Call me Bob wrote:
> Is it really going to make that much of a difference? Are our knees
> really put at risk by a habit of pushing a slightly higher gear?
I haven't worked out the numbers or anything, but my personal
observations are that I can go longer if I spin rather than mash, and I
stopped having terrible knee troubles[1] walking down big hills (as a
hillwalker, not a cyclist) /after/ I took to spinning lower gears with
clipless pedals.
Aside from the problems I had walking down the hills, being able to go
further on the bike without just finding my legs had no ooomph left in
them is reason enough for me to prefer higher cadences than I used to
use. Not that I'm in the continual super-high revs department by any
stretch of the imagination, but I certainly spin lower gears than I used
to and can run at much higher values for short, sharp climbs too.
> Well, there you go, I've said it out loud now for all to hear. That's
> what goes through my mind everytime I read the "it'll bugger your
> knees" line.
I won't say it will definitely bugger your knees, but something like it
didn't seem to do mine any good. Sample base of 1, my knees (and their
immediate physiological surroundings) probably aren't exactly the same
as yours, but in my case mashing does cause me problems while I can
winch myself up most things with no trouble as long as I can spin the
pedals at a reasonable cadence. And off the bike my knees work better
too if I've been spinning, and worse from mashing.
Of course, placing the dividing line between "slightly higher gear" and
"slightly higher gear than that which will cause a problem" is quite
hard to pin down with hard numbers, and I suspect that there is a grey
area between "no problems" and "clear problems" in any case...
Pete.
[1] if I was going up a Munro on foot or touring skis I'd wear a pair of
neoprene knee supports and would usually have to stop for rests on
descent to prevent discomfort growing to pain. Don't have to do any of
that any more.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net
[email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/