Hermespan

It's PARKING it at a friends and taking the bus to a new town to explore it by public bus. Gotta find a good knee doctor in Penang and take a break from cycling.

If bicycles weighed 7 kilos, were welcomed by hotels and buses, traffic was co-operative and airlines too, it was easy, cheap and fast to get mechanical service, parts and accessories in developing countries, no one was interested in stealing your bike, and men over 55 didn 't get joint problems - I would wholeheartedly advocate travelling with a folding bike.

But as none of the above is true, I can speak from my two month experiment in southeast Asia that a better suggestion is buying a cheap bike (or better borrowing one) and trying it out for 3 weeks in America or Europe, to see if you like it and it is practical. It is also better to have an apartment and car rather trying to live on a bicycle in a strange country.

photobiker

..

Hermespan

That's a very good comparison.

I did the same with photography! Many years ago I bought lenses, a case, all the doodads - only to discover that photography was too technical for me.

So as with al hobbies - start small. And if it becomes a chore eiher scale back or change hobbies. I'll probably use my bike (just not daily) once I get an apartment and give the knee and stress levels a rest.

Ozonation

+1. I do photography too!

keyven

I don't think folding bikes are good for moving around in a busy, unfamiliar city. Unless you've lived in the city for a while and can anticipate the expectations of other commuters, you're likely to get yelled at or dirty stares.

IMO they're great for exploring outer suburbs and countrysides where patience is a more common virtue, and the extra space means you'd be less likely to get entangled with other road-users. You are allowed to make more mistakes with less chance of trouble, and be less stressed as a result.

Cultural expectations play a huge part as well. For example, from the forums I can see cycling on the sidewalks are pretty much frowned upon in much of the US, while Japan it's largely accepted practice.

Imagine a native Japanese cyclist winding his way through a busy New York sidewalk - he'd be wondering why everyone is staring daggers at him and not courteously giving him space, right up to the moment he gets punched in the face.

bhkyte

It depends on the city. Would work well in paris, york amsterdam, london at a push. ........

It also depends on what you see the problem as. I found I felt I needed a faster better steering bike in Nottingham for commuting, hence the go faster mezzo, but a small folder such as the king of folding bikes may be better ina crowded city like london. If frequent folding is needed diblasi or tikit hyperfold come to mind. Brompton also does well here as bag often can be left on.

Like yourself I haven't got on with the brompton riding postion. I have got rid of 2 and a clone.


It may take a while to find the best compromise, of bike and usage. Brompton type bikes are versatile and could well be argued to be the most versatile overall package. However, loads of people don't get on with them. I sold a brompton and replaced with an upgraded bike that was a lot of effort to get it where I wanted, but I knew straight away it was the correct bike base for me. I was recently virtually gifted a brompton by a generous barber. I used my experience to get the brompton in to a great personalised bike similar to my mezzo. I now know I could be very happy with a custom ised brompton done in a similar way to my mezzo. I was not prepared to shallow the upgrade costs as I already owm 2 fast road going 16 inch folders with dual drive.

Learn and give it a chance is my advise.
Good luck

Cyclosaurus

Just started a photography hobby myself...I love the fact that it is both technical and artistic.

Ozonation

I started photography a few years prior to getting into biking. For me, I mostly shoot action and sports: not exactly conducive to biking because I'm hauling around several dSLRs with big lens! But our city had a bike race last year and strapped my gear on (Cotton Carrier) and biked to the event. I figured it would be ridiculous to *drive* to a bike race that was only a 15 minute bike ride away.

Cyclosaurus

Nice pic.

I bought a Panasonic GM1 µ4/3 specifically because I didn't see myself hauling around a dSLR, and knew it would sit at home more than I would like.

Ozonation

Thanks. Yes... I've considered other major photo systems too. I shoot Nikon D3s/D800 as my main cameras. But I've owned - or still own - the Panasonic GF1, GH2, and Fuji X-E1 - for times I don't want to haul a big camera around... plus an assortment of pocket cameras too (like the Olympus XZ-1).

I've sort of come to the conclusion that I'm either going to go big or go small: the inbetween systems don't seem to serve my shooting style the best. I'm looking at the Canon GX1 MkII or the Sony RX100 III as a take along, general camera. What the heck... the GH4 looks good too. What do I know? Cameras are like bikes: N+1, eh?

(Note: Who thinks of these crazy names? GX1 MkII? RX100 III? Give me a break.)

Cyclosaurus

The RX100 is definitely a cool camera. I considered that one too but the bigger sensor and variety of lenses made the Panasonic more appealing to me.

My S-1 for cameras is going to be lower than my S-1 for bikes, so I have to be more careful. I've saving my next N+1 for a Lytro Illum.

cplager

I would complain about this thread becoming off topic, except the original topic was, well, quite pointless so it's actually a welcome improvement.

jur

+1

Maybe this could be a photography thread.

Hermespan

bhkyte

you wrote that Brompton size didn't work for you. Interesting. The fit with the Ori Classic was much better, but I considered the fold substandard. If I had the money, an apartment and I was willing to relegate the Flamingo to short hops on film locations (my work) I would try another bike.

In 8 hours I see a lauded sports medicine doctor to see if I have gibbled my knee for life. BTW, India and Vietnam are bargains for medical care compared to Thailand and Malaysia. I'll be seeing a TCM specialist in 'osteo-traumology' (initial consult $10) after an orthopedic surgeon ($40). I'm not keen on allopathic medicine but I will see the western med MD for diagnosis so intend to get massage etc for treatment.

Maybe in Canada I can find a professional willing to work with me tweaking the fit on the cursed 16"er.

ThorUSA

buying a bike in a foreign country to save some money....
getting knee fixed in a country which charges 40 dlr for a "specialist"
going to Can and have the bike modified to fit

priceless

bhkyte

Some aspects of a mezzo fold are better, speed, seatpost protrusion, its a bigger fold Iin most dimensions , but its virtually the same package size functionly for commuting. I prefer to have a slightly larger package that I am happier riding. my black mezzo bike goes and handles in another league to a standard brompton.

I suspect you have iratated the patella femeral joint by having poor knee alinement whilst pedalling on standard pedals. This may be a latent problem that cycling provoked symptoms to appear. Poor postion may add to this. But with out a makor trama you are unlikely to have done any new lasting damage to your knee From a non weight bearing activity like cycling.

Have a look at your knee cap movement during sitting unweighted knee extention. You might be able to see the problem if I am right. Uoften a few graded passive movements of the knee cap is the treatment. All the best, carry on the cycling sensibly. ....

Hermespan

After listening to my medical history, Dr. Lim examined me. Once he touched my back it took him about 5 seconds to diagnose the problem: prolapsed disc L4-L5. He says it is not uncommon for such to create knee pain. When I asked 'why only one knee?' he replied with a smile, "Give it time!" While there is a knee problem as well, based on recent symptoms - the spine primarily and the knee secondarily have to be attended to with...

1. physiotherapy (had a 90 minute session of 5 parts today for USD30)
2. losing weight (20 kilos extra around the waist is doing my back no favours)
3. exercises to strengthen back (was instructed how)
4. proper bike fitting (my seat my be too LOW)
5. swimming style alteration (stop breast stroke and do freestyle where legs don't get kicked)
6. Reducing cycling duration or replace cycling with a different non-impact sport (see #5 )
7. Choosing a more moderate gear (not necessarily first)

A demonstration on a mat with multiple corrections until I got them perfect, like a yoga tutor, would indeed be an improvement in value for money. But at least the physio checked that I more or less understood by asking me to show her what she just taught me and correcting errors. My objection was that I don't have a massage table at home and therefore shouldn't we be doing this on a mat together? Never the less, neither the doctor nor physio rushed me. They explained everything. Their English was perfectly fluent. The consultation with the doctor was USD37. While cheaper doctors and physios can certainly be found in Penang (and the capital KL which is cheaper still - Penang is a tourist destination) I wanted to start at the top.

While not exactly dismissive sounds like the MD doesn't consider TCM/ ayurveda to be replacements, but useful 'complimentary' medicine "if it makes you feel good" .

I go back for two more physio sessions then a follow-up. If no significant improvement it's time for an MRI. But as I do no impact sports he thinks the likelihood that I have 'boney oedema' very unlikely. He offered me the option of getting an MRI right away but said if it improves that expense could be spared. I will enquire as to the price - in KL they cost more than my bicycle.

Hermespan

My spine feels normal to me and I have zero back pain (well until after physiotherapy today - I *was* warned) and no sciatica (sharp pain running down the leg) - none of that. Sounds very weird to me that my knee problem is a back problem.

Maybe I am sponsoring data for some pending 'scientific' study or departmental expansion of spinal therapies? Call me cynical.

True, it is my left knee and he says the prolapsed disc is to the left. I'm from Kansas (figurateively speaking). I'll believe it when I see it (an image).

BikeLite

Sounds like BS to me. What kind of "Dr."? You would need an MRI or CT to diagnose prolapse.

Hermespan

As I understood him an MRI would be required to diagnose boney oedema in knee not prolapsed disc in spine.

Read and tell me if he looks like a lightweight to you

https://www.my-arthroscopy.com/Conf/A...2011.10.03.pdf

bhkyte

+1
You tend not to have pain in the back but in the lower limbs with disc issues.
Prolasped disc needs mri scan.
Its tends to iratate siatic nerve and you would feel this in buttocks, hamstring or feet or a combination.

You dont usually get bilateral( both sides) nerve pain From a pprolapsed disc , I would not expect dproblems with other knee.
Pain in the front of the knee sounds like femerol nerve not siatic. Test for siatic is striaght leg raise. Doing this the physio should be able to reproduce siatic nerve symptoms. The test for the femerol nerve is to slump and extend one knee, or done in side lying.
The person you have seen may be fine , as I am aware that often patients recall of the diagnosis and testing is often incomplete or incorrect. If only all patient s were physios!!

I am skeptical about this as a prolapsed disc is usually most symptomic in sitting, cyling shouldn't be a trigger more than general seating............

Conservative treatment for Prolasped discs is ok as a rational, but only for a limited time and if no red flags (contraindications) are present.


.

BikeLite

The link didn't work so I figured it out and here is a short link to the pdf file.
https://bit.ly/1qeXqCR

His degrees are from another country. The bottom line is what you state sounds odd so I would get another opinion.

Hermespan

bhkyte and biklite

Do either of you have...

a. medical training?
b. knee problems

???

bhkyte

A yes
B. I have had ligament knee problems in past

BikeLite

I have an MD Degree from LSU. I do have a knee issue (just tightness that started when I was about 40 after running in bad shoes on concrete). My knee tightness shows up after some rides (it is pretty slight). I gave up running because of it.