New Cranks and Pedals Get Cyclist Back on Bike After Knee Surgery
Joel Sevick has been a friend of ours for almost twenty years. Joel had his right knee replaced a few years ago and then repaired early last year. His surgery created much more scar tissue than usual and has severely restricted his range of motion.
This spring, we started thinking about how to modify his bike so he could ride it again. We met at the shop to evaluate him and determined that the place to start was with adjustable crank shorteners. Crank shorteners are designed to shorten adult cranks on tandems so that a child can ride as stoker. They worked great to accommodate the difference between his right and left sides; he needed a very short crank on the right but could handle a more normal length on the right.
Joel was able to ride that configuration for quite a few rides and that positive feedback made us comfortable we were on the right track. We met a few times to make small changes and ultimately decided that we had to find a pair of adjustable cranks that would allow for smaller changes. We ordered and installed a pair of PowerCranks which are adjustable from 90mm to 180mm. At the same time, we lowered the gearing on the bike using “compact” chainrings and a cassette with lower gearing.
During Joel’s latest fit session we also changed his pedal system to Speedplay. With these pedals we could increase his stance and allow more heel clearance. It also improved his knee tracking though the pedal stroke. The extended baseplate on the Speedplays also allowed us to move the right cleat back as far as possible. This reduced the strain on his achilles coming over the top of the pedal stroke and should allow him to incorporate his quad muscles a bit more.
All of these adjustments made a considerable improvement on the Computrainer SpinScan (a power measuring device that shows power output in watts every fifteen degrees of the pedal stroke). By the end of the session, Joel’s power output was almost perfectly balanced between right and left legs. Amazing!
We are very happy to have been able to do this for Joel. It reinforces our conviction that our investment in education and equipment was worth every penny!
