Hello all,
I've been planning to get into fixed riding for about 3 years now, ever since my university roommate introduced me to the idea. Circumstances and travel have got in the way, but I might finally be in a position to take the plunge. My main concern is about stress to the knees -- as it happens, I only have one, the other having been amputated as part of cancer treatment 17 years ago. Does fixed riding really introduce that much more stress to the knee than singlespeed? I don't particularly want to take the chance of screwing up a knee that already has to do much more work than usual, but the fixed gear sirens are calling my name...

I run 52x14 on my Dahon folder with 20" wheels, and find I'm quite happy with it (a bit of spinning with tailwinds, but nothing ridiculous). According to Sheldon, that gives me 74.3 gear inches. Does that sound like a reasonable number for fixed city riding in a place with no hills? Ideally, I'd like to be able to do *some* hills should I ever come across them.

My plan, if I'm convinced that I'm not going to kill my knees, is to figure out if I can get a fixed wheel built for the Dahon -- and if that doesn't work (hub spacing might be an issue), I'd like to buy a solid old Chinese steel frame (Flying Pigeon) and build something up around that. Could be fun.

Apologies for any newbieness in this question, and thanks in advance!

Flying Pigeon? Love the name. The majority of the stress on my knees that I notice happens when skidding/skipping and putting pressure on the pedals as they come up while controlling my speed going down hills. 74.3" is a reasonable size, I run 71-72 personally, but I have lots of hills to deal with. And I'm no monster rider.

I got some bursitis the other day, but that was because of my own clumsiness, and had nothing to do with riding fixed.

I have heard (on these boards) that riding fixed is actually good for the knees, as long as one has two brakes and avoids the skidding, etc. The constant motion is good stimulus for the knee cartilidge or something.

i'm not sure of the knee issue in your case, but take the gearing issue just by what feels right. you probably have a decent setup, sort of in between spinning and mashing. move up or down as needed from there, i'd say. i'd reccomend down and moving up, based on recent revelations about ease of controlling speed on a fixed gear.

If you only have one foot, it might be difficult to skid, to say nothing of trackstanding. I've seen a few road cyclists with your situation, but they had brakes...

I had minor knee soreness for about the first two or three days after converting to fixed gear riding, after that I felt perfectly fine. I read that the minor discomfort was due to the fact that when you start riding fixed, you begin to use certain muscle groups around the knee area in new ways that are different from walking or running. Once your legs adjust to the new routine (in my case two to three days) you'll be fine. I should mention that I do run a front brake. I only use my legs to slow down, and the brake to come to a complete stop or when I need to stop on a dime.

I've heard that too (there's also an article on Sheldon's site), but it seems to be mostly hearsay. Has anyone seen any actual studies proving this? Or are there any orthopaedic specialists on these boards?

My opinion:

I think most knee problems develop from poor or unbalanced muscle growth. Some of it is from the strain on the knee, but a finely tuned surrounding muscle group should inhibit knee problems. My knee problems on regular geared bikes have come from too much growth in my quads, and an underdeveloped iliotibial band. The IT band is not really worked in cycling, but nonetheless vital. It was shorter than the rest so it pulled my kneecap slightly out of wack. Just one example of a knee problem - my point being that it isn't just the stress that makes your knee hurt, it's stress/growth/lack of growth of the surrounding muscle groups that then leads to knee pain. In your case I'm sure your full-leg is extremely well tuned, probably twice as good as both of my legs put together - so I doubt you'd have knee problems. Do it. ~ David

I ride with a prosthesis, so it's not a one-foot issue. To be precise, I sort of have 1.5 knees -- my operation (a Van Ness Rotationplasty) was somewhat unorthodox, but it works very well: https://www.wmt.com/expandableimplant...amputation.asp. It gives me much more mobility (pretty much that of a below-knee amputation) than the other option, which was to cut the leg off well above the knee. Unfortunately, not many people know it's an option, and sacrifice a lot of mobility as a result.

I don't have a particuarly strong death wish, so I'll be keeping the front brake.

I'm no doctor, but I agree about feeling great after the initial soreness. Also, sometimes my knee will hurt if I haven't been riding my bike, I think the workout is good for it. I also agree about the constant motion. I'm just guessing here, but I'd think the hard pedalling and then coasting/slowing down, and then hard pedalling again, is worse on the joints than maintaining speed on a fixed.

oh yeah, search for a post on knees by ken cox. dude knows what he's talking about.

oh yeah, search for a post on knees by ken cox. dude knows what he's talking about.

Not to long ago I posted how I hurt my knee on a geared bike. I did not go to a doctor. Basically as I recuperated I got back on my fixed gear off and on. After a month I was back commuting an a ragular basis with no pain.

I think it should also be said that no matter if you are on a freewheel or fixed the gearing you choose is more importing becuse that will determine the stresses you will put on your joints.

Thanks for the replies, all. I'll look for that Ken Cox post. What I'm hearing pretty much confirms my suspicions that it's not as tough on the knees as some people make it out to be, particularly with the fairly conservative riding I'll probably be doing (no huge skids, I think). If all goes well, I hope to be able to drink the Kool-Aid in the next month or two. I'm particularly excited about the Flying Pigeon possibility (@onetwentyeight: A mis-translation of "Flying Dove" that's still used decades later), and will post pictures if/when it comes together.

That's awesome. I'm excited to hear about the pigeon as well as how this all works out. Keep us posted, etc.

I'm 49 and my knees are feeling the abuse I've given them over the years. I started riding fixed again last year after a long layoff, and my own subjective experience is that I think my knees are stronger and less painful now than before. After a few thousand miles fixed and a few more freewheel, my knees are strong enough that I'm running again -- probably a stupid thing to do, but the point is that they hurt too much to run on them a year ago. I don't know if riding fixed helped or not, but it seems to me that it has.

There are a couple riders in my area that are amputees above the knee. They are fast, too. (Freewheel). I can't comment on prostheses and fixed gear, but I would think that riding fixed might put additional stress on a prosthesis.... i.e. a pulling action when spinning fast or trying to stop. Something to consider anyway.

my knees feel best when im riding a lot. when i dont ride for a couple of weeks for whatever god awful reason, that's when my legs start to hurt.

i'm about to go ride on my 48x18 set up for the first time. should be fun. i've been ding 48x17 for several months after moving up from 48x16

i think my knees are worse than they used to be. i had to do a duck-walk (i think thats what its called) at my physical therapist's office (non-knee related issue) the other day and it was hard as ****. that might be just because im getting older though.

troll

i hope you're joking