Originally Posted by 79pmooney

This keeps coming up! That and the argument that the primary (downstroke) muscles are the strongest and most efficient and that we should not waste or time and resources on the others (the muscles for pulling up, over the top and back along the bottom).

I used to race. I've been riding a long time. Being told and taught to "spin circles", ie power continuessly around the circle was one of the biggest gifts I got from those days. Still, 40 years later. I spend a lot of time riding the old setup of toeclips, toestraps pulled tight and slotted cleats. When I forget to pull my straps tight, I regularly pull my feet out. Not just standing for hills. If I don't pull the straps all the way tight, I often here the click of my cleat coming down on the pedal every stroke because I lifted it off coming up.