One real issue that I have come to recognise since training on the chopper is the impact it's having on my body.... Mostly my quads and knees! You see the chopper is heavy and it has tyres which don't roll well (a combination of thick MTB like tread and a max of about 3.5 bars). All this combined means to keep the bike moving along requires a fair bit of torque being placed through the cranks. I've tried 'spinning' in a low gear, it just doesn't seem to work, I just end up going slower and with a high heart rate! Plus the high cadence spinning action causes the diddy front wheel to wobble excessively! As a result I find the best speeds are achieved with a slightly higher gear than what I might use on a road bike. This is fine, as long as your knees track correctly. Placing high amounts of torque through mal-aligned knees is a sure recipe for disaster! I'm very aware of this, so as a result I spend a fair bit of time each day doing core work and stretching key muscle groups like my hip flexers, quads, lower back etc. This has really helped (I think) to keep potential niggles at bay. I've suffered with right patella tracking issues for the last few years, but since December 2014 I've really knuckled down and committed to a daily 'TLC' routine. Since then I've been riding with no pain or knee issues :)
Here are a few photos of me doing my core & stretch exercises.....
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