Originally Posted by
njlonghorn
Let me get this straight -- pushing down on the pedal is useful effort, but pulling up, pushing forward and pulling back on the pedal are wasted effort? How did you come up with that? Using the same logic, you could argue that pushing down is wasted effort, and we should all just give up riding.
Effort is "wasted" if it isn't translating into the action you desire. Here, pulling up, etc. are translating directly into rotation of the rear wheel, which is pretty much what I look for. You?
The argument that is put forward is that the effort which is required has a result that is so small that it is not worth cultivating when compared with the major force created on the downstroke.
In this day and age when a sprinter dons an aero helmet two thirds of a way through a Grand Tour stage in anticipation of a fast sprint finish, there is recognition that fractions of a second count. Those fractions convert to fractions of a mph in speed, and fractions of effort to gain an advantage over the next guy.
If you can recruit those calf muscles in the lift-up action while pedalling, and the next guy can't, that might just give you the edge you need, even over long distances.
I always remember seeing for the first time the calf muscles of one of the world's most respected randonneurs, Ken Bonner. They were large and had a very defined split down the middle. Another cyclist friend who was a state champion back in the 1970s when old-style pedalling technique was the go, also had split calves like that.
If you look carefully at the pedalling style of the Grand Tour riders in the peloton, you will see the majority have a smooth, circles motion. They don't have to think about it... they've been trained to do it since they were kids.
The finish of the one the TdF sprints showed the contrast between a smooth pedal stroke and a jerky one that relied at the time almost entirely on his downstroke for power. Guess who finished second.