Technique on the pedals

SimonAH

Serious question ( I know some of you are way better riders than me) do you push through the top of the stroke and pull back through the bottom? I get a big increase in power when I do (of course) but it's hell on the leg muscles especially around the knees.

Something that you can train the legs to take? Or a bad idea?

UndercoverElephant

Nice smooth circles, you'll go like a rocket. The muscles will catch up, as long as you don't over do it.

davis

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Nice smooth circles, you'll go like a rocket. The muscles will catch up, as long as you don't over do it.

Does that mean you're pushing (well, working your legs) all the way round or that you're just making sure the balls of your feet describe as near a perfect circle of constant RPM as possible? They might be one and the same, I've just not paid much attention to my technique of late.

*ponder*.

tailwindhome

I read an artilce recently (can't remember where) which suggested that 'pulling up' on the pedals was of no real benefit. This article suggested that you should be thinking in terms of lifting the 'weight' of your foot off the pedal on the up stroke.

I'll try to find the article

jimmypippa

TailWindHome wrote:

I read an artilce recently (can't remember where) which suggested that 'pulling up' on the pedals was of no real benefit. This article suggested that you should be thinking in terms of lifting the 'weight' of your foot off the pedal on the up stroke.

I'll try to find the article

Irfead the same article, which makes me think it was linked to from this forum

UndercoverElephant

davis wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Nice smooth circles, you'll go like a rocket. The muscles will catch up, as long as you don't over do it.

Does that mean you're pushing (well, working your legs) all the way round or that you're just making sure the balls of your feet describe as near a perfect circle of constant RPM as possible? They might be one and the same, I've just not paid much attention to my technique of late.

*ponder*.

I try to apply pressure all the way round, it does take some training yourself, and the new muscles take a while to catch up, but it did help my speed a lot.

Gussio

^^ Nice smooth circles. Helps you to develop those gnarly muscles on muscles, as displayed by seasoned roadie calves.

greg66_tri_v2.0

SimonAH wrote:

Serious question ( I know some of you are way better riders than me) do you push through the top of the stroke and pull back through the bottom? I get a big increase in power when I do (of course) but it's hell on the leg muscles especially around the knees.

Something that you can train the legs to take? Or a bad idea?

When I'm lazy, I push through the front of the pedal stroke, and that's good enough. But when it's time to light the burners, pedalling in circles, driving from c 10 o'clock to c 8 o'clock provides higher cadence, more speed and no more fatigue. I find it works the hamstrings hard though.

davis

UndercoverElephant wrote:

davis wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Nice smooth circles, you'll go like a rocket. The muscles will catch up, as long as you don't over do it.

Does that mean you're pushing (well, working your legs) all the way round or that you're just making sure the balls of your feet describe as near a perfect circle of constant RPM as possible? They might be one and the same, I've just not paid much attention to my technique of late.

*ponder*.

I try to apply pressure all the way round, it does take some training yourself, and the new muscles take a while to catch up, but it did help my speed a lot.

*nods, takes seat in front of master.*

Right, I think I should probably take a look at doing this. I guess trying to go fairly spinny is a good idea, at least to start, correct? I should really go faster, at least on the flat, as I seem to climb pretty well, just a bit rubbish at the top end.

fossyant

Pedal 360 degrees, improves technique and smooth power delivery.

Very good for accelerating sat down - i.e. when in traffic.

kurako

Try pedaling with one one foot clipped in and the other hanging free. It's good practice for getting power through the full rotation. It's also pretty tricky so don't do it if you're in a hurry

cjcp

I just try going for a smooth cadence.

ddraver

Observe - http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... ique-29164 (Pedalling is pedalling)

However have a look at the comments below to see some discussion on "pulling up," Modern thought is that it does nt actually do anything...

the best "mind game" i read was to imagine you re kicking the door open and wiping your feet - to go faster, kick and wipe harder...

roger_merriman

riding on slippery stuff, you can feel if your spinning nice circles or just jabbing at the pedals.

and you'll soon learn or to spin, or you'll spin as you where.

snailracer

ddraver wrote:

Observe - http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... ique-29164 (Pedalling is pedalling)

However have a look at the comments below to see some discussion on "pulling up," Modern thought is that it does nt actually do anything....

Pulling up works only at low cadence. However, at low cadence the legs are not operating as efficiently as they do at higher cadence. At high cadence some cyclists may feel they are pulling up dead hard, but the pulling-up muscles are barely strong enough to get the rising leg out of the pedal's way.

No matter how strong your pulling-up muscles are, they are never as strong as the pushing-down ones. I suppose this is because human legs evolved to push down, to hold the body upright against gravity, there was never really much need for them to pull up as strongly.

ride_whenever

Not to mention excessive use of the pulling up muscles will massively reduce your flexibility and bring you into a world of hurt...

rjsterry

My interpretation of the 'pulling up' debate is that when you need a short sharp injection of power at low revs, then it can be very useful - e.g. pulling away from lights or accelerating up a steep hill - but inevitably, it's not something you can sustain for very long, and over distance, the 'un-weighting' of the returning foot is the best that can be sustained.

jds_1981

rjsterry wrote:

My interpretation of the 'pulling up' debate is that when you need a short sharp injection of power at low revs, then it can be very useful - e.g. pulling away from lights or accelerating up a steep hill - but inevitably, it's not something you can sustain for very long, and over distance, the 'un-weighting' of the returning foot is the best that can be sustained.

++ Definitely useful on my commute. One hill in particular after some lights.

Blue Meanie

I try to use my left foot on the left pedal and my right foot on the...

sketchley

Is there not a difference between pulling up on the upstroke, and continuing the power of the down stroke between say 5 and 8 o'clock? In other words as my spin instructure told me scraping dog mess off the bottom of your shoe. This does seem to give a lot more power.

I would also recommend going to a spin class, ideally an RPM one with an instructer who race bikes. The stationary spin bike helps you focus all you attention on body position and pedal action without worrying about traffic or falling off. Having someone there that knows what they are talking about really helps as they can look and help you adjust, mirrors help a lot as well. Never used one but I suspect simular things can be down on turbo.