alexeicharkham

I have a hybrid and a road bike. The hybrid is quite heavy (another thread about heavy bikes, below, reminded me of this question), so I find I stand up a fair bit. I remember hearing a while ago that standing too much is bad for the knees.

Is it?

Cheers, and happy new year all,
Alexei

roadbuzz

Not really. You're more likely to hurt your knees mashing away while seated. If you like to stand, stand!

sscyco

I ride a SS bike on the road, I find myself standing often - never having any knee pain.

nathank

i think it depends on the knee problem (if you have one).

i have tendonitous in knees from overtraining (mostly running) a few years ago and i found that STANDING i could ride for hours without aggravating my knees while sitting would cause pain...

although, generally when you stand you use bigger gears (i use 2-4 gears larger usually) so this is more force and lower cadence, so there is more force...

in general i would still say "no"

MichaelW

Riding in too high a gear, whether standing or seated, can be bad for your knees. Standing is a usual method of climbing steep hills, and when alternated with sitting, can make a big climb much easier.

aMull

Of course it is bad for the knees, you are putting all your weight on the knee, and the stress on it is higher. Not to mention the stresses on the bike itself are higher too.

edzo

incorrect and incorrect.


it depends on the knee.

but for the most common knee surgery for cyclists,
therapy includes riding the bike and doing more standing on
the grunts and gradual climbs. it preserves the knee


those who say it is bad for the knees do not really know what they are talking about

it is generally, mostly good for the knees. sitting and mashing hills is what kills knees

bac

Not really - and here's why. When you are standing, you generally put more energy into the pedals - this much is true. However, when you are seated your knee angle is much more bent than when you stand and pedal. Generally speaking, it's this more bent knee (more pressure on the joint) that causes the stress on the knee.

... Brad

DannoXYZ 

Well... not really. When you think about it, ALL of the stress will ALWAYS go through the knees. Strong riders can actually exert twice their body-weight on the pedals.

The issue is really about where the weak point is in a particular knee. Some people have it on teh side, others in front, other behind. Which leads to a different position where the knee is stressed the most. In general though, it's safest to apply large forces with the legs fairly straight. Such as when reaching up for a high-shelf, or when kicking someone in the face.

It's applying large forces on a BENT knee that causes the most problem. In this position, the forces are no longer going through the bones, but have a larger percentage going through the ligaments and tendons. The sideways wobbling of the knee around the top of the pedal-stroke is a sign of this looseness. Then try applying a lot of force... ouch... That's why a low seat that's too far back is the worse set-up for knees.

ZXiMan

I stand alot... Every 8-10 minutes I'll ride standing for 30 seconds to 2 minutes at a time. Once I did my entire 9.40 mile loop just dancing on the pedals. I really didn't have a choice because my seat post clamp broke and my seat fell all the way down. I still maintained around 19 mph average on that stretch until I got back to my car and switched the clamp out.

The only problem I seem to have is that I like to stand and push a big gear 53-15 or 50-12 depending on what bike I'm on... this causes problems with my IT band sometimes. Less now that I've learned some new stretches.

I don't have any other problems with my knees unless my saddle is too low.

aMull

Well i don't know if that's anything to go by since it happened for the first time last monday (i also stand when riding from a stop light, or some short hills for example), but when i was standing up last week i got pain above the knee of the my left leg, and as soon as i sat down it went away. It really surprised my since in the last year of commuting i have never experienced it. The day before i rode the bike without this problem. Next time i rode i tried to sit as much as i could which made starting from lights really slow, but i didn't get any pain. I will ride today as well and will try standing up to see if it's back.