Abstract
Cycling is one of the most popular forms of exercise with most gyms and even homes having a stationary bicycle. Cycling is a form of low impact activity which means it results in low resultant forces to the legs and knees when compared to other exercises (running, jumping, etc.). However, overusing and misusing a bicycle can cause a cyclist to have more severe joint stress and increased knee pain. Therefore, this study looks at the affect that changing the dimensions of a bicycle has on the forces at the knees and quadriceps during cycling. The scope of the stationary bicycle was chosen for this research due to its simplistic geometric adjustments and controlled environment. The goal of this study is to determine the most optimal dimensions of the bicycle to reduce knee forces while allowing the same amount of effectiveness of the exercise. To do this a parametric leg and bicycle system was modeled in Siemens NX with a driver at the pedal to create the cycling motion. Motion analysis was then run and the resultant forces were then analyzed at the knee joint and a linear slider representing the quadricep. Three total experiments were run with varying methodologies. The analysis of each method showed that any alteration to the dimensions of the bicycle changed the reaction forces at both the knee and quad. The seat height was determined to be the most influential dimension changed in the experiment as increasing the seat height increased the maximum forces at the knees for each method.
