Singlespeed – knee problems inevitable?

Hi there,

I read this all the time, that longterm your knees will feel the strain and that they won’t last as long when you ride singlespeed. But is there any real life experience from someone who has ridden singlespeed for maybe 10 or 20 years? If yes, what’s the reason behind it? Just the added torque that goes through the knee?

The reason I ask:
– I have started riding singlespeed a few month ago
– I don’t have any knee problems yet
– my knees are a little unstable (used to get easily derailed if standing up from squat, had accident/surgery)
– if anything I feel more stability due the stronger/different muscles I gained from SS
– I certainly don’t want to ruin my knees while riding my bike

So does the added torque/power that goes through the knees really wear down the knees quicker?
Does standing up uphill help?
Any other riding technique that would help?
Lower ratio probably makes sense?!

Thanks for your advise/shared experience!

hock

I started riding SS (about 18 months of light/normal geared riding) after knee surgery, if anything it’s helped (like you found, the strength helps stabilise it).

Only downside is it’s made me a lazy rider on the geared (full suss) bike as it can’t be accelerated in the same ‘big gear, stand and mash the pedals for 10 seconds’ kind of way, so I just let it pick up seed downhill and sit and spin uphill.

It’s mostly a myth from what I’ve read on here, only heard of one ss rider having knee problems from riding ss, the rest of us have been fine or improved.

Of course there are those who’ve never even ridden ss who have strong opinions on the matter…

Another vote for making you stronger here. Ridden SS on and off for years with no probs.

Pick your gearing to the country you are riding, that helps a lot, but can make you spin like an egg beater on the flat sections……

I don’t think riding Singlespeed inevitably means knee problems later on, there are too many other lifestyle and biomechanical factors involved.

I also started with SS after a fairly heavy knee injury in 2003.

The thing that will hurt your knees is chewing on too high a gear whilst seated – and you can do that just as easily with a geared bike. If you stand up to climb the steeper hills then all is well.

Myth… again as above makes you stronger. The only time I had any knee issues at all was a brief period where I didn’t have a SS…

Had an SS bike either for off road or regular commuting use for about 8 years now.

I [54yrs, 16stone] have ridden SS regularly for about 10 years and (touch wood 😯 ) my knees are fine. Also used to row competitively and ride road bikes when a 53 chain ring was the norm. Just use common sense really. Don’t sit and churn a big gear, stand up when neccessary. Momentum is your friend, so use it. Spin circles.
My tip (works for me) is to regularly stretch your hamstrings and glutes. This will keep your knees balanced. Possibly 8)

As long as you can ‘keep on top of the gear’ you’ll be fine. If you’re sat down smashing out a cadence of 50rpm for hours on end then it’ll probably start affecting your knees.

I found riding fixed caused me a fair bit of pain but SS has been fine – I actually prefer it!

5+ years here.

Don’t exactly do many epics these days, but no problems.

Aye should have caveated my post above to not sitting at low cadences.

I think its all down to your technique and riding a singlspeed will accentuate this.

I’ve been riding for over 10 year in the last 5-6 years my technique seems to have improved loads. My legs literally seem to have straightened out.

When I first started riding my feet tended to point out and my knees point in (made spd’s a real bu***r).

But my ankle movement seems to have increased and my knees straighten up.

So now when I stand up and stamp a high gear I can feel the force is really transmitted straight though my muscles down to the pedals. And as people above point out this actually helps straight and stabilise my knees even more.

But previously I seemed to put alot of the force through the ligaments in my knees not though the muscle so previous stamping out a high gear seemed to be bad for my knees.

Generally no probs here – never on the MTB but did have one knee-hurty stint on a CX – could have been down to a lot of things though (gear was moderate but a lot of hills).
The bottom line is that you’re going to notice if the SS is hurting your knees, so stop and change things. It’s not something that’s going to jump out and mug you in 10 years time.

Singlespeed off road, fixed on road. No issues other than a tight ITB from a geared bike and clipless! I can spin, and am happy to coast downhill.

Top tip: there is no shame walking up steep hills.

Tehr can be no question that SS puts more loading on your knees due to the lower cadence when climbing. How significant this is depends on a whole load of factors and any additional quad strength you develop will help stabilise the knee.

If it starts to hurt stop doing it seems the obvious answer

another one for the “its a myth” camp.

If you try and crank hard sitting down then, yes, it’s not going to do yourself much good. But since you’re far more likley to be out of the saddle when working hard you’re actually not over loading your knee.

I find I get more discomfort on the geared bike where a “sit down” mentality means I push too big a gear while seated.

Wow! Thanks for the quantity and quality of replies!

And it’s kind of nice that it supports my initial idea of it:
– singlespeeding feels good (for anything really but also for your knee)
– I can see what’s meant with the “straightening up”-effect
– low cadence seated feels not good for your knees at all (you can feel it “working” the knee “apart”)
– dismounting is not a shame (but might be a hint to try another ratio)
– stretching is always a good idea, especially for cyclists

The bottom line is that you’re going to notice if the SS is hurting your knees, so stop and change things. It’s not something that’s going to jump out and mug you in 10 years time.

Ahh, that’s what I wanted to hear really! 😀

Main reason I asked is that I might move to a hillier area. But I might just be fine with adjusting the ratio. Better do that now to get used to the spinning then.

Many thanks to all!

hock

I ride 52-54″ gear inches on the Malverns SS
There’s a few pitches I cant make, but I avoid them, or plan to push.

I’ve been riding SS for 5 years now, I’ve had no knee issues and can only say it’s made me stronger. You do after a while develop what I call SS legs, the hills you originally walked up become rideable standing up and as your legs become stronger you ride more and more of them sitting down. I find it’s important to develop the ability to sit down on climbs as the added traction of being seated actually makes me climb faster and I seem to use less energy.

I’ve done several 12 hour events SS without any knee issues at all and if I don’t sort a greared bike out soon will be doing a 24 hour solo SS!

The beard is the only inevitable consequence of riding SS.

I am gutted to be going back to gears actually as i only have the one bike (unlike Stoner up there….giz a bike)and am now finding it to much of a hindrance to ride some newer trails i have ventured to without gears….time to unpack the beard trimmer me thinks.

Crap it’s been 10 years of riding SS’s and still no knee problems. How time flys.

Riding fixed and being extra generous with the back pressure too soon may cause knee problems before the muscles can develop. IMO this is where the myth about SS’s comes from as roadies will have warned new winter fixed riders about it and then it will have morphed into SS mountain bikes many years later.

Sitting down climbing for extended periods apparently can displace fluid around the knee cap especially when overgeared. Something like that anyway.

Inevitable, no; but if it hurts, stop. I’ve been riding SS for a few months now and have developed sore knees. There’s a history and a recent smash/gouge to my left knee hasn’t helped much either. Still, it’s easing up now but I will be taking it a little easier for now (and having a few geared commutes when I need to get in quicker).

I’m thinking about a singlespeed

what would be a good ratio to start with?

bearing in mind i live in the high peak

I started off 32:18 but found it too spinny on the flat. Since then I’ve always ridden 32:16 on a 26″ bike and 32:18 on the 29er. I live in Wales so it’s not exactly flat.

I find my forearms ache way more than my legs / knees after a few hours on a SS…..

I started out on 32/17 and as said for where I live and ride (no car so rare I get to areas of greater hilliness) I did move to 34/17 when I needed a new chain ring. If I was thinking of riding in the peak I’d probably start with 32/20 and see how I got on.

I have to say I have had more issues riding my geared road bike than my SS and I do have a bit of a dicky knee. In fact that was what put me off trying a SS for about 3 years. As others have said I do feel that using the SS has strengthened the knee which supports it. I have to say though it hasn’t translated to “better” riding on gears.

As said you can always push, use momentum as much as possible and stand up on hills as your speed drops.

A bit of anecdotal evidence here for the + camp. 10 years or so of riding a SS in the Peak. I have a long history of knee trouble and have found that I get fewer knee probs when riding the SS lots. I’m not sure why, it doesn’t really make sense but that is how it is.

After a few years of winter single speeding I can report no knee problems here. My shoulders, back and hamstrings are wrecked though… 😳

Knee problems are down to fit issues witht he bike not SS! I have been riding SS for years and it so much more fun than gears.

Another vote for making you stronger here. Ridden SS on and off for years with no probs.

Ditto that.

I’ve had ongoing knee problems caused by long distance running, returning to the SS bike, only time I’ve noticed any slight twinges of pain, is when I try to climb a steep hill without standing.

Does standing up uphill help?

Yes, it helps with keeping momentum on uppy/downy singletrack too. The more you SS, the more you can stand up for a long time without tiring.

SS will not damage your kness any more than a geared (infact both typed actually keep the joint in good shape) so long as technique good and you don’t have any issues already.

BUT, there is a however. Some knee problems such as patella femoral pain (knee cap) could be made worse due to not being able to maintain high cadience. Also if your technique, muscle function was not very good then that weekness could cause a problem sooner on SS than geared due to the increase force.

Climping on SS is not as hard on knees as sume would belive (not so try for muscles and lungs!) as you are almost always standing so you don’t get as much knee flexion as if you were sat.

hope that helps.

and now the spell checked version

1. SS will not damage your knees any more than a geared (in fact both typed actually keep the joint in good shape) so long as technique good and you don’t have any issues already.
BUT, there is a however. Some knee problems such as patella femoral pain (knee cap) could be made worse due to not being able to maintain high cadence. Also if your technique, muscle function was not very good then that weakness could cause a problem sooner on SS than geared due to the increase force.
Climbing on SS is not as hard on knees as some would believe (not so try for muscles and lungs!) as you are almost always standing so you don’t get as much knee flexion as if you were sat.
hope that helps.