by Torrey Nelson for www.radbike.net
Although most people who try recumbent bikes find that the seating and hand positions are much more comfortable than a typical upright bike, some new riders do complain of knee pain. There are three things you can do to reduce or eliminate knee pain when using recumbent bicycles.
1) Pedal with a higher cadence by completing more rotations per minute (rpm). This involves shifting to a lower gear and pedaling faster. You want to be spinning, not stomping. If you are putting less pressure on the pedals, then you should also be putting less pressure on your knees. This is true for any bike, not just recumbents.
2) On an upright bicycle, your feet just dangle down from the seat and land on the pedals. However, on a recumbent, your feet
have to reach the pedals and gravity tries to pull them off. This fight against gravity causes you to expend energy and effort to keep you feet on the pedals. The solution is to upgrade to clipless pedals
They are called clipless pedals because they don't use the old toe clips, but they do clip in. Toe clips may work as well, but I don't think they would help as much as true clipless pedals. There is a bit of a learning curve with clipless pedals, but after a few rides you should be very happy.
As for which type to buy, there are many types and I've only used one type so far. I use Shimano SPD
One note on Shimano SPD: Initially, I had the springs real tight. This made it hard to release and resulted in a couple of falls. I loosened the set screws and they have worked great ever since.
3) Recumbent bikes utilize muscles differently than upright bikes. It takes time for your body to adjust when you first move from an upright to a recumbent. You don't want to do 100 miles on your first ride. Start small and build up from there. As you train your legs to work the recumbent way, knee stress should decrease.
I hope these ideas work for you. They have been working for me.
© Copyright 2005, 2006 by Torrey Nelson Productions