Pedaling style.

[centurionomega]

The first thing I noticed when I started using clipless pedals is that you can push and pull the pedals with your feet/legs.

I also have heard of the terms "pedaling squares" and "pedaling circles". I assume that pedaling squares means that you only push and don't pull with your feet.

In the interest of getting more power to the road, I try and focus on "pedaling circles" but find that as the cadence gets higher, I end up robbing the power of my downstroke by concentrating on trying to get a good powerful upstroke. When climbing, it seems easier to pull with one foot while pushing with the other; possibly because my cadence is not as high.

I am wondering what pedaling styles are others using out there? Anybody just push without pulling? Also, any tips on getting a smooth circular pedaling motion without mounting a set of PowerCranks on my bike?

Also, of course, what do the pros do to go so fast for hours at a time?

 

[Andrichuk]

Ride with 1 leg at a time in a hard gear for either 30 second or 1 minute intervals and then switch legs.

Also the more you ride at a higher cadence the easier "pedaling circles" will become.

 

[stephens]

FWIW, all the actual biomechanic scientist types I've read say to forget about pulling up and just push down and then get that leg out of the way (so to speak) so the other one can do its pushing. They say tests show trying to pull up ends up costing power overall.

 

[Andrichuk]

They say tests show trying to pull up ends up costing power overall.

What if riding the 200k long race is easy. What if its the climbs, the sprints, the wind, or the attacks that you get dropped from? If you can do the distance then train for power.

Pedaling in a smooth circle will produce more speed than just pushing down.

 

[stephens]

And what's the evidence for that? Any actual testing? I'd be interested because the stuff I read seemed pretty clear cut that the downstroke is all that really mattered.

 

[TheNJDevil]

stephens, please post your evidence. A few links to these articles would be nice.

From personal experience, I've done the Mash and Grind (push only), and do not go any faster over my 30 mile loop then when I try to even out the pedal stroke (circles). And, It actually takes about 7 minute longer when grinding (which I do to improve overall power).

I know this isn't proof one way or the other, but for me, circles is far better in the long run. and that one leg thing mentioned earlier, it works. Start with a hard gear and eventually work into the easy gear and spin 1 leg at 90 or better, then switch to the other leg. I do it with the bike on a trainer and my non-pedaling leg on a chair placed so it is out of the way of the pedal.

 

[Bala Verde]

It's all very well explained here:

Power to your pedals by Emma Colson

"Pulling" - if you can still name it that - thus feels a bit like 'wiping your feet on a door mat'. Or as Colson explains slightly differently:

Think of pulling across the bottom stroke with your hamstring muscles (a coaching term is to imagine that you are “scraping chewing gum off the bottom of your shoe”) You will find you automatically tap into muscles that are not being used much and have plenty left in them.

 

[mercycle]

I like the beer keg method myself: imagine using your foot to roll a beer keg away from you for the over the top part of the stroke, then the bottom of the stroke is using your foot to pull it towards you.

Fixed gear helps teach the feet/legs/muscles to go in circles, but you also need to ride a freewheel to learn how to stay ahead of the pedal and apply pressure everywhere.

 

[egtalbot]

It's all very well explained here:

Power to your pedals by Emma Colson

"Pulling" - if you can still name it that - thus feels a bit like 'wiping your feet on a door mat'. Or as Colson explains slightly differently:

+1 My experience is similar. You don't pull up, you pull back. I find that if I focus on pulling back, I pedal smooth circles. The difficulty is doing it while trying to really go hard - I imagine the pedalling with one foot in a high gear would help make that easier.

 

[Cobber]

The first thing I noticed when I started using clipless pedals is that you can push and pull the pedals with your feet/legs.

I also have heard of the terms "pedaling squares" and "pedaling circles". I assume that pedaling squares means that you only push and don't pull with your feet.

In the interest of getting more power to the road, I try and focus on "pedaling circles" but find that as the cadence gets higher, I end up robbing the power of my downstroke by concentrating on trying to get a good powerful upstroke. When climbing, it seems easier to pull with one foot while pushing with the other; possibly because my cadence is not as high.

I am wondering what pedaling styles are others using out there? Anybody just push without pulling? Also, any tips on getting a smooth circular pedaling motion without mounting a set of PowerCranks on my bike?

Also, of course, what do the pros do to go so fast for hours at a time?

It's a slightly tricky thing to master but essential to a becoming a good cyclist. I think of my pedal stroke in in 2 basic steps - 1. think of lifting your knee up and kicking your foot forward. 2. think of dragging your foot backwards to remove chewing gum (as Bala suggested above). Once you do this for a few dozen rides it will come naturally and you won't need to think about it anymore. Getting a good pedal stroke will make you a much more efficient cyclist, since you will be distributing the same amount of workload over several muscle groups, rather than just your quads.


One thing that is critical though is getting your bike set up right. I would recommend a professional fit either in person or online. If your saddle is not in the correct position, you will not pedal correctly.

Good luck!

 

[forty four]

when doing one legged drills use an easy gear not a hard one and spin a higher cadence. pushing a big gear with one leg at low cadence is asking for injury.

 

[BroDeal]

Ride rollers with a big gear and you will quickly find out how smooth your pedal stroke really is.

Research on elite cyclists shows an unweighting of the pedal on the up stroke is about all that constitutes "pulling up."

I am not convinced that these one legged exercises have any benefit.

 

[mercycle]

One better: fixed gear on rollers, ramp up the cadence to a high sustainable, hold for 5 minutes, roll it down for 2 minutes, then back up and hold for 5. Repeat until you fall off.

 

[eurotrash]

One better: fixed gear on rollers, ramp up the cadence to a high sustainable, hold for 5 minutes, roll it down for 2 minutes, then back up and hold for 5. Repeat until you fall off.

x2 on the fixed gear. We used to train on fixed gears (48x18) for probably about 75% of our 40hrs/week in the winter. It has been a solid 6 years since I last had my racing license (or rode that fixed gear) and I guarantee I still have the smoothest pedal stroke around.

 

[Bag_O_Wallet]

I became obsessed with riding in gravel one year. It was on my cross bike with 27C slick tires. Lots of fun and my pedal stroke got a lot smoother.

Basically, you get punished for not being smooth because if you'r not smooth, your pace will bog down and you'll start to slide all over the place.

Keep things smooth, and you'll feel like Tom Boonen floating over the cobbles.

Oh, the land of make believe. What would cycling be without you?

 

[usedtobefast]

back in the day, we were coached to use rollers for indoor training. i use a
vintage tacx speedbreaker with fans on it. you will develop a smooth,
efficient pedal stroke and learn how to balance yourself on the bike. spinning becomes second nature. the faster you can spin any gear, the faster you will go
simple stuff. like riding a bicycle.

 

[centurionomega]

Thanks for all the feedback!

There are lots of great ideas here. It does seem that pulling up on the pedals kinda messes up my pedal stroke, but naturally I go to the "scraping gum off of my shoe" feeling in my pedal stroke. I feel that this doesn't rob me of much power at all but at the same time, it increases the power going into the drivetrain.

We are all basically working with the same biomechanical devices (legs) so I am encouraged to hear that my sensations are shared by others.

I also was interested in trying the riding in gravel idea. However, I don't know where I could do this. Maybe beach sand would be a good substitute. I live in SF, CA.

Once again, thanks forum members!!

 

[fatandfast]

Rollers can tell you lots of things about your form and balance. They are not that tolerant of a bucking upper body. If you can maintain good rpms and stay in the middle of the roller during changes of 15 to 20 and then back down to the rpm you were spinning it really helps you to concentrate. Anybody who wrote to do this on a fixed gear is right and talented. it is really hard to peg any gear at 95 go up 10% and go back down a few times without spilling it on your floor. The resting your foot on a crate and switching back and forth to the non tired leg has been around for a long time and probably brought in the rotar/oval chain ring thing, because that what it feels like when the gear is to big. I think it would help if you are in a motorcycle starting championship but I could never really see a big difference in the smoothness or speed of my spin. Rapping out a 39x17 from 100 to 150 in the saddle 7 or 8 times on a speed training day really improves your squirt to the front of US crits.

 

[mercycle]

One of my favorites is from the old Phinney book: 15x15's. Warm up, maybe 10 to 15 minutes, then do 15 seconds "on", 15 seconds "off" for a total of 5 minutes. Recover 2-5 minutes, repeat. On rollers, the on phase is a count of 30 revolutions (120rpm), the off is 25 revolutions (100 rpm). Pick the gear to give you enough resistance, I was not using any resistance units, so about a 52x16 was good. Amazing how much benefit I can get out of an hour. It also seemed a good way to get warmed up for crits or as part of a warmup for TT's (heart rate definitely gets elevated)

 

[usedtobefast]

hey yeah. i think rollers are so overlooked for training these days. i have
a blackburn stationary unit, and it just boring. and the one leg drills for motorcycle starting may not be needed. these days they seem to have
push button starters.

 

[St. Elia]

A couple of things to add. First I have read in a number of places that MTBers have one of the most efficient peddling strokes. This is becasue if you ride in soft or muddy technical ridning you have to keep your stroke smooooooth or you will bog down. Similar to the gravel riding but.... more fun in my books.

Roller are great but after you master them not much use if you ask me.

If you get a trainer with power you can actually see through test what cadence works for you. Do 20 min intervals at your threshold HR, see what your average power and average cadence. Rest and repeat at a higher then normal cadance and once more at a lower then normal. You may need to do this a number of times and switch the order to get a fair idea of what works best for you. For me I found a high cadence worked a little better and go 10 to 20 watts more out of my interval.

Also suggest spin ups for a warm up. start at 60 rpm and increase by 5 for every min. Go as high as you can. I have only been able to go to about 140 145 but I now have a lot less bouncing at 115 to 130. It's a good way to train Neuro-muscular component and it's also a good warm up.

 

[Bag_O_Wallet]

A couple of things to add. First I have read in a number of places that MTBers have one of the most efficient peddling strokes. This is becasue if you ride in soft or muddy technical ridning you have to keep your stroke smooooooth or you will bog down. Similar to the gravel riding but.... more fun in my books.

+1. That's where I borrowed the gravel concept from.

 

[richwagmn]

hey yeah. i think rollers are so overlooked for training these days. i have
a blackburn stationary unit, and it just boring. and the one leg drills for motorcycle starting may not be needed. these days they seem to have
push button starters.

Well, rollers certainly hold your attention. I agree that you get a smoother pedal stroke using rollers.

But, it's nice to use a stationary trainer too. No worries about falling off and it makes watching TV a lot easier.

Back when I was racing, I found that doing rollersa few weeks prior to moving outside was enough to get a smooth pedal stroke.

 

[richwagmn]

Ride rollers with a big gear and you will quickly find out how smooth your pedal stroke really is.

Research on elite cyclists shows an unweighting of the pedal on the up stroke is about all that constitutes "pulling up."

I am not convinced that these one legged exercises have any benefit.

That slight unweighting does help though. Especially when the legs start to get a little tired. Helps me keep my cadence up.

 

[Rock7586]

Higher cadence (over 90rpm 100 is better) and smooth power deivery are key when I shfted my focus to these things the pedaling style took care of its self.