Form & Fitness Q & A: Recumbent biking (KNEES)

Just changing the syntax of the Ride Name that (tiny) little bit, would probably bring in more male riders than they could ever possibly handle.

Meanwhile Gene, whatever works for ya, just works I guess! If/when you ever find your legs tiring earlier in a multi-hour ride, then consider trying out a set of Crank Shortners just to see what they're like sometime.

 

Are you still on your trike Gene? If so, explain the wobbles? If you're referring to pedal steer, usually it's induced by either mashing too hard on the pedals (vs. spinning), or having your pedals too far from your hips causing one to (typically) tilt their hips in order to 'reach' the pedals effectively.

You can induce pedal steer on most tadpole trikes when you reach the upper end of the gear range by pedalling really fast (high rpms). The standard 3 X 8 or 3 X 9 gearing on a trike is quite low compared to what is found on a road bike. That's why the more expensive trikes with 20 inch drive wheels resort to internal geared rear hubs and specialized front drives (e.g., Schlumpf drives). They add a lot to the cost of the trike but sure do make a difference in the usefulness. source pedal steer causes​

As for news shoes, watch how 'tight' you strap them onto your feet. Personally, I always position my cleats as far back (towards the heel) as the two slots will allow. That's always worked for me, but I'm not sure why one might want/need to position cleats more towards the front of the shoe.

If Mike sees this post, he's been around long enough he may know why.

 

Well said, and per the first post in this thread...

1) If the pain is front centre around the knee cap, increase knee extension by increasing the saddle-pedal distance

2) If the pain is to the front but off to one side or the other of the knee cap, consider increasing extension but also pay attention to whether the angle of your foot on the pedal matches the natural angle of your foot, or if you are twisting your knee by the positioning of the foot on the pedal.

3) If the pain is in the hamstring tendons or behind the knee, decrease knee extension by decreasing the saddle-pedal distance.

Adjust about 5 mm at a time. If the suggested adjustment makes things better but not good, or doesn't change things, try adjusting more. If the suggested adjustment makes things worse, go the other way. When you get it right, you'll know almost right away. If you have no pain between rides, your knees are in good enough shape that you should have no pain riding appropriate distances and cadences on a well adjusted bike.

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After reading what you said Mike, now #2 makes better sense above.(i.e. "angle of your foot on the pedal", which kneesavers can help to straighten out, especially if you have wider hips)

 

Rotational Alignment Device (RAD)

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Interesting device, I don't think I've ever seen one before.
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Overview of the RAD ™ System




See how the RAD™ System aligns clipless bike pedals
to eliminate stress on the knee, hip and ankle.
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Castor Oil (fix) for your Knees??

The following paragraphs are quoted from Average Joe's Cycling Blog, which is a great resource for any cyclist!

...I have also tried every kind of recommended cure for cycling knee pain. I have gone through more expensive tubes of Arnica cream than I care to remember. Therapists have manipulated my knees, causing extreme pain as they tried to remove the accumulated toxins that were, apparently, causing my cycling knee pain. Other therapists have injected Arnica directly into my knees (NOT as much fun as it sounds), and still others have stuck needles into random parts of my body in an attempt to craftily defeat the cycling knee pain via the ancient wisdom of acupuncture.

Thanks to all these therapies, I have blown through enormous quantities of extended benefits, as well as huge amounts of my own hard-earned money.
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And as a result of all these remedies and therapies … absolutely nothing happened.
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The cycling knee pain remained, and I continued to be terrified that as age advanced on me, my knees would betray me completely and cycling would be pushed away into a sad, dark corner of might-have-been’s and used-to-be’s.

Then one day my naturopath made a suggestion that I thought was completely insane – as well as probably very messy. So of course, even though I was paying about $100 an hour to benefit from her wisdom, I completely ignored her. I continued in the ways of my own ancient wisdom, wisely throwing away money on therapies and remedies that patently didn’t work.

After about another year of this blatant (and expensive) stupidity, I finally caved and decided to try the insane and very messy suggestion. One evening, scarcely able to walk, but about to go off and cycle hundreds of miles in Montréal, I was desperate enough to actually try her suggested cure for my cycling knee pain.

This is what I did: I bought a bottle of castor oil for $3.95 (including tax). I pulled my moth-eaten $20 heating pad out of the dusty recesses of the bathroom cabinet (the thing that Maggie refers to as the “old-lady pad”). Then I smeared castor oil on my knee, put a kitchen tea towel on top of that, covered that with a plastic shopping bag, and topped it all off with the heating bag. Very attractive. (Fortunately, I have a leather couch, so no great harm was done to innocent furniture.)

I left it on my right knee for 15 minutes, and then switched to my left knee. It was oddly soothing, considering that I have always been taught that inflammation needs cold, not heat. Then I put the whole messy heap away, shaking my head at my own desperation.

The next morning I woke up, and the cycling knee pain was gone! Yes, really. I got on my bike that day and cycled like I was 12 again.
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source My Miraculous, Cheap Cure for Cycling Knee Pain