New member here!

[NickD]

Hi everyone!

Just joined this site after buying my first bike in absolutely years!

Being on a bike after such as long time was a bit of a novelty and quickly realised I am not as fit as I thought, but on the other hand I have managed to ride nearly 8 miles on Day 1 and perhaps 7 on Day 2! Had to stop a couple of times for a rest especially as there is a long hill on the way back (the sort of hill where you have to change down a gear in the car) but I made it and am pleased with what I have done, in spite of being completely knackered when I got home!

I am however struggling with quite bad knee pain when pedalling up even the gentlest of gradients and having selected the lowest gears. That may be an age thing and I had problems with my knees when doing some work in my loft recently. If I could overcome it I would be able to cycle for much greater distances and in spite of me thinking I would be out of breath, that is not too much of a problem as it happens. It is purely the knee pain that is a real problem. The saddle is none too comfortable and I may get round to changing it but it is not too much of an issue.

Advice greatly welcome for a new member!

 

[cyberknight]

Welcome to CC !
Knee pain could be down to bike set up and pushing to big a gear , many new riders tend to have the saddle to low and push the gears in the hardest they can at a slow leg speed .

 

[mjr]

Those distances are pretty good for the first days back!

Most people say to spin the pedals to save your knees, rather than push the toughest gear you can all the time, but people differ!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Hi and NickD

Realistically, if you are having knee problems the best thing would be to have a word with your GP. Having said that, if the bike isn't set up right it will cause a sensation of burning muscles so it wouldn't hurt to check on that.

It's really common for new riders to set the saddle too low and an easy way to get a good starting point is to set the saddle so that with your heel on the pedal your leg is almost but not quite straight at the bottom of the pedal stroke. The leg should then have just about the right amount of bend in it when pedalling normally.

All the best and let us know how you get on.

 

[Wetdog]

Hi Phil, fairly new myself so haven't got anything to tell. Good distances dude, I'm still not up to that kind of distance yet but I'm trying.

Mick

 

[eggman]

Welcome. What bike have you got?

 

[Stevec047]

Welcome and well done on the milage and hills.

Knee pain can be down to a couple of things as most have said above bike fitment is probably the main one with the saddle being too low. Also using to higher gear to get up hills can put excess strain on the knees.

One thing I found for the first couple of months was my knees even with the bike set up correctly still ached. I injured them many years ago in a rugby incident so knew it was that causing the issues. Over time and with plenty more milage I found my muscle tone building and in turn the knee pain went away.

Jumping on a bike for the first time for many years will mean the body aching whilst it gets used to the exercise and new positions don't be surprised for the first few months if you end up with sore legs back and shoulders it will change and in time your body will adapt and become stronger.

 

[raleighnut]

 

[eggman]

Stevec047. 'Fat guy in the process of sorting himself out on a second hand Carrera Virtuoso and cycling on a budget'.

Made me chuckle. Well done, my friend.

 

[gavgav]

Hi everyone!

Just joined this site after buying my first bike in absolutely years!

Being on a bike after such as long time was a bit of a novelty and quickly realised I am not as fit as I thought, but on the other hand I have managed to ride nearly 8 miles on Day 1 and perhaps 7 on Day 2! Had to stop a couple of times for a rest especially as there is a long hill on the way back (the sort of hill where you have to change down a gear in the car) but I made it and am pleased with what I have done, in spite of being completely knackered when I got home!

I am however struggling with quite bad knee pain when pedalling up even the gentlest of gradients and having selected the lowest gears. That may be an age thing and I had problems with my knees when doing some work in my loft recently. If I could overcome it I would be able to cycle for much greater distances and in spite of me thinking I would be out of breath, that is not too much of a problem as it happens. It is purely the knee pain that is a real problem. The saddle is none too comfortable and I may get round to changing it but it is not too much of an issue.

Advice greatly welcome for a new member!

I had problems with knee pain when trying a new saddle, put the old saddle back on and no pain at all. Perhaps experiment with a different saddle position to see if that helps.

Did you have a bike fit as part of the purchase?

 

[NickD]

Hi everyone

Well thanks to all you have given me the advice. Strangely enough I spoke to a friend who said that the saddle height may not be correct. I have it set quite low and my knees do have to come up quite high so I think there is something in that.

I am now going to do shorter distances and easier rides for the moment to build up some practice. The last couple of days were quite gruelling even for the relatively short distance!

My bike is a Forme Peak Trail 2 for those who have asked. I chose a hybrid on advice from a local bike shop as I wanted to do both on road and off road (but not mountain bike stuff). There are some good country rides around my area and I will be concentrating on those. Not too keen on main roads particularly as I got cut up on a corner by the No 19 bus coming into my town, which happened almost as soon as I started riding!

 

[AnneW]