Recumbent - Knee pain

My knees are killing me! I’ve rarely experienced knee pain associated with biking; I typically spin at 90-110rpm. But since I’ve started riding a ‘bent my knees have been bothering me?!?!?

I don’t have cadence on the computer on my bent, and I have found my cadence slipping some… especially up hills but not enough to cause me knee pain…

Could there be another explanation to my sore knees with reference to the ‘bent other than cadence?

There can be a greater tendency to let your knees splay out as you're pedaling. That could do it. Or maybe check your leg extension; it should be roughly the same as on an upright, but on a 'bent, slouching can change the distance.

Sounds like me, up to just recently. I switched to 'bents last fall, and was having a lot of knee issues until early this spring, when everything just seemed to straighten itself out. In retrospect, it just took my knees that long to adapt to the different demands put on them by 'bent pedaling. Just make sure you're not over-extending or over-flexing your knees. The range of motion should be similar to, or less than your df range, and a lot of folks swear by short (like 150mm) cranks. I went from 175s on my df to 170s on my bents and that seems to be working well. So, the short answer is, make sure your leg extension is correct, and your crank arms aren't too long, and be patient. Oh, and Icy Hot and ibuprofen help...

SP

I will check my knee splay... I did notice that I was slouching towards the end of the ride... The bike came with 170mm cranks and I have 175 on my other bikes... Good points! Thanks!

Definitely adjust so your legs aren't bent too much while pedaling. I have heard it suggested that because of the seat back, you can press harder with your legs--like doing leg presses. Try keeping your cadence up and your force down.

Depending on the bent setup and muscle development you can exert way too much force for happy knees. I've found that when my cadence seems to have slipped a bit it has really slipped a lot. I've also found it way, way too tempting to just muscle up short hills without a down shift.

Might you be riding with platform pedals? Though some bent riders use them well, I've found that the high BB makes clipless necessary for me. With platforms I am a pure masher.

Believe it or not, changing from 170's to 160's eliminated knee pain for me. bk

If the crank arms are wide enough, just have your current ones drilled and shortened. I too have knee pain, but it was pretty much eliminated, while riding, by going from 175's down to 145's.

Hi, sorry, no technical advice here.

...how to judge [deleted] crank size [when it is not clearly stated next to "crank" in the specs] An example is the Action Bent - for crank it says " Crank: FSA Gossamer 52/42/30, alloy in silver".

I am at the lower end if a steep learning curve it seems.

For knee pain I find Lidocaine patches really make a difference most of the time.