"Another" newbie, with problems...

[Hell-uv-a-job]

I have now regular running shoes since I use pedals with clip and straps. I want to get shoes and new pedals but not sure if they could help with my knee problem. About having a double or triple crank... you lost me . But I think you are asking me about the front crank right? Where the pedals connect? It is a triple, the back crank in eight if i am not mistaken.
I normally use the 2nd gear in the front crank and between a 3 and 4 for normal or leveled road in the back.

I can ride all day at this level in a straight road but of course not if i take a hill (even if is very small) or accelerate to say cross a road quickly. I have to be very gentle when I accelerate. When this happen I feel discomfort. Lets not say pain, I have not gotten to that point yet and I am fighting hard not to get there. I used to be a runner and developed IT band during a 50 mile ride in Germany (since I was a good runner I never thought I needed training for that long ride). I used a friends bike. Now I know that good friends don't let friends ride Huffy Bicycles. After that, i could not run anymore .

To answer your question: If I intentionally keep my legs close to the top tube I noticed that I do not feel any kind of discomfor at all while climbing (while seated) or during descends using high gear and I can even accelerate and have a very decent phase for a 23 mile ride without ever stopping (except for the Hiny stretching of course). It usually take me like 2 hrs for the 23 miles (I am a newbie!! What do you expect!! ) IT bands are a you-know-what to fix and are very painful if you push yourself. Even with ultrasound therapy and stretching it did not do much, I just learned to live with it by becoming a couch potato. But hopefully that is about to change.