So basically I went out riding on my 36er with a Kris Holm T-bar for 6 hours, I go out for 1.5 hours then take a 10 minutes break and then go out again, did roughly 100km.
That was my longest ride so far, on shorter rides I’ve noticed my left hand being weak straight after, not being able to hold keys properly mainly, and my left knee experiences sharp pains, both knees hurt but left knee more.
I was going to go for 7.5 hours but both knees hurt to much to go back out, but my left knee hurt way more than my right knee and on my left hand I wasn’t about to bring my ring finger or pinky finger together to my middle finger or my thumb fully to my index finger for the next few days, I can now but that is over a week later. I wasn’t able to hold a key or cutlery that night and struggled to tie my shoes or put on socks the next day.
I was just doing some pistol squats today and noticed my left leg is fairly weaker than my right leg and I found it significantly harder to balance on my left leg than my right leg.
I’m thinking it may have something to do with the set up of the uni, but I’ve done my best to keep everything level and straight.
It could also be riding style. Low handlebars? Position on uni? Knees in? Knees out?
Or body strength. My left side being weaker than my right and therefore over compensating?
Any long-distance uni riders advice? I don’t really want to go out again without sorting this out?
Did you say “pistol” squats?
For anyone who doesn’t know what the exercise looks like.
Doing a pistol squat is:
a.) One leg straight in front of you off the ground.
b.) The other leg squatting the “whole body”
It is a freakin one leg squat plus balance.
That means you have the ability to squat 2x or more of your body weight.
I don’t think most of us on this forum can do that or even 1.25x our body.
You are incredibly strong. Extra strength is always good.
For the rest of us “weaklings” take comfort in that strength does not equal unicycle ability. All you 70 yr olds can agree with me on that. Right.
Anyways, UniMan1, you know what you need to do. To diagnose and find the answer to your condition.
Go back and ride that 100km on your unicycle, again.
Remove the T-bar first.
Analyze your results and did that same injury happen again?
T-bar is not necessary to ride the 36, which you already know.
Ofcourse, It will not be fun.
Okay, maybe just go 50km.
Long distance unicycling is painful, particularly at the support points (on the saddle, on the pedals and possibly on the handlebars).
Knees can also suffer, given that we’re pedalling all the time.
As far as these aspects are concerned, the pain can be partly resolved with progressive training, changing saddles (for me, using a bike saddle is essential for long-distance unicycling, as long as I use handlebars) and possibly with clipless pedals (if the position is correctly adjusted).
However, I also think you should have a medical consultation about your left hand. I suspect you have a nerve problem (compression of the radial nerve?) or a vascular problem (narrowed artery). With a clinical examination and a Doppler ultrasound, you should know more.
I recently realised that my right knee tends to hurt earlier and/or more than the left knee when I‘m unicycling. My impression is that this is probably caused by me using primarily the right leg to correct the speed in order to stay balanced, thus causing more stress on the right knee. Maybe something along those lines is happening in your case. That would of course not explain the issues with your hand.
I have some of the same symptoms from my job. When I get up in the morning, my fingers get stuck and I have to stretch them to be able to use them.
It sounds like your hand is stressed and overworked. Hands aren’t supposed to grip objects for hours with no breaks. You might have carpal tunnel syndrome or tendonitis. I find wearing a wrist brace helps my hand and wrist.
This is my first post here and I am thankfull to the uni community sharing things and helping each other.
I have been experiencing such knees pain on my last two long rides (120km-9h and 140km-10h) on my 29" uni with 125/113mm cranks.
I noticed that pain appears around 90/100 km. On the last ride, my right knee was hurting then, the left one, then both .
The pain was mainly in the downhills so I could manage it using the brake then it happened in the uphills too.
I agree with @toutestbon that the saddle is important and I am currently using a KH zero wich is quite “unsoft” and I have to release pressure pedaling off the saddle quite often. Which is tough for the knees I guess.
It took me a few days doing some stretching to help making the pain go away.
I didn’t experience anything like you on the handlebar,
Maybe you could post a photo of your uni to see the setup.
Here is mine.
Having your handlebar as low as you do seems like it would place a lot of pressure on your hand and cause you to lean forward a bunch, possibly putting extra pressure on your back as well.
But, I normally never make a comment on people’s setups if they are happy with it, because everyone is different.
Raising your handlebar will allow you to sit more upright (I’m not sure if that’s a benefit to you).
I do hope you figure out how to relieve the pressure on your hand while riding.
Ok for the cranks length, I was wondering if this parameter would effect the knee. The longer : movements are larger and effortless . The smaller : movements are tinier and require more strength. Anyway, we have to adapt the cranks length to the ride elevation gain and physical fitness.
For the handle, maybe raising it a little bit would put less pressure on your hands!?
Ok I’ve just realised that I have 127/150mm currently not 137mm using the 127mm but I’m looking to get 110/127mm as I’m hoping the 110mm will allow me to go faster. I’m also planning on tackling some pretty big road hills, probably using the 127mm. I’ve been working on leg strength for the hills, do you think the shorter cranks would have a bad effect on my knees?
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