Originally Posted by
Chombi
I think it's an effort to try to extend the powerstroke through those springs for more efficiency
The thing is, you can't maintain much leg force on the crank arms as they go through top or bottom dead center. So unless the crank arm has some momentum to help carry it through, the spring will simply release by pushing back on the foot. In other words, it won't increase the length of the power stroke at all. So as the foot moves across top or bottom dead center you still won't get any improvement.