thrilhou

Has anyone in the messenger community or fixed gear riders in general ever blown there knees out or know someone first hand who has blown out there knee from riding skidding etc.? I've begun to develop a bit of soreness... maybe I should just lower my gear ratio...

raygunner

Get some knee pads. You'd look like Alan Iverson...but riding a bike...

arcellus

take glucosamine supplements, maybe run your clips a little looser (if you're using clips) or find clipless pedals with more float.. it's all about having your knees rotating in an anatomical position. glucosamine helps me a lot.. it takes about two months before you feel the effects, tho.

late

If it doesn't go away, see a Doc. There isn't the slightest bit of sanity involved, in destroying your knees, to make a style statement.

jordache

I had real problems with my knees when I first started riding fixed at work. It was quite debilatating at first; I'd actually have to lie down on the side of the road with my leg laid straight out, trying to stretch the pain out. Turns out that was just from a really high saddle height.

My knees are only sore in the slightest manner these days, and that's only after the longest days of brakeless. Learning to skid with your opposite foot forward seems like an insurmountable challenge, but at least give some preference to your left leg in exerting back pressure. I try to distribute equally when going down hills, as I know I have an unconscious preference to make the right leg do all the work.

deathintransit

Gear ratio may be it. It could also be saddle height. I have no idea what kind of riding your doing (brakeless with lots of starts and stops?), but you may want to get some nice long smooth rides with some higher rpm spinning to help condition your knees.

Also don't forget to stretch before going nuts. I've been loading trucks at the big brown check-out-what-I-got-on-ebay shipping service for almost 4 years. Strecthing and hydration has been able to keep me rockin'.
I once gave myself tendonitis in my wrist. They gave me a brace and I asked what kind of stresthing I could do to prevent getting it again. I've been doing that certain strecth and have had no problems since then.

Keep listening to your body. That's good to do. Now you just need to interpret what it's saying.

The Mayo Clinic has some words on stretching.

filtersweep

Or try a brake?

thrilhou

thanks for all the sugestions, etc. To be more specific, I used to ride the stock set up on my bike, which was 170mm cranks 48x16 and never had the slightest problem. I then up-graded my cranks and wheelset: 165mm cranks 49x17, which technically should be a little easier going, but then the pain started, I did adjust the saddle hight which helped. Perhaps I'll just drop the gear ratio...

ultra-g

Remove your knee caps, then you can't blow out your knees.

Or rest for 2-3 days.

Ceya

You need to adjust your position. Riding loger crank arms gave you more leverage like in road bikes. it handles bigger gears beter. Cold can be a factor ..getting cold in the knee can be bad if not taken care of correctly. Take it easy for your legs too adjust.

S/F,
CEYA!

ostro

also, be sure to remove any foreign particulate matter, regrease (using natural formula glucosamine and chondroitin) and repack the knee assembly. do not overtighten as you could damage articulating surfaces, but also do not under tighten or you could suffer from a loose ACL.

BlastRadius

Could be your new cranks have a different Q-Factor and you may need to adjust your cleat accordingly (if you use clipless pedals).

jasonyates

I think I have tendinitis in my achilles but I'm just ignoring it right now. Do any of you guys know anything about this like if I will make it worse by continuing to ride? The discomfort is mild and it hasn't increased in the past couple weeks, but my leg makes a creaking/grinding noise when I move my foot.

jordache

I had something kind of like this. I attributed it to low-cut, really flimsy-soled shoes and it went away after I switched to some stiffer high-tops.

Ceya

Jay, Sent ya PM and don't put it off just get it looked at by a doctor.

S/F,
CEYA!

dolface

i've had it, riding will almost certainly make it worse, DON'T ignore it.
go see a doc, there's stuff you can do to mitigate it (icing and nsaids are a good start, i generally use advil).

it sucks, but it's not the end of the world.