I get that the v20 is a race series bike, but in respect to avoiding hip impingement issues, would it make sense to stick to the recumbents that have the highest reclined position? I've had both hips fixed with the FAI surgery (repaired labrum and reshaping of the bones). Some post op protocols even say to avoid the recumbent in the recovery phase, only using upright stationary bikes.
For those who had hip impingement surgery (fai), are fully reclined bikes the way to go?
- Thread starter jangwind
- Start date
Always-Learnin
Vendetta Love
Not sure I can answer your question, but I developed pain in my left hip when riding my S40/V20 on my smart trainer until I added pedal extenders. No more pain since.
I have had FAI surgery on my right hip (7 years ago) and probably need it on my left, but it is probably too far gone and I will leave it until it gets too bad and go for hip resurfacing now.
The recovery from my FAI surgery was slow. I was riding my upright bike at a fairly high level about 6 months after surgery but with notable discomfort in the right hip. By 12 months I was riding upright at near my highest level (getting PRs on strava) with still some discomfort. The discomfort settled down at about 18 months and right hip feels pretty normal since. At 12 months I was hesitant to call the surgery a success, but by 18 months I was happy.
I also struggle with chronic lower back pain, so got the V20 about 4 years ago for that. I find that my right hip that has had the FAI surgery is fine on the V20. I have not had hip pain issues on the V20 and I ride it at a faily high level. I also continue to ride upright but use the bent to manage the back. I will say that my left hip is generally fine (it has discomfort but managable) on the upright, but on the bent, it feels worse. I am currently in a situation where riding the upright I have to manage back pain, but on the V20 I have to manage left hip pain. So I ride both to do the best job of managing both.
My thoughts are that the bent is harder on the hips, but if your hips have been repaired well and recovered well, you should be fine. I would think the more straight you are at the hips (more reclined), the better for the hips. For me the closer the knees are to the chest, the worse the FAI was. The reason I think the bent is harder on hips is less about hip angle and more about the more constant loading. On an upright you can more your position around a lot (stand, sit, forward/aft on saddle) which kind of moves the load around between muscles which seems to help me to reduce the load on the hips. On the bent, you only have one position (really) and you just keep pushing the same muscles. I live in a hilly area, and can spend 10-15 minutes on a climb where I am just loading up the hips and cannot do anything to change the load.... except put on lower gearing and go slower. On the upright I mix it up quite a bit on a long climb.
The recovery from my FAI surgery was slow. I was riding my upright bike at a fairly high level about 6 months after surgery but with notable discomfort in the right hip. By 12 months I was riding upright at near my highest level (getting PRs on strava) with still some discomfort. The discomfort settled down at about 18 months and right hip feels pretty normal since. At 12 months I was hesitant to call the surgery a success, but by 18 months I was happy.
I also struggle with chronic lower back pain, so got the V20 about 4 years ago for that. I find that my right hip that has had the FAI surgery is fine on the V20. I have not had hip pain issues on the V20 and I ride it at a faily high level. I also continue to ride upright but use the bent to manage the back. I will say that my left hip is generally fine (it has discomfort but managable) on the upright, but on the bent, it feels worse. I am currently in a situation where riding the upright I have to manage back pain, but on the V20 I have to manage left hip pain. So I ride both to do the best job of managing both.
My thoughts are that the bent is harder on the hips, but if your hips have been repaired well and recovered well, you should be fine. I would think the more straight you are at the hips (more reclined), the better for the hips. For me the closer the knees are to the chest, the worse the FAI was. The reason I think the bent is harder on hips is less about hip angle and more about the more constant loading. On an upright you can more your position around a lot (stand, sit, forward/aft on saddle) which kind of moves the load around between muscles which seems to help me to reduce the load on the hips. On the bent, you only have one position (really) and you just keep pushing the same muscles. I live in a hilly area, and can spend 10-15 minutes on a climb where I am just loading up the hips and cannot do anything to change the load.... except put on lower gearing and go slower. On the upright I mix it up quite a bit on a long climb.
My new side (post op 19 weeks) feels better upright cycling compared to the old (26 months post op). When I got the mri for my second hip, my first one showed nothing major except small scar tissue that shouldn't cause any pain. I can't say that I'm entirely pain free, but I'm way better than pre op. So for cardio, I'm going through the motions to find the best outdoor activity outside of simply hiking.
Although my surgeon said my surgeries are a success, and I can do anything I want, I'm not entirely convinced. For example, butterfly style in hockey goaltending is undoubtedly bad for the hip, same for shoulder labrums in mlb baseball pitchers. For hip impingement, I obviously want to avoid anything that can damage my already compromised hips, or at least slow down the degradation. The website for cruzbikes didn't really offer anything on hips. The neck and back strains sound convincing, but then is there a trade off where one is cross training, alternating between bents and upright bikes to ward off joint pain? At that point, cycling is losing its appeal.
In theory, after the surgeries, if the bones were shaved, the impingment should be gone. So the range of motions limitations should not be there... but the scar tissue can cause pain. Also, I had some moderate osteo arhtritis that was worse than expected that was caused by the impingement, so my hips are on the way to requiring some sort of replacement down the track.
But for me, riding both upright and bent is pretty good. I find bent an entirely different experience and I enjoy the benefits of both, and the drawbacks of both can also be managed by riding the other. I love riding, and am doing everything I can to continue in whatever way I can.
But for me, riding both upright and bent is pretty good. I find bent an entirely different experience and I enjoy the benefits of both, and the drawbacks of both can also be managed by riding the other. I love riding, and am doing everything I can to continue in whatever way I can.
