So I'm a long time bicycle commuter, started about 15 years ago when I was in abject poverty and had no other choice. I knew nothing about bikes, but picked up a cheapo old mountain bike at a garage sale. I started huffing and puffing my way to work and back every day. Soon, I was no longer so poor but the biking stuck.


Wasn't until a few years later when I got into cycling as a recreational activity. I got a nice road bike with clipless pedals and boy what a difference! My daily commuter still has platform pedals though, I can't be bothered with wearing those shoes to work...


But, after thousands of miles being clipped in, and riding on rollers, some of that new technique has spilled over to the way I ride on platform pedals.


When I first started riding bikes, the way I thought about pedaling was to repeatedly push straight downwards on the pedal. Turns out, this is inefficient and only uses a few of your leg muscles. The most efficient technique is to engage many more muscles while pushing down AND pulling upwards in a fluid circular motion so that both legs are always working.

Unfortunately, since your feet are not attached to platform pedals, it's awfully hard to pull upwards on them! HOWEVER, you can do the next best thing, which is to PUSH forwards at the top of the stroke and PULL backwards at the bottom of the stroke, in a fluid motion. You can do this by finding shoes or boots with tread that kind of "lock in" to the platform pedal, so that your foot can't easily slide forward or back. Then, with each stroke, you PUSH forwards and backwards on the pedal in a fluid circular motion. You'll really start to feel your hamstrings engaging and your whole leg working. You'll be moving faster with much less effort.

Bottom line, you'll make it to work a lot faster!

I use clipless on all my bikes because it's more comfortable and I can pull up on steep hills but it doesn't make you faster and it isn't any more efficient. This has been shown in numerous studies. If you're faster it's because you're fitter, not because you are using clipless pedals.

Clearly, it must depend on your technique! If you're only exerting any effort on half of the pedal stroke (pushing down), you're going to be less efficient than if you exert effort throughout the entire stroke. What I'm saying is, this is possible on both clipless AND platform pedals, if you know how. And, I suspect most new cyclists don't know about this.

Sorry, but there's no magic gains in efficiency here. You could pedal a perfect circle with uniform torque throughout a pedal revolution and it won't make you any more efficient. Efficiency is defined as energy out/energy in. This is easy to measure in a lab and it's been done many times. Pulling up or modifying your pedal stroke isn't any more efficient than pedaling the way most people do which is to exert maximum torque when the pedal is at 3 o'clock and unweight the pedal on the upstroke.

If you are generating more power by changing your pedal stroke you will also be burning more calories. Which isn't a bad thing but it's not more efficient by any conventional definition of the word.

Efficiency gains from "pulling up" are mostly from training the rider to unweight the up-going pedal.

You're not considering how the human body works though. Think of it this way... Let's say you are riding a hand pedaled bicycle. Instead of using your legs, you're using your much smaller and weaker arm muscles (for most people anyway). Now, if you tried to go the same speed as you normally would on a regular bike, you'd find it very difficult and you'd tire more quickly. This is because those smaller weaker muscles will start working anaerobically, which is much less efficient (energy in/out). So, the muscle groups you utilize affects your speed and level of exhaustion. The more muscle mass you use, the less exhausting riding will be at any given speed. If you use only your quads to push down, you'll get more tired going the same pace than if you use quads, hamstrings and glutes, etc

If you ride a lot you just end up training the muscles you use the most and they build up to the point where they are no longer a limiter to performance. The other more important part of the equation is your cardiovascular system and its ability to deliver oxygen where it's needed. Legs don't tend to be the limiters. For example riders who've lost all or partial use of one leg are able to regain most if not all their power by strengthening the remaining leg. It builds up to the point where it's no longer a limiter.

Nevertheless i I still find clipless more enjoyable to use and they are essential for sprinting which I like to do.

Why are the benefits foot retention such a difficult concept for some?

No, it doesn't magically make one faster or more powerful, but its more efficient and less fatiguing because one isn't using energy to keep their foot on the pedal and in position with counter resistance.

interesting discussion. i'd like to get better at platform pedals as well.

Pulling back to any meaningful extent on platform pedals requires exerting enough downward pressure on the pedal at 6 o'clock to create significant friction between sole and pedal. That is wasted energy, since pushing down at 6 o'clock isn't driving the cranks around. And requires wearing a somewhat specific type of shoe, with plenty of tread on the sole, and an appropriate pedal, with a high friction or cage-like surface. That limits your choice of footwear, no leather soled loafers etc.

I'm not saying there aren't ways to pedal more or less efficiently with platform pedals, but I think the potential benefits are quite small. I'd focus more on correct gearing and cadence, leg extension, and body positioning (aero).

When using clipless, you can actually pull up. For short bursts of power, like attacking a couple blocks of hill. But it is hard to sustain. I used to consciously soft-pedal on the downstroke and do all the work on the up-stroke, in hopes of building the "pulling up" muscles, and even did targeted gym exercises. Still couldn't sustain a hard pulling-up effort for very long.

I think your body just isn't designed to pull up. Your legs are designed (evolved, created, whatever) for walking and running, those activities require far, far more pushing down than pulling up. So that's how your muscles work best.

Just leave earlier so you dont arrive late and sweaty if you have a Puncture on the way.

Another pedal thread! Is it something in the water?

HOWEVER, you can do the next best thing, which is to PUSH forwards at the top of the stroke and PULL backwards at the bottom of the stroke, in a fluid motion.

Yes, this is a technique I used a lot when I rode my single-speed 40-pound Columbia back in the day. There is a clip you can install that is simple, cheap and pretty effective and doesn't require any kind of special shoe. Here is an image:

I'm a long time clipless rider. I've made the switch to platforms, however, on my fatbike and commuter. Both have platforms with significant pins (shimano saint on the fatbike, generic similar on the commuter). For me, the "trick" to making pedaling platforms feel similar to clipless is all about the shoes. Below 25 degrees on the fatbike I wear a soft soled Salomon boot (image number 2 below). The soft sole "absorbs" the pins. Above 25 with my fatbike and commuter I ride a pair of Five Ten Freeriders (image number 1 below). The Freeriders have a somewhat sticky sole with very shallow round nubs that the pins stick between (image number 3). The combination of pins and soft and/or sticky sole means no slippage. In fact, with the Five Tens I can's reposition my feet on the pedals without lifting them off a bit. I feel as if I am clipped in.

Did those studies compare pedal RPM rates approaching 150 RPMs... I'd love to see someone keep up with that on platform pedals.

Nah, just the latest generation to discover cycling...

I just leave my work shoes under my desk. I'm already changing clothes too, so shoes is a no-brainer also.

The goal of increased "Efficiency" as used by most so-called bicycling experts is so over used and oversold as a be-all/end-all need for every cyclist, as to be almost without meaning. Almost as empty a cycling buzzword as "Effective."

I agree completely with this, especially as we are talking about commuting here. As commuters, do we really care whether we might be X.X% (the left X, no doubt, being a very small number) more efficient when we commute? Maybe we shave 90 seconds from a 30 minute commute. Big deal. It makes much more sense to talk about the "feel" of pedaling clipless or platform. With pins and soft or sticky soles the feel for me is very similar, as in both cases I feel locked onto the pedal. If, however, I'm going to be riding hard for hours I still preferred clipless, as I find the force of the pedal stroke is better distributed with the additional stiffness of the soles, resulting in feet that don't get sore.

No, but they have studied the efficiency of pedaling at 150 rpm and it's poor.

While I agree with everything you say, and agree the benefits are often grossly overstated, for those of us who use our "commuter" for all our riding, that extra bit of efficiency can be a tangible thing at the end of a long day of recreational riding, or that commute home after a long, hard day at work.

Wow, so what is the recommended RPM for cycling... frankly I find high 80s-90s the most comfortable. I used to be able to spin up to 160 in short bursts... but these days I am happy with about 120 as a peak.

For me the buzz word is comfort... yeah I still use a diamond frame... but for a couple hours in the saddle, I want the feet and the rear end to not be taxed by discomfort. I prefer clipons for that reason alone.

The point is it's not more efficient so you won't feel any more rested. If you want to take is easier for a day just pedal slower. That will make a noticeable difference regardless of what kind of pedals you're using.

I believe this technique is called 'ankling' described by Jerome K. Jerome in 'Three Men in a Boat' and ' Three Men on the Bummel'. Both are cracking good reads.