Originally Posted by
tomato coupe
That's correct, but that's not the problem under debate. You commented on a statement that was not directed at you, but at the person that has repeatedly posted a diagram that shows pedals that are directly above the pedal spindle at all times. In that case, the pedal tops travel in a circle. I'm sure you'll agree with that.
I don't. The only way a pedal top travels a circle is if the pedal spindle does not spin at all. and if you agree with what I posted above, I don't see how you don't see that. Try your own suggested graph paper, and it will be the same. I must admit, I cheated, I was fairly sure about the non circle thing, but I built a mock crank pedal jig thing with a popsicle stick and a pog, and thumb tacked it to my wife's project table with the grid thing, hopefully she won't notice the hole...