Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Myth, no matter or fact?

Blown out knees from fixed gear cycling.. I've heard this repeated in hints and echoes all over.. but can't for the life of me figure out if it's fact or fiction..

Ideas, comments, opinions?

This is the way in which the Fixed Goc (yes, it is God, but Cog spelled backwards....ohhhhhhh) weeds out the weak. This way our numbers are strong when the final battle against the geared ones commences.

I had chronic knee problems when I used to push 80 inches constantly. Eventually over the past couple yrs or so I've gradually dropped my gearing down to between 69 & 74 inches.....My knees couldn't be happier...

George

This is the way in which the Fixed Goc (yes, it is God, but Cog spelled backwards....ohhhhhhh) weeds out the weak. This way our numbers are strong when the final battle against the geared ones commences.
From whence came the 4 riders.. No sound came from their cycles.. there were few wires.. no gears. They came with their bags full of doom.. energizer, duracell, diehard.. and as they rode, silent, not breathing hard, they over took the multigeared, not asking "on the right" or "on the left".. no hint as they came by and chucked batteries in their direction knocking the spandex clad into the walls of the local starbucks..

The end was coming..

resistance is futile..

you will be assimilated

or eliminated...

:lol: Glad the crash didn't dampen your spirits. Thanks for the bloody photo's-why did they make WANT to go riding?

havent had a problem myself, but could see how knees could take a beating if you're pushing a big gear or skid all the time

Definately a gearing issue, as Fixer points out. Same could happen to a geared rider. I've known a few that refused to run a smaller gear and big-ringed it all the time. Knees were pretty whacked.

Dave

This is the way in which the Fixed Goc (yes, it is God, but Cog spelled backwards....ohhhhhhh) weeds out the weak. This way our numbers are strong when the final battle against the geared ones commences.

i ride both road and fixed (and i ride my road bike like it's a fixed)...can i be a double-agent? and where do BMXers fit in?

i'm gonna make a patch that says NEVER STOP PEDALING! with a cool graphic of a chainring or something. and make it the size of my bag so i will be hardcore!

i ride both road and fixed (and i ride my road bike like it's a fixed)...can i be a double-agent? and where do BMXers fit in?

Let me think about it.















No. Coaster!!! :D

I don't ride fixed much - but I ride my SS all over (yes, I am a coaster). My knees only hurt when I don't ride - If I go a significant amount of time without turning the pedals, my knees do ache. Maybe it' just subconscious - maybe I don't even ride anywhere but in my head.

(hope everyone knows that i'm just poking ribs about the coaster thingy)

Personally,
I have had ACL replacement surgery after a few years of rugby and jumping out of helos and C130s. My knees are shagged for the most parts, but cycling is the only thing that works for me. My old fixed (RIP - friggin cabbies) and my Surly have never lead me wrong. Fixer is spot on: find a gear that works; who cares if you aren't rolling a 53:12 (who the hell can? I'd piss myself...). It is about a good experience.
And OTS-I'd buy one of those patches...not if it was bagsized though. I'd put it dead-center on my mesh half-shirt.

And OTS-I'd buy one of those patches...not if it was bagsized though. I'd put it dead-center on my mesh half-shirt.

i could make a smaller one...if i'd get offa my ass and get supplies and such (fabric, spray paint, something to make a stencil with, beer)...although, i think the mesh half-shirt might violate the "intended use" clause in my company's* EULA.**



*by "company" i mean me.
**by "EULA" i mean my sense of decency.

(hope everyone knows that i'm just poking ribs about the coaster thingy)

my ego is now suffering from a sucking chest wound.

Anybody have any recommendations for gearing for the weak-kneed (sic.) amongst us? I am currently at about 43 and 14. My knees have problems and want to do the best for them.

43x14 is a bit big. Someting along the lines of a 43x17 or 18 would be mucho easier on the ole' leg knuckles.

Dave

(hope everyone knows that i'm just poking ribs about the coaster thingy)

c'mon, stop with the effing disclaimers already....they all know the truth.

(hope everyone knows that i'm just poking ribs about the coaster thingy)

Sniff....hufff...wa.....whhhimmpper...I..huff....chhant...repppply....Iiimm..sssoo..hhuurt........

c'mon, stop with the effing disclaimers already....they all know the truth.
Yeah, WK. You jerk. Sorry. And I am sorry for being sorry. And I apologize for being sorry again. Please accept my warmest sympathies. Whoops, my bad, Crap. DAMMIT. THIS SUCKS! NyQuil makes me nice! DAMN DAMN DAMN...

my new pista (yeah that one) has 170mm cranks vs. my old 165mm. It feels weird and could tweak knees. not mine though. I'm not a man, I'm a machine! (rocky iv)

Keep your gear below 70 and don't skid, bunny hop, hopskid, etc. I ride 65 and 70 brakeless, have pretty feeble knees, but riding my bikes is never painful. My knees used to hurt when i was pushing too big of gears on my geared bike. Until I learned how to spin properly.

Yeah, WK. You jerk. Sorry. And I am sorry for being sorry. And I apologize for being sorry again. Please accept my warmest sympathies. Whoops, my bad, Crap. DAMMIT. THIS SUCKS! NyQuil makes me nice! DAMN DAMN DAMN...

I don't know to batbomb you for calling me a jerk or for being sorry.

Estuans interius ira vehementi in amaritudine loquor mee menti; factus de materia levis elementi, similis sum folio de quo ludunt venti. O Fortuna, Velut luna statu variabilis, semper crescis aut decrescis; vita detestabilis, nunc obdurat et tunc curat ludo mentis aciem, egestatem, potestatem, dissolvit ut glaciem.


Thrill seaker, heartbreaker, shapeshifter, a secret keeper...

Dude, you better not cast a spell on me...I've got a whole deck of Magik cards and I ain't afraid to use them.

What the hell does this say anyway? All I ever did in HS Latin was look at other peoples' tests.

FUGA!

Dude, you better not cast a spell on me...I've got a whole deck of Magik cards and I ain't afraid to use them.

What the hell does this say anyway? All I ever did in HS Latin was look at other peoples' tests.

FUGA!


The last line is from a Timo Maas song I was listening to last night.

The first one..

Magik cards? What are you gonna do, throw them at me? :)

Magik cards? What are you gonna do, throw them at me?

Don't make me put them in your spokes. That would make you look real cool as you run down peds.

If you don't spin right and have a large gear, I am sure your knees will suffer. If you ride the fixie the right way it should help those knees stay strong.

Riding my fixie everyday makes my sorry runner knees feel better.

Matt

Seems like there are two types of knee stress people could have problems with:

Impact stress - like running - the kind of thing pushing a big gear, resisting and hop skids would irritate.

Lateral stress - caused by you knee trying to move outside its usual axis of movement - the kind of thing strapping your feet into pedals or having pedals without adequate float would cause and pushing the big gear would irritate. Should be able to fix that by getting pedals that give the knee enough float to operate in its natural axis.

Lowering your gear and spinning would fix the first but not necessarily the second.

Don't make me put them in your spokes. That would make you look real cool as you run down peds.

Perhaps next time he won't freeze and he'll move out of the way.

Perhaps next time he won't freeze and he'll move out of the way.
Saw off a baseball bat...and bring bear spray

I think most knee problems are already there but they don't show up until something stresses the knee, the more stress the more problems.

Let's say one leg is a little longer or your hips aren't quite even and you push normal gears and there's no problem, but then you hit the big gear and the additional stress on the knees causes them to hurt.