Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Knee Pain

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theetruscan
06-27-08, 09:49 PM
I'm not sure this is the right forum, but I don't know where this should be posted, and I ride fixed.

I've ridden fixed for about a year and a half, after about a year and a half riding a singlespeed commuter. I've never been a skidder, always stopped mostly using my brakes. I've never had any knee pain, at all.

I just got a new bike, custom frame/geometry, got it professionally fitted to me, and my knees HURT, like ALL the time. It's nearly exactly the same gearing as before (48x17 versus 42x15).

I'd never gotten my old bike fitted, it wasn't custom or anything, and I never had a problem. Are there specific culprits I should be looking for? This is driving me nuts.

legstwelve
06-27-08, 10:13 PM
different pedals? With clipless you can get varying degrees of float (lateral movement). If you have no/little float your leg is working more like a piston with no side-to-side movement, this is often the cause of knee pain for a lot of people. Maybe try switching the good pedals over and seeing if it makes a difference.
theetruscan
06-27-08, 10:21 PM
same pedals actually. i did get an actual track set after a road set with one ring. does that make any width difference?

due ruote
06-27-08, 11:12 PM
Do you still have the old bike? I'd start by taking some careful measurements from that, especially saddle height and fore/aft placement. The old rule of thumb is a plumb line dropped from the knee at the forward position should land at the pedal spindle.

My hunch is you're either too high or too far back or both.

By track set I gather you mean crankset? A track crankset should have a smaller Q-factor and be better biomechanically.
4zn_balla
06-27-08, 11:20 PM
i wouldn't get too scientific about it. A new bike is a new bike whether the fit is perfect or not. Perhaps you had pain before on your old bike, but your body just got used to it. I'm sure it'll go away in a week or so.
dzinehaus
06-28-08, 01:30 AM
Perhaps you had pain before on your old bike, but your body just got used to it. I'm sure it'll go away in a week or so.

I find that to be bad advice...

Go to the doctor and get it checked to be safe and take preventative measures.

http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed-knees.html i found this interesting also...