I may be newer to bikes, but I am incredibly well based in thermodynamics.
Oh, goodie.
Would you care to calculate how much force is required to lift your leg? Or do you imagine that lifting 10% of your body's mass requires no energy whatsoever?
Originally Posted by
PiLigand
Yeah, everyone has a better push down than anything else (thus the elliptical cranksets), but that's no reason not to use everything else too.
The reason to develop elliptical cranksets is to mitigate the "dead spot." Which, by the way, is the point in the rotation when the cyclist is *COUGH* not putting any power to the pedals. (It's the 12:00 / 6:00 position.)
if you push down with 40 watts but you can also pull with 15, why not take the 55?
1) Because that energy/force is actually going into lifting your leg.
2) Because your leg was not designed to exert significant forces when lifting.
3) Because, presumably due to the above factors, pulling up actually reduces your total efficiency.