Suggestions for knee pain while biking?

MzPix

I am in love with my bicycle. I can't even consider the notion of giving it up for more than a day. It is not only my primary source of exercise, but it is also my primary source of transportation and my symbol of eco-friendliness in my neighborhood.
However, for about a week now, I have really been struggling with knee pain. I am looking for suggestions on how to alleviate the pain without giving up my bike.
A few tidbits of information that might be helpful: I am 5'2" tall and 230 pounds. The bike is an old-fashioned Schwinn's women's cruiser with no gears to shift, and no hand brakes. The pain seems to flare up most when I am peddling up a hill.

Any helpful tips would be appreciated.
Thanks

TheBitSlinger

Best advice... see a doctor to find out what is causing the pain.

That being said, it's generally a good idea to ice down, after working out, any joints that cause you pain. Ice reduces tissue inflammation, which allows for better blood flow.

cwsikes

In my experience bike knee pain is usually a result of a bad bike fit or bad gearing.

On that type of bike, I'm guessing it isn't the fit unless the seat is way too high and you are overextending your leg when you pedal. You could always go to a local bike shop and have them look at you and your bike.

Since it hurts when you are going uphill you are probably not gearing correctly (since you have no gears). There are two ways to normally gear up a hill, shift to the easy gears and spin the pedals faster (spinner) or ride in a hard gear and spin the pedals slow (masher). From what I've read, mashers get knee pain and spinning up hills is better for knee health. With no gears though, you don't really have a choice.

GetSoda

Get a bike fitting.

TyTy76

I would recommend getting a bike that has gearing, and fits you. I am guessing that you're mashing through the gears, when you should be spinning.

MiloBloom83

Knee pain on the bike is from two things for me. The seat was too low. And mashing up hill in too difficult of a gear.

CoderGal

potential problems that pops in my head immediately:

Your bike, you're to tall/short for it
Food, you're not eating enough to fuel the repairs you'd need from exercising your knees.
Diet -it can cause inflammation
Excessive exercise - going to hard all day long every day with no breaks dehydrating your system.
Not giving your knees breaks so your muscles can repair. Otherwise you're depleting your body of the things that help (more food may help this, but if you are exercising excessively that can be the problem as well).

BusyRaeNOTBusty

I would recommend getting a bike that has gearing, and fits you. I am guessing that you're mashing through the gears, when you should be spinning.

This. Cruisers are fun but not great for long commutes. They are for riding a half mile or two to get drunk on the beach. (Or for super fit, really good bikers who got that way on geared bikes)

corgicake

I don't care how streamlined your fixie bike looks - if you want something comfortable and safe in the long term, you need gears and you need brakes. As someone else pointed out, not shifting on an incline hurts. Having your chain snap with no brakes hurts even more. Not to mention, being able to stop for traffic faster means you can also ride faster between stops.

Sooo... different bike. Smaller vintage ones are generally easier to find than new ones. Get something multi-speed that's built to be worked on and remember that you have easier gears to ride on uphill.

MzPix

So, I went to a bike shop and got a fitting. My seat was too high, but it was also tipped forward too much. I actually got a new seat and had it fitted. The man there didn't think either of those would cause knee issues, but that it could definitely cause back problems over time.

He seemed to agree with the consensus here, that I'm just trying to push too much weight up too high of inclines without gears. I live in the Appalachian foothills, so there are a lot of inclines. I wish we lived somewhere more flat, but I guess the grass is always greener...
I really appreciate the feedback. Here, I thought I was just burning more calories by using a bike with no gears.
I got some information about having the bike retro-fitted with a basic gearing system and some options about other bikes that might work for my height, weight, and goals. I also heard that a bigger crank plate might work. I might start saving up for one of those options.

We also took a look at the landscape and figured out where the level areas begin and found a Park-n-Ride slightly more than midway between home and town. So, in the meantime, I could drive the 13 miles to the Park-n-Ride and then bike the rest of the way into town.

I also appreciated the comments about icing joints and switching up diet a bit. And taking days off to rest.
I hate the idea of having to get a different bike or having to use a car more often, but at the same time, if I blow a knee, the bike becomes useless anyway.

Thank you all for helpful feedback. I'm still listening if anyone else has ideas or suggestions too. :flowerforyou:

msarro

Get a bike fitting.

So much this. Usually knee pain if a bike is properly sized for you is due to either seat height, or the saddle being too far forward or back. You an try going to a good bike shop, but an even better bet would be to find a group of local cyclists and see if one of them would be willing to help fit you in exchange for a beer and pizza. In the long run it'll cost you less, and you'll get to meet a cool community.


EDIT:
Saw you posted as a followup, my bad.
Also be careful that you ramp up slowly if you decide to pick up intensity. My rides are usually noodling along trails, then one day we met up with an olympic triathlete and I made the stupid mistake of trying to keep up. I couldn't ride properly for weeks afterwards without horrible knee pain. Issue was similar to yours - big hills, 200lb me, very high speeds, it did my knees in.