Cycling with osteoarthritis

Cycling is the second best sport for osteoarthritis: Both excursions by bike and cycling on a home trainer (ergometer) are well suited. In both cases, it is extremely important to set up the bike correctly for the individual:

1. When sitting upright on the saddle, the outstretched leg should reach the pedal
2. The handlebars must be set higher than the saddle
3. Contact with the pedal takes place between the ball of the foot and the midfoot
4. For hand arthrosis, a grip gear or bottom bracket gear helps
5. The knee angle should be more than 90 degrees. The knee angle is the angle between
6. Upper and lower leg, which is reached when you are just starting to press down on the pedal

The bike should also have as many gears as possible so that you can optimally adjust the resistance to the respective requirements. In general, you should prefer the lower gears when riding. Ideally, the cadence should be between 80 and 100 pedal revolutions per minute, with the legs never fully pushed through. The same applies to the ergometer: Low wattage (25-50 watts) with a high cadence.