Sore knees.

[3speednut]

I have recently fitted a nexus 8 speed hub gear to a bike that had previously used derailleur gears , using it only for a flattish commute ,but I have had slightly sore knees since swapping it ,with a suspicion that the hub gear may be to blame , has any one else had a similar experience ? I am 52 , the bike is working correctly , no binding brakes ,or anything else wrong mechanically and the bike is set up correctly ,can anyone help ? .

[Heltor Chasca]

I had exactly the same gears on a previous bike. I loved the set up. If you haven't changed the seat height, angle, rake etc, perhaps you are giving in to the temptation of riding in too high a gear which will hurt. Get back to spinning those pins of yours [emoji6]

[531colin]

If you do a search, there is a fair bit about knees on here.
"Sore knees" is not very helpful, can you be more specific?

[3speednut]

Thanks for the reply 531colin , it is just a dull ache ,just like pushing too big a gear ,witch the extra friction from the hub feels like , possibly the hub will run its self in a bit and get easier or my knees will get used it, or a bit of both .

[531colin]

.............., it is just a dull ache .............,.

Front/back/medial/lateral/under the knee cap?
during/after cycling/all the time on or off the bike?

[RogerThat]

I had a bit of persistent pain under my right patella (knee cap) last summer. It was basically a combination of high gears and not getting on with the Shimano clip in system. I switched to flats and a low geared single (freewheel) speed over the winter and I'm glad to say it's completely gone. I think the lateral movement I was able to get on the flats combined with the strength training of the single speed really took the pressure off, and bulked up the musculature round about the knee joint. Tested to destruction last weekend on 90 miler up some pretty good climbs and not a murmur!

[531colin]

I had a bit of persistent pain under my right patella (knee cap) last summer. It was basically a combination of high gears and not getting on with the Shimano clip in system. I switched to flats and a low geared single (freewheel) speed over the winter and I'm glad to say it's completely gone. I think the lateral movement I was able to get on the flats combined with the strength training of the single speed really took the pressure off, and bulked up the musculature round about the knee joint. Tested to destruction last weekend on 90 miler up some pretty good climbs and not a murmur!

Cycling (or any exercise where the knee doesn't fully straighten) doesn't develop Vastus Medialis, which only "works" as the knee is almost fully straight. Then the other parts of the Quadriceps group pull the patella laterally, and pain under the dorso-lateral** aspect of the patella results. This is about the most common cycling-related "overuse" knee injury. Google "Clarke's sign, or search the forum for "vastus Medialis"

**it might be antero-lateral aspect of the patella in human terminology, I'm more used to the veterinary terminology, and its late....

[RogerThat]

AFAIK the most common knee injury for a cyclist is tendonitis, where there long term repetitive stress on the area or foreign matter in the groove where the tendon runs over the patella. Normally it's caused by repetitive high stress on the area or when bone or tissue which gets into the very high stress area and irritates it causing a 'toothache' like drill pain which can last upto six months. Rest and avoiding cycling is currently the best medical advice.

Patellar Tendonitis:

[531colin]

All I can say is that our experiences are different.
Recently there was somebody writing here about pain in the patellar tendon....it was the first time i had heard of it, and I don't think he got any replies....I think it was on a bike fit thread....
...ah! its here, I took a stab at an answer...http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=74985&p=761304&hilit=patellar+tendon#p761304