My knees are killing me...

With you needing to limit the range of motion of your knees, you may well need shorter crankarms than 170.

When you go back to the LBS, have your fitter measure the angle of your knees at the top of the pedal stroke as well as the bottom. Remember that shimming the cleats will mean bending your knees MORE at the top. Not a good thing for those of us with kneecap tracking issues.

Do you have a friend with a smaller bike you could try out and just see how their cranks work for you? Or would the shop let you test ride one? I'd let you ride mine (you'd have to raise the seat WAY up :p) but we won't be down there for at least another month.

PS - 2.5 mm doesn't seem like it should make a lot of difference, but neither does 5 mm, and 5 mm makes an ENORMOUS difference to my knees. I demo'ed a bike with 167.5 mm cranks when I first returned to road riding, and while my knees were okay with it, I felt like I had to set my seat height way high and ankle quite a bit to protect my knees.

So now I am wondering, if the shop has any bikes with shorter crank arms that I could test ride, if I would be able to tell anything. The owner thought they maybe have an old set somewhere that they may be able to put on my bike so we can at least try them before I buy a set since it is not going to be cheap and I hate to get one (165 or 170mm) or the other and then have it not be the right one. :p

I am going back today after work. It appears I have the whole shop brain storming on this. :D

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Originally Posted by arielmoon

So now I am wondering, if the shop has any bikes with shorter crank arms that I could test ride, if I would be able to tell anything. The owner thought they maybe have an old set somewhere that they may be able to put on my bike so we can at least try them before I buy a set since it is not going to be cheap and I hate to get one (165 or 170mm) or the other and then have it not be the right one. :p

I am going back today after work. It appears I have the whole shop brain storming on this. :D

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You probably should also try a 167.5 mm.

I definitely think 172.5 is too long for you - and 2.5 mm does make a difference, at least I can feel a difference when riding cranks that are 2.5 mm different in size.

Yesterday was productive... I think :rolleyes:

First stop the bike shop: Steve put me on the trainer. He had raised the seat, moved the cleats on my shoes so that I wasnt so wide and put a shim in my left shoe to roll my foot out. He watched me ride, took measurements, and checked angles. The seat was lowered and moved forward. The shim was switched to rolling the left foot in a tad because he said my left knee was coming out when I pedaled. It felt pretty good and he wanted me to try it like that for a week.

He said they didnt have any shorter cranks laying around but he thought there might be a bike in the shop that I could 'test ride'. I would have to go back another day to do that.

Then I went to acupuncture/ massage: Bob has always had to work on the muscles in my thighs but yesterday they were really tight. He congratulated me for having every muscle in my right thigh locked up. (He is a little sarcastic). The acupuncture helped the left leg but the right was still tight so he massaged it. And when Bob massages it feels like my legs are being squeezed in a vice. Bottom line be believes that the locked up muscles are responsible for the knee pain not the bike. He thinks I pushed way too hard way too fast.

This morning my thigh is sore but right knee is tons better.

In conclusion: I am going to do stretches for my quads and hamstrings and try the bike on some easy rides then go from there.

You might just need to give your knees a rest and just let them heal a bit.

Once you've irritated your knees, it's not going to take much to keep them irritated.

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Originally Posted by arielmoon

UPDATE: I called and talked to one of the other mechanics and he claims that 2.5mm is not going that much of a difference on the crank. :confused: He was not open to the idea to say the least.

He says the shop has shoe shims that we can try but he really wants me to come in and get re fitted. He is the head mechanic and is a very strong, experienced rider.

I am going to try to do that this week but I am also considering this guy I heard about that does a bike studio fit. Not cheap but really helped a rider I know of.

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Originally Posted by arielmoon

It says 172.5.

I am 5'7. 31" inseam. Plugged into that formula puts me at 169.88.

Very interesting info! Thanks for the link!

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I'm 5'7" with about 31.5" inseam. My bike came with 175mm crankarms for some unknown reason. Once they changed them to 172.5mm, it was heavenly. I really noticed those millimeters! That said, with your stats, I wouldn't go shorter than 170mm. Eventually, you're going to start losing noticeable torque.

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Originally Posted by Catriona

You might just need to give your knees a rest and just let them heal a bit.

Once you've irritated your knees, it's not going to take much to keep them irritated.

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I agree! I intend to just do some leisurely riding or some spins on the trainer for a while. I figure I can spend the winter doing this and then slowly build back up the power and speed in the spring if all goes well.

Thanks for your thoughts!

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Originally Posted by aicabsolut

I'm 5'7" with about 31.5" inseam. My bike came with 175mm crankarms for some unknown reason. Once they changed them to 172.5mm, it was heavenly. I really noticed those millimeters! That said, with your stats, I wouldn't go shorter than 170mm. Eventually, you're going to start losing noticeable torque.

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Ok thanks! If I decide to spend the money I will try the 170mm. I def dont want to loose too much torque!!

I appreciate your advice!