Originally Posted by
NumbersGuy
OK, you told him to change cranks to change how he rides his bike…. So the words didn’t directly come out but it’s still there.
Sorry I’m not nearly as impressed by you as you are. And your link about research proving elite cyclists don’t lift on the upstroke only stated that the elites have the ability to generate higher downstroke power than non-elite cyclists. That does not exactly prove anything about whether either the elite or non-elite groups (a whopping 15 total riders in the entire test) generate power on the upstroke or how much.
It's totally beside the point anyway. The lifting of the leg doesn't generate much if any power because those muscles are evolved only to lift the weight of the leg. The muscles used on the downstroke are evolved to propel our entire weight when walking or running, and are therefore much more powerful.
He's got to explain how the leg goes from the bottom of the crank back up to the top without the use of any muscle power from either leg, and he can't do it sensibly, so he's pulling out this red herring.