dont understand the mentions of mashing vs. spinning. How are you able to ride a fixed in the Clydesdale manner at all beyond the bbit to get started? (I throw my body ahead to avoid having to mash much, not that I'd need to mash much at 48/16) Conversely who here isn't capable of spinning on a freewheel?

I like what Sheldons site sez, cept that as far as his good neighbours research goes I wouldn't expect to find any mention of knee trouble before the Safety Bike either. I'm betting there were much more spectacular medical issues involving penny farthings to report on if any reports were made at all.

There isn't any need to "prove" that fixed gears hurt your knees. Sustained negative resistance isn't something your knees were developed for and if you're not careful bad things will happen, so just be careful. Pretty Simple. If a bad stop doesn't get them then repetitive motion injuries might, and they don't see the difference between fixed and free, you can get that damage with either or both.

Besides, you'll find your pain in life somehow. For me it was a bad stop and now I have chronic pain in both knees. Before that my knees were rock solid. I rode daily for a decade before that happened, and now I can ride freewheel daily if I'm careful. Big whazoo

but don't tell other people it can't happen or that it's not the cause of knee injuries, that's bad mojo anyway. I see people everyday whose faces froze that way. They said it couldn't happen, but look at these people. I tcould happen to you, so just be careful.

I had knee pain for about the first week of riding fixed. Five minutes of stretching before and after riding helped (http://www.stretching.com). So did keeping my heals down - before I had a habit of pointing my toes down too much. Now I'm conditioned, too. No more pain.

I've had knee problems for a long time, which were not caused by fixed gear, but were caused by biking about 20 years ago. I've notice very little exasperation for the problem from fixed gear riding.

It's beem 6 years since i road my bike 30 miles with no seat and my knees feel like new.

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