Do your knees brush the top tube?
09-27-09, 11:57 AM
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Do your knees brush the top tube?
Just wondering if it's a usual thing to have your knees brush the sides of the top tube... watching the pros it seems to be, even some of them seem to push their knees to the inside when pushing up a climb.
09-27-09, 12:36 PM
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It seems that way,those clipless pedals have different degrees when the shoes are locked in.
09-28-09, 01:46 AM
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Really small Q factor. Just adjust your pedal stroke, or go for a professional fit so you can find out if you need to have your cleats shimmed.
09-28-09, 08:14 AM
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I used to pedal with my knees coming inward on the upstroke. Then I developed iliotibial band syndrome.
The orthopedist had me stay off the bike for six weeks and on my first day back, the pain started up again.
The guys at my LBS told me to bring my bike in a make sure it was fitted properly. What they found was that when I started to get tired, I would pull my knee inward which was putting strain on the iliotibial band. Ever since then, I make sure to keep my knees an inch or two away from the top tube.
I'm not saying everyone will have the same issue; this was just my experience.
I don't know if it has any bearing on this, but I rode a skateboard for thirty-some-odd years and a lot of the tricks I did called for pulling my knees inward, toward each other. Maybe my muscles were trained for that type of movement.
The orthopedist had me stay off the bike for six weeks and on my first day back, the pain started up again.
The guys at my LBS told me to bring my bike in a make sure it was fitted properly. What they found was that when I started to get tired, I would pull my knee inward which was putting strain on the iliotibial band. Ever since then, I make sure to keep my knees an inch or two away from the top tube.
I'm not saying everyone will have the same issue; this was just my experience.
I don't know if it has any bearing on this, but I rode a skateboard for thirty-some-odd years and a lot of the tricks I did called for pulling my knees inward, toward each other. Maybe my muscles were trained for that type of movement.
09-28-09, 09:50 AM
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I noticed indeed that a lot if not all of the pro riders are X-legged when riding - is it an aero issue or power matter? Don't wanna ruin my knees.
09-28-09, 01:28 PM
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the way I understood it is when on the hoods in climb, your knees should be grazing the tops of your handle bars and when in the drops your knees should be on the insides of your elbows. hope that helps.
