# Knee pain whilst on Catbike



## ianrauk (1 Jan 2012)

OK, have had my Catbike for a while now.
What I have noticed is that the more I ride the more confident I become. With the result that I am sitting lower down in the seat rather then a more upright position. ie I'm sliding myself closer to the boom.

I went out for a long ride yesterday (100miles), about 3/4'S the way through the ride I started to get a pain in the right knee. More specifically the right hand side of the knee.

Now I know it's not the cleats (MTB SPD) that are the problems as I have done many rides with them (some long) with no pain. But thinking that the lower riding position may be the problem as I think my leg is not extending enough through the cranks.

Has anyone else suffered from this problem? Would extending the boom out rectify it?

Thanks for any help or input.


----------



## markg0vbr (1 Jan 2012)

a lot of people get knee pain on recumbents, you should be spinning, your knees will thank you.
if the boom is the correct length* also you may find putting the cleat as near to your instep as possible helps,


*heel on peddle at farthest part of stroke with a tiny bit of bend in knee, is a good start point, move the boom in or out 1cm at a time until you feel comfortable.


----------



## Riding in Circles (1 Jan 2012)

Don't discount the SPD's as nI said when you first had the bike, you can exert a lot of pressure through the stroke so the centering of the SPD can cause an issue, you may need pedals with free float. However you need to set the boom correctly as well.


----------



## ianrauk (1 Jan 2012)

markg0vbr said:


> a lot of people get knee pain on recumbents, you should be spinning, your knees will thank you.
> if the boom is the correct length* also you may find putting the cleat as near to your instep as possible helps,
> 
> 
> *heel on peddle at farthest part of stroke with a tiny bit of bend in knee, is a good start point, move the boom in or out 1cm at a time until you feel comfortable.


 

Cheers
I'm a natural spinner anyway and my cleats are very close to my instep.


----------



## ianrauk (1 Jan 2012)

Catrike UK said:


> Don't discount the SPD's as nI said when you first had the bike, you can exert a lot of pressure through the stroke so the centering of the SPD can cause an issue, you may need pedals with free float. However you need to set the boom correctly as well.


 

Ok, am thinking of changing to Time Atacs just for the bent.


----------



## Riding in Circles (1 Jan 2012)

That is what I use, or egg beaters.


----------



## swscotland bentrider (1 Jan 2012)

If you are sliding down the seat you have effectively altered your leg length and may need to alter boom length. The other factor to investigate is the way your knees articulate. Do you keep them tucked in or splayed? Unlike an upright your knees may tend to splay when tired and I find if I get a bit of an ache in my right knee I can usually alleviate it by keeping my knees tucked in i.e. describing an even circle without wobbling from side to side.


----------



## ianrauk (1 Jan 2012)

Cheers Lee. I do remember you saying that I should change over to Time Atacs and Mr Arallsop said the same thing.

So have just ordered these


----------



## byegad (2 Jan 2012)

I get knee pain if the boom is short and hip pain if it's too long. Now I know this setting a new trike up is easy.


----------



## windmiller (2 Jan 2012)

Not exactly a spinner myself although I do concur with that advice. Knee pain can still occur even with the ideal boom length, float/cleat adjustment. I find one sided peddles such as Shimano PD A530 a solution when the knee pain happens well into a ride. My foot position is then free to naturally float on the peddle stroke where the pain is least likely to be applied. Touch wood I rarely suffer knee pain, I find going bonkers and hammering the peddles before the legs have warmed up is usually the culprit.


----------



## Tigerbiten (2 Jan 2012)

One reason I like the hardshell seat on my ICE trike is I slide down a lot less in it.
The slight nose on the front of it means you sit in the seat, unlike the mesh seat where you sit on in.


----------



## ianrauk (2 Jan 2012)

Tigerbiten said:


> One reason I like the hardshell seat on my ICE trike is I slide down a lot less in it.
> The slight nose on the front of it means you sit in the seat, unlike the mesh seat where you sit on in.


 

I actually do like the ability to move myself up and down. For cruising, get down low. For slower and traffic, sit up a bit higher.


----------



## ianrauk (3 Jan 2012)

Well with new pedals and cleats. I suppose one had better order a new pair of shoes also...


----------



## Riding in Circles (3 Jan 2012)

I found I got numb toe is Specialized shoes.


----------



## ianrauk (3 Jan 2012)

Catrike UK said:


> I found I got numb toe is Specialized shoes.


 

Yet I get numb feet with Shimano's as they are too tight width wise.
Spesh shoes fits like the proverbial glove...


----------



## Riding in Circles (3 Jan 2012)

I ended up with Time shoes.


----------



## ianrauk (7 Jan 2012)

Right, I extended the boom by an inch this morning.
Did a quick round the block blast and it feels ok and not too stretched. In fact I could probably extend another inch.
Now I am completely ok with the balance and ride of the bike I do now find myself 'bum further forward' riding.

Am doing a 50+ miler tomorrow so will be a good test.

Time Atac pedals have turned up, new shoes haven't.


----------



## ianrauk (9 Jan 2012)

Well I did a fairly brisk and fair hilly 55 miler yesterday and can report of no knee pain.
Looks like extending the boom did the trick.

Have still yet to replace the spd pedals and shoes with Time Atacs but will be doing that this week. Got another 100+ miler coming up in a couple of weeks so will be a good test to see if it's sorted.


----------



## Riding in Circles (9 Jan 2012)

Most women will tell you an extra inch works better..


----------



## riggsbie (10 Jan 2012)

Good result !!


----------



## arallsopp (11 Jan 2012)

Sorry Ian, only just stumbled across this thread. Well, I think I said face to face anything I would have mentioned here. 

Andy


----------

