Originally Posted by
Luddite
I rode outside and immediately hated the higher seat. I felt like I was suddenly, well, much higher on the bike (duh) and I could only tippy-toe on one foot when my feet were off the pedals, that freaked me out so I went back in and asked him to lower the seat a little. He said the seat was at the perfect height for me (checked my knee position etc etc) but lowered it a little for me, since I asked.
You'll get used to it. It always feels just a bit odd for the first ride when you change something like that. Then you'll start to notice that you feel so much better on the bicycle.
Originally Posted by
Luddite
He then said "don't pedal too hard" I was confused by his statement. "wha??" "You'll blow your knees out with the seat that low" and made a "explody" motion with his hand.
Umm..I rode countless bikes that were never adjusted for me as a teenager etc and didn't "blow my knees out" though I have patella femoral syndrome in both knees (coincidence.) Anyway, is what he said true?
Legions of people out riding right now are mere miles away from blown knees?!?
Yeah, patella femoral syndrome is caused by riding a saddle that is too low. And you can get away with a lot when you're a kid ... although apparently you didn't get away with it after all. And yes, I just shake my head and bite my tongue when I see people riding around with their knees around their ears because their saddles are too low. Of course most of those people probably only ride maybe 50 miles a week so they aren't doing that much damage. But my knees ache when I look at them.
Here's something for you to read about knees and cycling:
http://www.cptips.com/knee.htm
In fact while you're at it, you might read that whole site ... especially the equipment and medical tips to start with:
http://www.cptips.com/toc.htm#equitip
It's a good site, lots of helpful information.