I'm not gonna stop this hobby if it dose but with some of us doing hundreds and thousands of miles a year I can't help but think of the stress this puts on knees and ankles? I can just imagine that repetive spinning motion of the knee joint grinding away the cartalidge?

So dose cycling cause arthritis? Despite all health gains is this one of the downsides?

Or have I most likely got it all wrong?

I'm thinking along the lines of all these athletes that end up with this condition such as footballers ect.

Cycling is extremely easy on the joints. In fact, many people with dodgy knees from running and other sports (me, for instance) find that cycling isn't just possible for them, but improves their condition. The fact that it is so kind to the joints is one reason why so many cyclists stay fast, and continue to do high mileages, well into old age.

Obviously poor positioning and grinding a big gear can cause problems, but for most people cycling doesn't give rise to arthritis. Tendinitis is more common, I believe.

In my experience as someone who has had osteoarthritis in the hips for 20 odd years, I find cycling is actually very good for the condition as it seems the movement helps with circulation and suppleness of the joints, and because there is little force on the joints (non-weight bearing exercise) I don't experience any pain associated with the activity. I used to play a lot of golf and would be very stiff and sore after 18 or 36 holes. Even now, a couple of hours of walking around the mall I will start to limp and have pain and discomfort. However, it seems I can cycle any amount of time/distance without any ill effects. Last week I cycled 266 miles, and yes my quads were sore by the end of the week, but pain from arthritis was nil and it rarely even crosses my mind that I have the condition. The fact that I've lost around 30lbs since starting cycling also benefits the condition and my overall health in general. That's only my experience of course and I am not qualified to comment on whether cycling will tend to aggravate arthritis in others.

Hmm OK interesting, I'll be instrested to hear other people experience as well,

What tendonitis though?

Don't you have a search engine? Why would you expect us to type out for you something you could just look up?

If you've got your bicycle set up properly, you shouldn't have much in the way of joint or tendon issues, if any at all.

Think about how a machine with levers etc. works ... you and the bicycle together are a machine. Set up a machine wrong and you'll get wear and tear and the workings of the machine will be inefficient. But set the machine up correctly and it can work well and efficiently for a very long time.



I have arthritis, but it has nothing to do with cycling. It's in my right foot and probably has more to do with walking, and in particular walking in high-heeled shoes when I was younger, and walking with a limp (incorrectly) after burning the left foot to the bone. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to walk, but I should be able to keep cycling for many more years to come.

Lol sorry got lazy there, yhea iv searched it after I posted that so don't know why I posted that anyways hahah.

This

This is quite true, unless you do it wrong. I did it wrong for several years and my ankles are paying the price. Get yourself a good pedal stroke and you lessen the chance of an uncomfortable cycling future.

Just my personal experience.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean, I'm guessing you mean learn to spin in a circular motion at a good cadence as opposed to just hammering the pedals straight downwards and in a high gear with low cadence?

I'm very prone to hammering it a high gear unfortantly but I am learning to spin in lower gears with higher cadence, and also use the ball of my foot rather tga. The middle which is what comes naturally to me but am again adjusting to using the ball of my foot...



I'm getting some of those clip in pedals and shoes next month so hopefully that will also help get the correct moation as I find I can only push down at the moment on the pedal ands hope being xliped in will mean I can push down and pull up at the other side of the cycle...and get a circular motion going as opposed to my current mash in moation.

Like my mashed ptatoes with gwavy.

The first thing you'd want to do is to ensure the bicycle fits you properly and is set up properly for you.

Not only does cycling not cause arthritis, it will help limit the impact of arthritis if you have it.

https://road.cc/content/news/49150-re...ultant-surgeon

I was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age 8.

Since then, I've ridden well over 100,000 miles, race Category 3, and rode 225 miles saturday, with 12,000 feet of climibing over gravel roads, at age 53.

My experience is consistent with the literature that indicates cycling helps limit the effects of arthritis.

I have rheumatoid and osteo arthritis. Sometimes it can get pretty rough, but I still manage to get 6000 miles a year in.

From all the stressors and pain that I've put my body through, cycling is the only thing that lessens the impact of the injuries I've sustained. It helps maintain my fitness level after the military has had its way with me. The little pain helps keep the bigger pains at bay.

Hmm thx, certnly sounds promising....nice to know its not gonna f*** up my knees now I can enjoy it even more.

And as to bike fit, well it fits as well as a 1980s FREE second hand bikes ever gonna fit, I find its cmfy enuf although slightly large, but not so large I can't live with it, I actually think my saddle is too low as I don't get full motion so might put it up a bit, its getting to fond the swet spot. Between full motion and over stretching the legs...not as easy as it sounds funnnily enuf.

Interesting link tjx.

emmm gwavy!

^ lots of formulas on seat height. But the gist of it is that you want to still have a bit of bend in the knee at the full extension of the pedal stroke.

One quick, easy test, that will at least get you in the ball park, is set the seat so your leg is fully extended when you put the heel of your foot on the center of the pedal.

That results in an approriate bend in your knee when your foot is on the pedal in a regular position.

It sounds counter intuitive, but I have had to learn to try and relax my leg from the knee down at the same as putting forth the effort to pedal. For years I rode toes-down and it has unnaturally built up parts of my lower leg while absolutely destroying my ankles. The ankle flexes to a point where it is a natural fulcrum within the pedal stroke. The best way to describe it (for me) is to relax the ankle and allow the leg to drive the stroke through to the pedal - this actually keeps me from going toes-down and keeps the foot pretty flat. The muscles/tendons on the top of my ankle are so tense from all of the hammering that it feels like a perpetual state of cramping. This is all aside form the sore ankles.

This won't apply to everyone, but after two decades of foot issues, I know quite a bit about my own feet and what works to make them better.

..or at least keep them from getting worse. YMMV.

One of my riding friends is a physical therapist. He asks, "If a patient comes in with knee problems what is the first thing we do?" "Put them on a bike!" Of course it's a stationary, but it's still a bike.

I have RA + osteoarthrits even though for me both types of arthrits cause different problems i find that cycling is beneficial mentally, physically and spiritually. there are days i just spin real easy, tempo riding and some days I can still hammer. In the long run i believe it does help with the the stiffness and joint pain as it still works those areas and range of motion . My Drs. @ the VA say keep it up. And after 30+ years of cycling it is extremely difficult to even think about stopping

I injured my knee while riding last May by over-tightening my pedals, removing all the float, going for a long ride, and ignoring the pain I was in ("I'll be fine"). It was a stupid and very big mistake and took a long time to 1) figure out the injury (both chondromalacia and to a tendon) 2) find a good doc, and 3) get back to riding. It was a rough year and I did it to myself out of ignorance which only made it worse.

The first doc was a "sports medicine specialist" who works with an orthopedics group. He told me that I should find a different exercise, like an elliptical, and gave me a steroid injection in the knee. I had to refrain from reflexively kicking him in the nuts for such stupid advice. The 2nd doc is the #2 in orthopedics where I work, who told me "go ride, take something for the pain if you need it. It'll either get better or not but you won't make it worse." After some strengthening exercises, that's what I've done. It's been 3 months now and my knee is perfectly fine - much better than when I started riding again. Why? I've lost 20+ pounds and the cycling hasn't hurt it at all.

Get on the bicycle, ride a bit to get comfortable and build up some speed, then coast with your right foot in the 6:00 position (bottom of the pedal stroke). Put your heel on the pedal. You should have a slight bend in the knee. Check the other leg the same way.

That'll get you close to correct. From there you can do minor adjustments as necessary.

Good point. I can't ride with anything but my speedplay pedals (or presumably platform pedals or something with the same amount of easy float)

I have osteoarthritis in my right knee and i'm bone on bone and yes, a long day of cycling will cause my knee to get sore (100+ miles or 6+ hours) but I can't even run 100 yards. So there's that.