Lifting feet.

[DaveW]

Just a note to have a bit of a laugh.

When I dropped my bike off to the shop for its service, I rode down there with my street shoes on, so I could walk back without carrying my shoes.

I didn't realise how much I pulled on my shoes, as my feet were getting very light on the pedals and occasionally lifting.

I don't feel like I use the cleats that much, but it seems like I do.

Have a good day everyone.

[Jake]

As a newbie to shoes with cleats Ive been wondering if people pull up with their legs much or at all. I have tried it a few times and Im not sure it feels right. Although do find that when Im really spent it helps to ease the overworked muscles a bit.
Cheers,
Jake

[RobRollin]

Rather than pulling up, try rotating the pedal completely around. So make the entire movement a circle, this way you will get more power through the whole rotation not jst the up/down rotation.

By pointing your toes slightly downard through the rotation of the cranks will help with getting a full *spin*. Tt takes abit of concentration and practice. Try it you will find its a smoother action.

[Jake]

Thanks Rob, I'll try that in about 1 hr, going out for a group ride.
Cheers,
Jake

[russellgarrard]

Heh, I know that feeling, I know how to RIDE a bike yet still haven't learnt how to pedal. Seriously!

[Kev365428]

Good websites here and here and here for more efficient pedaling techniques.

Kev.

[Tale]

Rather than pulling up, try rotating the pedal completely around. So make the entire movement a circle, this way you will get more power through the whole rotation not jst the up/down rotation.

By pointing your toes slightly downard through the rotation of the cranks will help with getting a full *spin*. Tt takes abit of concentration and practice. Try it you will find its a smoother action.

Great advice. I've had the same pedals and shoes for 11 years and they were my first experience of riding attached to my pedals (as opposed to just toeclips). I can remember being conscious of whether I was getting any benefit from some kind of "lift".

Then at some point, probably from listening to Phil Liggett commentate, cadence began to make sense. Keeping up the cadence that works for me turned pedalling into a rotation instead of an upstroke and a downstroke. Stopped being aware of whether there was any pull-up going on at all, it's just pedalling now. But yes, you really notice it after that when you're trying to pedal unclipped.

[DaveW]

Now that you mention it, I do a round stroke, but of course without the clips it was the lifting that I noticed, not so much the sliding.
Paying attention since those posts has opened my eyes a little.

It was funny at the time - one of those "Bing" lightbulb over the head realisations.

[Chops]

Good websites here and here and here for more efficient pedaling techniques.

Kev.

Thanks for that. The first link was especially helpful for a most enjoyable ride today.

Felt very unco trying that technique. Was only really able to do one part of it at once. Everytime I tried doing it all at the same time, it felt like I needed to laugh at myself.

Is that normal?

But the lifting seemed to be where I got my most notable gains.

[Kev365428]

I try to focus on the rotation rather than the lifting, as well as the angle of the ankle during the up and down stroke. Hard to to do for both feet at the same time, so I focus on one foot for 30 seconds, then the other foot for 30 seconds. I'm hoping that enough practise will see it become habitual.

Try unclipping one foot and pedaling with the other. This will give you an insight to which muscles you need to concentrate on for your legs to power through a full rotation of the crank, not just up or down.

Cheers,

Kev.

[mikesbytes]

I pull up on the pedals a lot, especially when standing. However it does depend on you strength makeup, if you have strong quadriceps and week hamstrings then you don't get a lot of benefit from pulling up.

[Chops]

I pull up on the pedals a lot, especially when standing. However it does depend on you strength makeup, if you have strong quadriceps and week hamstrings then you don't get a lot of benefit from pulling up.

I'm fairly balanced, but most probably hammy dominant. Which is probably why I found the lifting more beneficial.

And Kev, I tried concentrating on one foot at a time. The right on its own felt quite good, but the left after a while would lose the awareness of where it was in the stroke. Together - hopeless.

Practice, practice, practice.