Pampering the Knees

My sister has just started riding around town, with her kiddo on board. She has some knee issues (she's about to go see the doctor about it) but I was trying to help her figure out how to ride in order to not exacerbate the knee problems. My two suggestions were (a) go get a fitting to make sure your seat is in the right place, and (b) make sure she is spinning at a 85-100 cadence and not mashing on the pedals.

Of course, then she asked a follow up question that has exhausted my knowledge. Help! Here's her question:

There are a lot of hills here. Just the 2 mile trip to the library is up and down, up and down. So I am constantly shifting gears to get comfortable. How do you determine proper cadence in that scenario? Or do you find a flat place (ha!) and get the proper cadence and get what that rotation speed feels like to you can keep that no matter what gear you are in?


What should I tell her? (And, feel free to correct my advice, too).

85-100 rpms is very high, and can hurt knees, too. Without getting all numbery, you want a balance between mashing and mindless spinning. The only time I have ever had knee pain is when I was spinning too fast in a granny gear up the Blue Ridge. By the second day, I figured it out and put it in a slightly harder gear and my knee pain went away.

Likely she'll have to figure it out for herself by trial and error. Let her body tell her what is comfortable.

I agree with tulip (as usual). I have knee problems (instability from an old ACL injury). From my house, it is an hour and a quarter by car to a ski resort and an hour and a half to the beach. Nothing is truly flat here, so I always wind up mashing somewhat on the way out and spinning on the way back. None of it bothers my knee. The key is to keep it reasonably easy/smooth, without going to extremes in either direction (spinning too fast vs mashing too hard).

I also agree with Tulip. 85-100 is high. It's what us "cyclists" aspire to, but for a relative beginner riding with the kids around town it's going to hurt. (I spin at 75-90 rpm and I'm actively trying to increase that, but that's as fast as I as a cyclist can spin right now without hurting myself).

I wouldn't give her numbers. Instead tell her to focus on keeping a steady, circular pedal stroke that feels comfortable to her. She'll very likely find something in the 60-80 rpm range, and that is fine. Yes, shift accordingly, which means, yes, she'll be shifting a lot, especially at first.

Also a X 1000 on going and getting at least a basic fit to get saddle height and fore/aft positioning down. If she's using clipless they should check her cleat positioning too as that can exacerbate knee issues. When she goes in for a fitting she should let them know just what her knee issues are and whether or not they are currently flaring up on the bike. Try to find someone that knows how to work with such things (a good fitter will). Depending on your area that may or may not be a reasonable task at a reasonable price range (and it would be a bit ridiculous for her to pay for a $350 dynamic fit at this point, obviously), but worth a try.

Does she do any strength training? One of my knees is a hot mess, and I find that it helps when strengthen the leg muscles; anything that supports the knees. Cycling alone won't work, I have to hit them from different angles.

I don't think 85 is at all high... in fact, it's kind of low. 100 is high, yes. For climbing hills, if you like to develop power and mash the hills, cadence will be a bit lower, but I really avoid going below 75 until I'm in my lowest gear and don't have any more choice.

What I'm seeing is that she's going from riding not at all to riding with a baby. Her joints are going to be taking the stress until her muscles are strong enough to deal with it. Can she either ride a trainer or find a sitter until she develops some leg strength?

Cleat placement and fore/aft saddle adjustment are as important as seat height in taking stress off the knees.

When it comes to hills, I use what ever gear will keep my cadence the most consistent.