Pedalling action

cyco2

After many years of what I thought was an economic pedalling action I have found that it was neither one of the most efficient ways. I cannot twiddle because the 170 crank is a tad to long for me. A 165 is much better but no good for fast hill climbing. So, to see if changing my foot position on the pedals made a difference I used trainers on ordinary pedals so that I could change the position. Well I couldn't believe the difference it made when I slid my foot forward slightly and slightly raised my heel. At first I tended to use too higher gearing and tired but when I lowered the gearing a bit, WHAMMO!, my feet were flying round. In time my legs became used to it and now I'm able to hold a fair pace in to a head wind and up hill without straining. I used to shun the granny ring but now I'm able to keep up a higher cadence on hills I find it quite pleasant.
The reason I got in to my previous pedalling action was because my clipless/SPD shoes were set for comfort, not for speed or efficiency. So, I'm changing them now. Interestingly though l find the fixed shoe plate does allow the foot forward position.
I would be interested to hear if any of you had a similar experience in changing your foot position. Or as a result of reading this you have experimented with your foot position.

RedRyd3R

cyco2 wrote:

After many years of what I thought was an economic pedalling action I have found that it was neither one of the most efficient ways. I cannot twiddle because the 170 crank is a tad to long for me. A 165 is much better but no good for fast hill climbing. So, to see if changing my foot position on the pedals made a difference I used trainers on ordinary pedals so that I could change the position. Well I couldn't believe the difference it made when I slid my foot forward slightly and slightly raised my heel. At first I tended to use too higher gearing and tired but when I lowered the gearing a bit, WHAMMO!, my feet were flying round. In time my legs became used to it and now I'm able to hold a fair pace in to a head wind and up hill without straining. I used to shun the granny ring but now I'm able to keep up a higher cadence on hills I find it quite pleasant.
The reason I got in to my previous pedalling action was because my clipless/SPD shoes were set for comfort, not for speed or efficiency. So, I'm changing them now. Interestingly though l find the fixed shoe plate does allow the foot forward position.
I would be interested to hear if any of you had a similar experience in changing your foot position. Or as a result of reading this you have experimented with your foot position.

foot position is one thing that for me is never perfect, just ryding in trainers my feet are all over ther the place like some demented pigoen. i changed to spd`s my cadence was instantly better , suppose being confident about my feet not slipping. my spds are still not quite in the perfect place but any changes i make it takes time for your body to adjust, and you never should change to quickly or can cause injury. i moved one of my cleats to give my left foot a better position, i had alittle knee niggle, then two weeks later i started getting pains in right angle lol
it turns out my first bike was the wrong size even thou i brought it from a lbs the salesperson was a muffin brained burk.
for my second bike i got a proper fitting, and the salesperson set my cleats in the position just right me. so yes it turns out i have been riding a bike wrong from birth and didnt even know it. but i think my cleats are now set so the ball of both feet directly positioned in the middle of the pedal this for me has improved lotts of thing pedaling style, easier to stand and balance while going uphill, and so on.... :-)

RedRyd3R

cyco2 wrote:

After many years of what I thought was an economic pedalling action I have found that it was neither one of the most efficient ways. I cannot twiddle because the 170 crank is a tad to long for me. A 165 is much better but no good for fast hill climbing. So, to see if changing my foot position on the pedals made a difference I used trainers on ordinary pedals so that I could change the position. Well I couldn't believe the difference it made when I slid my foot forward slightly and slightly raised my heel. At first I tended to use too higher gearing and tired but when I lowered the gearing a bit, WHAMMO!, my feet were flying round. In time my legs became used to it and now I'm able to hold a fair pace in to a head wind and up hill without straining. I used to shun the granny ring but now I'm able to keep up a higher cadence on hills I find it quite pleasant.
The reason I got in to my previous pedalling action was because my clipless/SPD shoes were set for comfort, not for speed or efficiency. So, I'm changing them now. Interestingly though l find the fixed shoe plate does allow the foot forward position.
I would be interested to hear if any of you had a similar experience in changing your foot position. Or as a result of reading this you have experimented with your foot position.

foot position is one thing that for me is never perfect, just ryding in trainers my feet are all over ther the place like some demented pigoen. i changed to spd`s my cadence was instantly better , suppose being confident about my feet not slipping. my spds are still not quite in the perfect place but any changes i make it takes time for your body to adjust, and you never should change to quickly or can cause injury. i moved one of my cleats to give my left foot a better position, i had alittle knee niggle, then two weeks later i started getting pains in right angle lol
it turns out my first bike was the wrong size even thou i brought it from a lbs the salesperson was a muffin brained burk.
for my second bike i got a proper fitting, and the salesperson set my cleats in the position just right me. so yes it turns out i have been riding a bike wrong from birth and didnt even know it. but i think my cleats are now set so the ball of both feet directly positioned in the middle of the pedal this for me has improved lotts of thing pedaling style, easier to stand and balance while going uphill, and so on.... :-)

RedRyd3R

cyco2 wrote:

After many years of what I thought was an economic pedalling action I have found that it was neither one of the most efficient ways. I cannot twiddle because the 170 crank is a tad to long for me. A 165 is much better but no good for fast hill climbing. So, to see if changing my foot position on the pedals made a difference I used trainers on ordinary pedals so that I could change the position. Well I couldn't believe the difference it made when I slid my foot forward slightly and slightly raised my heel. At first I tended to use too higher gearing and tired but when I lowered the gearing a bit, WHAMMO!, my feet were flying round. In time my legs became used to it and now I'm able to hold a fair pace in to a head wind and up hill without straining. I used to shun the granny ring but now I'm able to keep up a higher cadence on hills I find it quite pleasant.
The reason I got in to my previous pedalling action was because my clipless/SPD shoes were set for comfort, not for speed or efficiency. So, I'm changing them now. Interestingly though l find the fixed shoe plate does allow the foot forward position.
I would be interested to hear if any of you had a similar experience in changing your foot position. Or as a result of reading this you have experimented with your foot position.

foot position is one thing that for me is never perfect, just ryding in trainers my feet are all over ther the place like some demented pigoen. i changed to spd`s my cadence was instantly better , suppose being confident about my feet not slipping. my spds are still not quite in the perfect place but any changes i make it takes time for your body to adjust, and you never should change to quickly or can cause injury. i moved one of my cleats to give my left foot a better position, i had alittle knee niggle, then two weeks later i started getting pains in right angle lol
it turns out my first bike was the wrong size even thou i brought it from a lbs the salesperson was a muffin brained burk.
for my second bike i got a proper fitting, and the salesperson set my cleats in the position just right me. so yes it turns out i have been riding a bike wrong from birth and didnt even know it. but i think my cleats are now set so the ball of both feet directly positioned in the middle of the pedal this for me has improved lotts of thing pedaling style, easier to stand and balance while going uphill, and so on.... :-)

RedRyd3R

cyco2 wrote:

After many years of what I thought was an economic pedalling action I have found that it was neither one of the most efficient ways. I cannot twiddle because the 170 crank is a tad to long for me. A 165 is much better but no good for fast hill climbing. So, to see if changing my foot position on the pedals made a difference I used trainers on ordinary pedals so that I could change the position. Well I couldn't believe the difference it made when I slid my foot forward slightly and slightly raised my heel. At first I tended to use too higher gearing and tired but when I lowered the gearing a bit, WHAMMO!, my feet were flying round. In time my legs became used to it and now I'm able to hold a fair pace in to a head wind and up hill without straining. I used to shun the granny ring but now I'm able to keep up a higher cadence on hills I find it quite pleasant.
The reason I got in to my previous pedalling action was because my clipless/SPD shoes were set for comfort, not for speed or efficiency. So, I'm changing them now. Interestingly though l find the fixed shoe plate does allow the foot forward position.
I would be interested to hear if any of you had a similar experience in changing your foot position. Or as a result of reading this you have experimented with your foot position.

foot position is one thing that for me is never perfect, just ryding in trainers my feet are all over ther the place like some demented pigoen. i changed to spd`s my cadence was instantly better , suppose being confident about my feet not slipping. my spds are still not quite in the perfect place but any changes i make it takes time for your body to adjust, and you never should change to quickly or can cause injury. i moved one of my cleats to give my left foot a better position, i had alittle knee niggle, then two weeks later i started getting pains in right angle lol
it turns out my first bike was the wrong size even thou i brought it from a lbs the salesperson was a muffin brained burk.
for my second bike i got a proper fitting, and the salesperson set my cleats in the position just right me. so yes it turns out i have been riding a bike wrong from birth and didnt even know it. but i think my cleats are now set so the ball of both feet directly positioned in the middle of the pedal this for me has improved lotts of thing pedaling style, easier to stand and balance while going uphill, and so on.... :-)

lef

...could you repeat that...I didnt quite get that the 4th time

From what I have read... some advocate the centre of the ball of the foot sitting slightly forward of the pedal axle which I think uses the glutes more, and is better for endurance. You may notice less fatigue on the quads. Cleat further forward on the shoe so pedalling more on the toe creates more power but higher fatigue in the quads...as I said just from what Ive read so dont shoot me down if you disagree.

Personally I have the ball of the foot about 4mm forward of the axle and it works for me. Quads didnt seem to get as tired post ride. Best thing is to do some searching around on google as there are several articles written on this and its good to get it from the experts.

RedRyd3R

lef wrote:

...could you repeat that...I didnt quite get that the 4th time

From what I have read... some advocate the centre of the ball of the foot sitting slightly forward of the pedal axle which I think uses the glutes more, and is better for endurance. You may notice less fatigue on the quads. Cleat further forward on the shoe so pedalling more on the toe creates more power but higher fatigue in the quads...as I said just from what Ive read so dont shoot me down if you disagree.

Personally I have the ball of the foot about 4mm forward of the axle and it works for me. Quads didnt seem to get as tired post ride. Best thing is to do some searching around on google as there are several articles written on this and its good to get it from the experts.

your setup is the same as mine, if i move it the other way a couple of mm i start getting a loss of circulation in my toes. tested a couple of different ways and tbh they all lead to pain lol. i even had one friend who has the cleat set to far forward just pedaling with his toes.

cyco2

lef wrote:

From what I have read... some advocate the centre of the ball of the foot sitting slightly forward of the pedal axle which I think uses the glutes more, and is better for endurance. You may notice less fatigue on the quads. Cleat further forward on the shoe so pedalling more on the toe creates more power but higher fatigue in the quads...as I said just from what Ive read so dont shoot me down if you disagree.

Personally I have the ball of the foot about 4mm forward of the axle and it works for me. Quads didnt seem to get as tired post ride. Best thing is to do some searching around on google as there are several articles written on this and its good to get it from the experts.

I think that is what I have only discovered after so many years of cycling. Having the foot forward of the centre is strange to me. I want now to experience my foot pointing down slightly. So, I have raised my saddle to accentuate the effect.
I have read articles about it but what got me really interested was seeing Alistar Brownlee of Triathlon fame riding riding like it.

Zoomer37

You may find this article interesting on cleat postion http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blo ... -position/

cyco2

Zoomer37, many thanks for the link. It looks good and lots of info. I did look on google but since there are so many hits to go through I don't think my patience could hold out.