Knee problem
 

Good Morning, On Feb 8th I shattered my femur right above my right knee replacement from 2 years ago (this is my sixth knee surgery)and had to have a rod put into the femur and 3 screws also put in. I'm having a hard time getting my strength and stability back in the knee and also getting the knees to bend enuf to ride my bike, We used to ride 15-20 miles a day. If I cannot get the knee to bend enuf to ride my current bike is there anything out there that I could ride. I'm not giving up on it I do therapy every day 2 or 3 times a day. Thanks, Mike Hall

You might consider an electric bicycle where you can vary the power assist based on the progress of your recovery. Many electric bikes are class 1 meaning you must pedal for the power assist but you can get others that have a throttle that will allow the motor to assist without pedaling. Perhaps an e-bike with a throttle would provide a way for you to get in rides while you heal.

Mike, Im not a Dr but i just had a LTKR in march so I know what you mean about fatigue. Its going to take time since your surgery was so intense. Keep up with the PT and ask them what you can do to increase your reflex so that you can bike again. Got several friends that bike and dont have full range, it just takes time.

Short crank arms will help with limited range of motion. Typical road cranks are only available down to about 165mm, which may not be short enough to make a significant difference. TA offers arms down to 150mm, and BMX cranks can go even shorter, 110mm, but may need some modification to take multiple chainrings if you require that.

Can you get a referral to a sports medicine physical therapist? That would help in determining how to modify your bike to meet your needs and also improve your stability and range of motion.

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A Buddy of mine had simular problems with range of motion, did this as a fix, as the relex came back he returned to full stroke.

Some's been mentioned already. Saddle at proper height, shorter cranks will help minimize the range of motion your knee must do. Using low ratio gears and spinning a higher cadence will instead of mashing at a low cadence will keep you the same speed with less strain on your joints and bones. A e-bike will also let you keep from having to put a lot of strain on your bones and joints.

I was told when my parents bought my first store bought bike back in the early 70's that it's not how hard you pedal that makes you healthy. It's just that you pedal. Easy pedaling is better than hard pedaling. And the longer you can pedal the better for your cardio health.

Knee problem
 

I've been resaerching ebikes for a while but wasn't expecting to get one so soon. Thanks, Mike

Well I ended up buying a Hase crank shortener with the pendulum. I am trying it with and without the pendum and I can ride again, GREAT. Thanks everyone, Mike
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Man... with physical changes in your bones and joints you have a real bugger. Those large muscels have been moved around. Your circulatory system is changed. Nerves channels too...

I would suggest nothing less than an electric bike with modified crank or maybe even an electric three wheeler. It would be a worthwhile investment as you are looking at a long recovery.

Please keep posting your progression.

Well we finally bought 2 Jamis Huson E2 Ebikes last july and love them. Can't believe we used to ride 1-3 or 7 speed bikes. We are now riding 20+ miles a day and have put probably 1500 miles on our ebikes. Here is a post I just did with a couple of ?s about themI have 2 Jamis Hudson E2 ebikes and on both the battery lights on the right (that show the charge left on the battery on the left handlebar) are flashing red. No matter what charge level color the bottom flashes red about every 8 seconds. So far our dealer has not figured out what is wrong. We had it in for a week and it would never do it for him but now it flashes constantly every 8 seconds or so. He can’t get me in for 3 weeks now. We bought both bikes last July. We absolutely love the bikes. I took them to another shop and they said the lights flashing are an error code but they don’t flash long enough to see what the code is. They said from their experience it is a faulty bed where the battery slides in and it needs to be replaced. It costs 4 or 5 hundred dollars they said and now both bikes are doing it

Also I have a clicking sound in rhythm with the rotation of the pedals, faster in a lower gear (1) and slower in a higher gear (7) so I know it has something to do with the drive train. The second shop adjusted the gears but when I got it home it still made the noise. After inspecting it further I found that the noise is coming from the crank/bearings when I push/pull on both pedals. I don’t see them loose or moving but when I push hard on the pedals the noise appears. It only happened when I was pedaling with tension on the drive train so that makes sense. So I checked my 2nd ebike since my wife thought she heard the same noise on hers and lo and behold the bearings seem loose. Anyone else ever see/hear of this problem? I need to get it fixed while the warranty is still there. They have the Hyena battery and hub I believe.

Thanks, Mike Hall

Good for you. Great thread and followup.

John