09-05-2011, 07:03 PM
As long as there is a bit of flex in your knee at the bottom of the stroke, you're not causing damage due to "fitting". If you can sit on the saddle and pedal backwards with your HEELS on the pedals without your hips swaying from side to side then you should be about right (this doesn't assure that you are set up correctly, but it does assure that you are not wrecking your knees.
It's probably more likely that you are pushing too high a gear, which is exerting too much stress on the knee joint. How fast are you spinning? Anything less than 60 rpm is likely going to be damaging. My bicycle knee problems have always been meniscus related (i.e. behind the knee cap) and have gone away when I've switched to lower gears. That instantly reduces the resolved stresses on the knee joint.
It's probably more likely that you are pushing too high a gear, which is exerting too much stress on the knee joint. How fast are you spinning? Anything less than 60 rpm is likely going to be damaging. My bicycle knee problems have always been meniscus related (i.e. behind the knee cap) and have gone away when I've switched to lower gears. That instantly reduces the resolved stresses on the knee joint.