Silvio with Tendon/Joint Problems?

[evblazer]

I posted this question on the bentrider thread a while ago but never received an answer so maybe i'll have better luck here.

Basically does anyone who rides a silvio otherwise have knee/ankle or other joint/tendon problems? I am planning on consulting my doctor(s) about it before purchase but just wanted to see if there was anyone out there to base a guess on as to whether it would be a problem. Is there alot of pressure bending the joints in weird direction or would that just be during some bad event like if the wheel got twisted hard getting wedged in the rail road tracks or running over a low racer?

I ride both road bikes and recumbents and have some pretty good base miles and even some long rides. The longest ride on a recumbent was over 15 hours on a Bacchetta Giro 26 and I was a little worn out physically but my joints/tendons were fine. I've also done 3 200ks this year and one tommorow on a Challenge Hurricane so it isn't the pedaling or the seating position i'm worried about. The side pressure on the knees/ankles are my greatest concerns because of the moving bottom bracket.

Note: I do ride with q-rings but I found in another post that someone has successfully used them on the silvo.

 

[Mark B]

I've had knee problems from time to time, but nothing that's aggrivated by the Silvio. As much as it might seem like you have to flex your knees to turn the bike, the knees just don't bend that way. The hips are what allow you to turn the bike and they are quite flexible in that direction.

Mark

 

[cycleguy]

I was having knee pain at the end of last season and spoke to my doctor about it... my right knee would have a crunching sound when extending it and it was sore. His suggestion was to do knee exercises that only flexed the knee about 15 degrees. So if you are doing deep knee bends, only go down about 1/2 way. The problem was my knee cap was not riding in the groove properly and causing inflammation. This limited range exercise, activate the muscle on the inside of your leg just behind the knee.. it strengthens it and pulls the knee cap over into the center. This is very common and may be an issue with many riders.

Harold

 

[John Tolhurst]

We should comment that short cranks work very well on recumbents and are great for the knees. I will be specifying 160mm on the sofrider and 155 on others. The Silvio, you have to make that choice yourself. I run 175 on the Silvio, but should take it down to 165 or 160 and increase the cadence slightly to compensate, it will also reduce the air churn in front.

 

[Mark B]

I waffle back and forth on the short cranks. I like the way they wind up fast in a sprint, but sometimes I want to plug in a tall gear and "rest" at a lower cadence. It just doesn't work that way with short cranks. At least,that's been my experience. I think if I were to stick to one, or the other (long vs. short), I'd just get used to it and there would be no issue.

Mark