Giving up!
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- Posts: 299
- Joined: 3 Aug 2008, 4:38pm
Giving up!
Due to a persistant knee injury I am giving up cycling recumbent bikes. It is being aggravated by the launch and I've had too many failures at junctions etc to continue. Three months ago I stopped using them and my knee has slowly improved. Funnily enough I can use a conventional bike as long as I am careful. Ive put the first of them (My Nazca Fuego) in the for sale section. I'll submit the Gaucho next. P.m. me if interested. I used my bikes to tour and both are equipped to carry a load.
The Gaucho is a very versatile platform. It can take both 28 and 26 wheels. Install light wheels and a carbon fork and it becomes a great long distance audax bike. (Basically a Gaucho 28 HR with discs)
The Gaucho is a very versatile platform. It can take both 28 and 26 wheels. Install light wheels and a carbon fork and it becomes a great long distance audax bike. (Basically a Gaucho 28 HR with discs)
Re: Giving up!
Sorry to hear about your knee problem. Is it still a problem on a recumbent trike? You should be able to use the other leg for getting going. Another possibility might be a LWB.
Re: Giving up!
Wish you well in your next adventure, try a e assist trike it may help you to keep on cycling
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- Posts: 299
- Joined: 3 Aug 2008, 4:38pm
Re: Giving up!
Yes Upwrong, you are right about a trike. Once I've sold my current stuff I may look at a trike. Had one before and liked it.
Re: Giving up!
I also transitioned from a recumbent bike (Bacchetta Giro) to a trike (ICE Sprint). However that was not due to knee pain but a rather nasty accident going too fast round a corner when the front wheel let go. No bones broken, fortunately, just a large area of skin on my thigh. I was very lucky there was no traffic coming the other way. It did cause a significant loss of confidence though.
That said I’ve now done more on the trike (>11000 km) than the Bacchetta (6000 km) and really enjoy it. I feel safer on the trike, even in traffic. The weirdness factor means I get more consideration from drivers with very few close passes than when riding my upright bike.
That said I’ve now done more on the trike (>11000 km) than the Bacchetta (6000 km) and really enjoy it. I feel safer on the trike, even in traffic. The weirdness factor means I get more consideration from drivers with very few close passes than when riding my upright bike.
Re: Giving up!
I have had a similar experience when my Fuego’s front wheel washed out at speed on a corner. Lost quite a bit of skin and was left with a large, painful lump on my glutes that persisted for a couple of months before it vanished. It took me quite a while to get my confidence back to riding it and over the last year or so it has been relatively neglected. On the flip side my VTX is as fast as the Fuego on the flat, I can climb any hill (I avoid several hilly roads on my Fuego) and I don’t seize up with anxiety on gravelly bends. Which means that it is faster overall...
Re: Giving up!
Sorry to hear of your issues. I’d be tempted to hang on to the Fuego just because it’s such a brilliant all round bike, and may be more sought after in the future now that they are no longer made. If it had been a large size I might have been tempted to get another one ‘Just in case’.
Good luck with the sales and your future cycling platform whatever it may be. If it’s pedal powered and it brings out a smile it’s all good
Good luck with the sales and your future cycling platform whatever it may be. If it’s pedal powered and it brings out a smile it’s all good
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- Posts: 299
- Joined: 3 Aug 2008, 4:38pm
Re: Giving up!
Thanks everyone. Nobrakes, giving up the Fuego is the hardest bit. I'm very reluctant to sell.
- Tigerbiten
- Posts: 2503
- Joined: 29 Jun 2009, 6:49am
Re: Giving up!
I'm wondering if wearing long trousers on the bent is aggravating your knee damage.
I does on mine.
On an upright all the forces pull the fabric down the leg, so very little force pulls the kneecap back against the rest of the joint.
On a bent, where the knee is the highest point, the fabric is both pulled up the thigh and down the shin.
This result in more force pulling the kneecap down against the rest of he joint.
More force = more wear = more pain.
This is the reason I'll cycle in shorts 90% of the time, I can cycle a lot further with less pain.
If I do wear lycra longs then I'll pull the bottoms up to make almost plus fours.
I can pull the ankle part up so it's trapped by the swell of my calf just below my knee.
This makes a baggy loop just below my knee.
If I pull them up a little after I've got on then they're not as tight over the knee.
Less tight = less force = less pain.
Wearing the like this is more painful than shorts but less painful than wearing them normally.
Just an idea which works for me.
Luck .......
I does on mine.
On an upright all the forces pull the fabric down the leg, so very little force pulls the kneecap back against the rest of the joint.
On a bent, where the knee is the highest point, the fabric is both pulled up the thigh and down the shin.
This result in more force pulling the kneecap down against the rest of he joint.
More force = more wear = more pain.
This is the reason I'll cycle in shorts 90% of the time, I can cycle a lot further with less pain.
If I do wear lycra longs then I'll pull the bottoms up to make almost plus fours.
I can pull the ankle part up so it's trapped by the swell of my calf just below my knee.
This makes a baggy loop just below my knee.
If I pull them up a little after I've got on then they're not as tight over the knee.
Less tight = less force = less pain.
Wearing the like this is more painful than shorts but less painful than wearing them normally.
Just an idea which works for me.
Luck .......
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- Posts: 299
- Joined: 3 Aug 2008, 4:38pm
Re: Giving up!
What seemed to give me problems was the acute knee angle used to launch the bike. I even went down to 165mm cranks to try and reduce this angle. This was a particular problem when setting off uphill or crossing busy junctions. On a DF my leg is straighter at launch and it seems to be less aggravating.
As for clothing I never wear trousers but running 'longs' or three quarter length (over the knee) lycra.
As for clothing I never wear trousers but running 'longs' or three quarter length (over the knee) lycra.
Re: Giving up!
swscotland bentrider wrote:What seemed to give me problems was the acute knee angle used to launch the bike. I even went down to 165mm cranks to try and reduce this angle. This was a particular problem when setting off uphill or crossing busy junctions. On a DF my leg is straighter at launch and it seems to be less aggravating.
As for clothing I never wear trousers but running 'longs' or three quarter length (over the knee) lycra.
I run 150mm cranks on SWBs. It does make a difference ☺️
Re: Giving up!
Jdsk wrote:What's "DF", please?
Thanks
Jonathan
Diamond frame.
- simonineaston
- Posts: 8078
- Joined: 9 May 2007, 1:06pm
- Location: ...at a cricket ground
Re: Giving up!
diamond frame - aka "the amusing, if cheap, anachronism foisted upon the unsupecting cycling community by the unimaginative UCI & their vested interest cronies"...
Imagine cars, stuck at 1904.
Imagine cars, stuck at 1904.
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)