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Old 05-20-13 | 08:28 PM
  #31  
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Brian Ratliff
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Joined: May 2002
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From: Near Portland, OR

Bikes: Three road bikes. Two track bikes.

I think that "styles" of pedaling is one of those baby boomer's science-ra-ra-we-can-engineer-our-body-to-be-better-than-natural things. Let your body sort itself out under pressure; that's what it's good at. Pro cyclists don't pedal in a "round" fashion; they mash, and they're silky smooth at it. Your legs are not good at applying power across the bottom and top of the pedal stroke: the geometry of the legs and muscles are all wrong. That's why oblong/non-round chainrings go in and out of fashion without apparent affect except to those people who try to out-think their bodies and screw up their tendons applying forces their legs aren't built to withstand. The non-round chainrings all act on the principle of changing the torque on the crank in the 12:00 position where the legs on a good cyclist aren't really doing anything anyway.

Get a decent fit; at least make sure your knees have the right extension at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Get some good pedals and halfway decent shoes so you aren't constantly thinking about where your feet are with respect to your pedals. Then ride a lot of miles at all sorts of pace and efforts. A lot of miles; like, 10k or more over a couple years. That's how you get an efficient pedal stroke.

Side note: rollers help you get a quiet upper body and a consistent pedal stroke so you aren't swinging your bike all around when you pedal. One leg drills help your legs evolve more even power. A "round" pedal stroke where you are applying power all around the circle is not something to strive for. Strive for a smooth recovery of your recovering leg and applying power in a forceful manner at the point where your legs can get force to the pedal at its most efficient angle. Pros don't have a round pedal stroke, they mash, and trying to do stuff like ankling or pulling has caused a lot of bent up tendons for a lot of riders.
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Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Road.
"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --the tiniest sprinter

Last edited by Brian Ratliff; 05-20-13 at 08:35 PM.
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