1st time on singlespeed and now I have sore knees

Built up a singlespeed and rode it for the first time yesterday. Was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it, but I woke up today with sore knees which I never usually get riding a bike

Is this to be expected and is it something I’ll get used to, or is there something more sinister afoot?

to be expected if the ratio is much more than you’re used to going uphill with! will get used to it unless your knees are particularly aged/puny

36/18 which is 2:1

Wasn’t a lot of particular steep hills, but there was a few times where I had to stand up and really crank it. Spent quite a bit spinning out of the flat stuff

well that’s what ss is like i think! i just took a dive into it myself but i ride (intake of breath) fixed (on roads!) normally so the hard uphill isn’t unfamiliar – i’m 2:1 too, there’s a couple of ups i couldn’t do which i could have with gears, and getting to the hills on roads is slower than it would be, but actually on trails and general up/down it’s about right most of the time, though as a beginner i’m probably going a little slower naturally than i might later on – most of the time when going down, if i feel i need to pedal, the ratio is about right.

I run 32:16 and never had a problem. I do tend to spin out a lot but hills are achievable without having to grind the cranks.

Fit gears and stop being a Luddite?

You could try a slightly lower gear – I run 32:17 on one of my SS bikes and 32:18 on the other – even one tooth makes a noticeable difference on the ups.

Describe sore?

Sore as in
1. So painfull amputation is required
2. Done something bad to them and they are now knackered.
3. I had to put some effort into it and now they letting me know about it.
4. I want some sympathy
5. Have a nice cup of tea.

3.

I mention it as I reckon I put less effort in than a normal ride with gears

I have been single speeding for years both on and off road. The only time I get sore knees is when I spin too fast on the flat or downhill, never when grinding up steep hills. I think it’s a function of the very fast ‘bounce’ in the knee joints when spinning too fast.

Stick with the single speeding but try not to ride too fast on the flat or downhill for the gearing you have and see if that makes a difference to your knee ache after the ride. You might find you will actually benefit from using a bigger rather than smaller gear.

You should find you need to climb out of the saddle on steeper climbs which I actually prefer for fitness training anyway.

stand up more.

(for me at least) big gears + hills + sitting down = hurty knees.

The only time I get sore knees is when I spin too fast on the flat or downhill, never when grinding up steep hills

ah ha! Maybe that’s contributing, as I found myself furiously spinning on the flats. Will ease off that next time out

I have been single speeding for years both on and off road. The only time I get sore knees is when I spin too fast on the flat or downhill, never when grinding up steep hills. I think it’s a function of the very fast ‘bounce’ in the knee joints when spinning too fast.

Thats an interesting theory, I had problems until I stopped trying to sit down for every climb, but then found that too much stood up wrenching up hills seemed to cause pain too. Never suspected the sewing machine legs on the flats might have caused the problem.

Too late now anyway, I just accepted i had weak knees and got gears again 😳

Only get hurty thighs, not knees.. but that’s the same with gears too. Maybe it’s saddle height?

Saddle height?

Riding out of the saddle appears not to wreck knees – it’s grinding gears in the saddle.

Never had nor heard of knee issues from spinning.

I’ve never suffered with knee problems on SS but then again I don’t pedal downhill and rarely go fast enough to spin out on the flat. Work damn hard going up hill though. Backs up the theory that it’s the fast spining on the flat causing your problems

Your beard is too short and your going too fast, young Padawan

Singlespeeds tend to put lots of strain on the legs, which will show any weaknesses in the riders position a lot more than a gearie does. Check you seat height and saddle position and if you’re using spd’s check that the cleat alignment is spot on. I found that I was getting knee pain when I first started singlespeeding and a slight tweak of cleat position cured it.

They only other thing I can think of is that I’m running 170 cranks when I normally use 175

I am going to state the obvious since you chose option 3 and say you probably pushed harder than you were sued to.

I have been riding a singlespeed for 10+ years now and only have had that kind of issue once – riding London to Bournemouth on the road and my knees were in agony the following day. ie pushing it too hard!

Do you use SPDs? I find if I am out of the saddle climbing I sometimes pull up much more than I do when riding geared! And this can cause some knee pain.

Never had nor heard of knee issues from spinning.

I’m not just talking about pedalling fast, I mean the sort of spinning where one gets a bit carried away and you almost get a whiplash sort of effect in the knee joint at the bottom of the pedal stroke as the lower leg pushes the thigh back up faster than the leg can handle.

I’m fully prepared to accept that everyone is different both in riding styles and physiology so different pedalling techniques may suit one person over another. I also agree with those who warn against staying seated and pushing large gears up hills whether single speeding or not. This may also affect certain people.

It doesn’t seem to affect me riding geared or single speed but I do that very rarely, preferring to climb out of the saddle when single speeding or selecting a bigger cog when riding gears.

I might agree with the spinning bit. Both my knees are buggered and 1 has a not particularly good op in it as well. I get far less pain pushing a SS. I use a 42/18 on the SS CX and 32 /16 on the full rigid mtb. The Cx bike is more comfy. Must admit not to ride very steep hills but I don’t get off here in the FoD except for the odd steep, tight turn. Spinning like buggery on a boingy 27 speeder or even my road bike shags the knees. It always has. Big slow gears cause no problems.
I would also agree that things like cleat set up need checking. With gears you compensate for any inefficiencies buy changing down. You can’t with a SS.

I find my knees hurt less on the ss. It does take time to get used to it though.

You should apply rule 5.