jyl

I think this relates to bike fit. As much as it relates to anything

My question is about upper body movement when pedaling. I see some people whose trunk flexes with every pedal stroke, shoulders and elbows move, hips rock and basically most of their body is alive to the pedaling. I see other people whose torso and upper body are still, quiet, and seem disconnected from the revolving legs below.

I'm not talking about when they are making a big effort, sprinting, out of the saddle - I'm talking about pedaling in the saddle, up to about 5/10ths effort.

Which are you? Which do you want to be? Why does it matter? Does your bike fit cause or contribute to this?

Kopsis

With a proper fit and smooth pedal stroke, the upper body shouldn't be moving much at 5/10ths. In fact it really shouldn't be moving even at TT levels of effort. All that movement is wasting energy. Watch a pro race and you'll see smooth riding even at race speeds until they hit the sprints/climbs.

Saddle too high is a common cause of this, since that forces the rider's hips to rock to reach the bottom of the pedal stroke (and then the whole torso shifts around to compensate). However, some riders just never learn to be smooth. For them, some time spent riding rollers can result in surprising improvements in their speed and endurance.

Igualmente

My upper body doesn't move noticeably at the start of rides, but if I'm pushing hard (for me!) then by the time I'm an hour or two into a ride my upper body moves a fair bit. I think it is trying to compensate for other muscles tiring.

jyl

I was thinking about this topic on my ride home. I was behind a woman cyclist who looked very fit and pretty serious (cycling shorts, jersey from some club, nice commuter bike, Ortleib panniers, etc). As she rode up the bridge approach, her upper body was bobbing and weaving with every pedal stroke. I watched her feet and we were in roughly the same gear, not a heavy one (I was in 42x20, something like that). Her upper body movement was oddly asymmetrical, different depending on which leg was pushing. It was fascinating, actually.

Lately I have been trying to consciously quiet my upper body. When pedaling with low effort, this seems pretty easy. When around 6/10 it gets harder. It feels like I have to concentrate on pulling with one leg at the same time as I push with the other. If I only push then my upper body moves more. Or, I can gear down and spin faster. That also helps still my upper body. I am not sure what benefit I am getting from this. My vague idea is that if I can get strong enough to pedal with very little upper body movement, then when I do resort to using the upper body, I'll be stronger yet. Wholly unproven, so far.

ofgit

When I bought a 10 speed bike from a sho nuff 'pro shop' in '74, the owner (one man shop) did a thorough job of fitting it and explaining position and pedaling technique. How any body motion that didn't contribute to moving the bike forward was wasted motion/energy. It made sense to me so I worked to become smooth on the first bike I ever had that was (didn't have to reach for the pedals from the slammed saddle) actually my size! Still pay attention to keeping it smooth.