Originally Posted by
chaadster
Wait a minute...are you suggesting there may be some validity to these so-called outrageously priced pedals, and in the face of so much prognosticating to the contrary by such learned keyboard jockeys as we've been privileged to hear from thus far?
No...You must be mistaken. Nikola is quite clearly only the best attempt by the founder to bilk foolish cyclists of their money. That's the only explanation that makes sense, the outrageous price being Exhibit A proof of such.
You must listen to
Looigi, he has 3500 more posts than you do, he must be right.
Putting pressure on the opposite edges of the pedal does result in small (maybe infinitesimal), movement laterally, this does result in "work." Maybe it does really work!
Nikola Innovations claims are pretty sensational 2.1% increase in pedal efficiency. A 7% increase in peak power, who doesn't want free power, well actually $350 power. 135 seconds saved in a 40km TT, that is more time savings than adding aero bars. The claim is made that this was tested by Dr Ken Sparks, PhD from the
Human Performance Laboratory at Cleveland State University. This may not be entirely true. Here is a link to the actual study done as a Masters requirement by Renee
B.
Goldstein
: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=csu1304519913&disposition=inline. It states
"Conclusions: No significant efficiency or power differences were found between the two pedals. 20 people performed better on the traditional and 20 performed better on the prototype." The term better here is used to describe marginal increases in very small and specific areas. If Dr. Sparks retested he did not publish his findings, or at least I could not find them, rather strange considering the claims made.