Knees and Gears

Jerry Powell

2001-10-05

Hi y'all:



For some fairly decent information on knee injury in general, check

out http://sportsmedicine.about.com/library/injury/bl_knee_index.htm



Read through the sections on knees... and particularly read the piece

on kids sports injuries.



The thrust of what I recall from this and other literature is that

pushing big gears is probably a really minor factor in kids with sore

knees. Too large a training volume, inappropriate training

progression, inadequate rest, poor pedaling technique, and bad bike

fit are far more likely to cause problems.



The likelihood is that an ambitious young racer will be afflicted by

several of the above list AND be trying to twist too large a gear for

his/her strength, training, and technical abilities is pretty great.

So, the advice DOES remain, stick with the smaller gears, learn how

to ride the bike and then approach "over gear" training under a

coach's guidance. The reason isn't, however, that big gears are

inherently "bad" or little gears are inherently "good".



Jerry Powell (USAC Elite Coach)







At 6:53 PM -0700 10/4/01, Michael Hoyt wrote:

 

When the debate was raging about junior gears, someone made referrence

to a study that dispelled the myth that big gears injured knees. Will

you forward that reference on to me. Thanks.



M



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craig sinanian

2001-10-05

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STEVE GARCIA

2001-10-05

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I love big gears! I find them very attractive and they look cool.



   Mark Greenwood mgree-@tqs.com> 10/05/01 08:12AM >>

I think there's a subtle distinction to be made: Mike Murray (and others

as well, I think) made the comment in that thread that *no* credible

evidence had ever been presented that the gear restrictions had a

positive impact on preventing injuries. That is, there seems to be an

absence of evidence to back up people's anecdotes that "riding big gears

is bad for you", which makes them just that - opinions. I couldn't find

any reference to a study; if there was one, I'd be interested to see it

as well just to keep informed.



That said, I don't think anybody would argue that riding smaller gears

is good training, whether riding big gears is "bad" for you or not.



Mark







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<FONT

size=1></FONT>I love big gears!  I find them very attractive and they look

cool.<BR><BR>>>> Mark Greenwood <A

href="mailto:mgree-@tqs.com> 10/05/01 08:12AM >>">mgree-@tqs.com>

10/05/01 08:12AM >></A><BR>I think there's a subtle distinction to be

made: Mike Murray (and others <BR>as well, I think) made the comment in that

thread that *no* credible <BR>evidence had ever been presented that the gear

restrictions had a <BR>positive impact on preventing injuries.  That is,

there seems to be an <BR>absence of evidence to back up people's anecdotes that

"riding big gears <BR>is bad for you", which makes them just that -

opinions.  I couldn't find <BR>any reference to a study; if there was one,

I'd be interested to see it <BR>as well just to keep informed.<BR><BR>That said,

I don't think anybody would argue that riding smaller gears <BR>is good

training, whether riding big gears is "bad" for you or

not.<BR><BR>Mark







</BODY></HTML>--=_C8924018.EC8DB491--

Mark Greenwood

2001-10-05

I think there's a subtle distinction to be made: Mike Murray (and others

as well, I think) made the comment in that thread that *no* credible

evidence had ever been presented that the gear restrictions had a

positive impact on preventing injuries. That is, there seems to be an

absence of evidence to back up people's anecdotes that "riding big gears

is bad for you", which makes them just that - opinions. I couldn't find

any reference to a study; if there was one, I'd be interested to see it

as well just to keep informed.



That said, I don't think anybody would argue that riding smaller gears

is good training, whether riding big gears is "bad" for you or not.



Mark



Michael Hoyt wrote:

 I didn't make the claim nor did I ask to be flamed. Lest this degenerate

into the silly banter that occasionally pervades this list, let me

restate my original objective.



When the debate was raging about junior gear restrictions, someone made

mention that the there was scientific research that proved that gearing

had no effect on developing knees. If you made that assertion, I'd

appreciate seeing the reference.



I'm not looking for a public debate one way or the other, just the

citation. Thanks.



M



Erik Voldengen wrote:



 I'm saying I'd like to see the article.

Erik Voldengen

2001-10-05

Never said you made the claim, just said I'd sure

like to see the article because it sounds odd to me.

Threw in a little joke for good measure. I sincerely

hope I did not offend you, or any Frito Lay research

personnel for that matter.



-Erik





 I didn't make the claim nor did I ask to be flamed.

Michael Hoyt

2001-10-04

I didn't make the claim nor did I ask to be flamed. Lest this degenerate

into the silly banter that occasionally pervades this list, let me

restate my original objective.



When the debate was raging about junior gear restrictions, someone made

mention that the there was scientific research that proved that gearing

had no effect on developing knees. If you made that assertion, I'd

appreciate seeing the reference.



I'm not looking for a public debate one way or the other, just the

citation. Thanks.



M



Erik Voldengen wrote:



 I'm saying I'd like to see the article.

Erik Voldengen

2001-10-04

I would like to see this study. Frito-Lay probably

sound ridiculous, which was my intent, because that's

also how this claim sounds to me.



-Erik



 I'm not sure what you are trying to say here.



M

Eric

2001-10-04

I don't have any studies, but I do have two knees that I injured when I was

young, especially trying to climb hills in the highest gear that I could.

It forced me to race in "low" gears, which turned out all right.



Eric



-----Original Message-----

From: Michael Hoyt <mg.h-@home.com>

To: ob-@topica.com <ob-@topica.com>

Date: Thursday, October 04, 2001 8:36 PM

Subject: [OBRA Chat] Knees and Gears





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When the debate was raging about junior gears, someone made referrence

to a study that dispelled the myth that big gears injured knees. Will

you forward that reference on to me. Thanks.



M



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Erik Voldengen

2001-10-04

Actually, send the URL to the list, I'd like to see who

claims this to be true. Maybe Frito-Lay or somebody like

that?



-Erik



 When the debate was raging about junior gears, someone made referrence

to a study that dispelled the myth that big gears injured knees. Will

you forward that reference on to me. Thanks.



M

Michael Hoyt

2001-10-04

When the debate was raging about junior gears, someone made referrence

to a study that dispelled the myth that big gears injured knees. Will

you forward that reference on to me. Thanks.



M

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