Wolfvegas

So do you push with the ball of your foot, the pedal in the middle or with your heel. Do you angle your feet forward, even or back? Last but not least does it change when you are standing up while pedalling ?

a1penguin

I have clipless pedals. The cleats are under the ball of the foot. I assume someone has determined that is the most effective foot location. It's also the part of the foot that has the most contact with the ground when you walk. I used to have a tendency to pedal with the front of my foot angled down, but I now mostly pedal with foot level. I generally don't stand while pedaling. https://www.google.com/#q=how+to+peda...w=1424&bih=818. There are lots of search results for pedaling efficiently.

https://sheldonbrown.com/standing.html has some good information.

1nterceptor

So do you push with the ball of your foot, the pedal in the middle or with your heel?
Ball of your feet.

Do you angle your feet forward, even or back?
I would go with even.

Last but not least does it change when you are standing up while pedalling ?
I wouldn't, in any case don't worry too much.
Just do what is natural for you. If you're just going from point A to point B,
any angle/position that works for you should be fine

MichaelW

Ball of the foot on the pedal. This position is enforced by any of the pedal retension systems: toe clips, mini clips, power straps or clipless pedals.
Lowering and raising the ankle relative to the pedal (ankling) is a technique that you can only do with pedal retension system. It is optional and most people dont try it.
Standing on the pedals (the French word is a la danseuse or like a dancer) you really need pedal retension to use a high cadence (spin rate)

fietsbob

Ergon's engineers made a great step in making a pedal
shaped to encourage ball of foot over pedal,
and a knees closer together pedaling posture.

no clips or straps , normal shoes .. commuter cadence.. for me..

choose a gear ratio you will stay on top of the gear "goldilocks" not mashing hard,
not too fast..

Machka 

Ball of the foot
Feet flat

chasm54

Ball of the foot, certainly. For the rest, it's debatable. Here's an interesting perspective.

DX-MAN

Clipless, so ball of the foot. Ankle -- whatever's working on any given day. Don't stand as much with the Kona, as I've dialed out necessary compression damping for better hop.

BarracksSi

I didn't expect it when I clicked on it, but that link gets into advocating putting clipless cleats further back -- which is what a good number of pro riders are doing these days. They've even been going far enough back that they use a specific pedal system (Speedplay, in fact) that allows such placement.

Their idea is that it uses the calf muscles less intensely and helps conserve energy. Much of bike racing is about power management, so they'll exploit any chance to expend less effort for the same speed.

chasm54

I'm doing it myself, though I arrived at my conclusion without knowing about the linked article. I had come to the conclusion that I was cycling too much on my toes, and while I was fine as far as my calves were concerned, I occasionally got a hint of tendinitis in my Achilles. So I now have my cleats as far back on the shoe as they will go, which positions the ball of my foot fractionally ahead of the pedal spindle. I feel that I pedal better as a result, and the tendinitis has completely disappeared.

BarracksSi

I decided to try pushing the cleats back, too. Haven't noticed any problems yet, although I haven't put in any real mileage on that bike since repositioning the cleats, either.

Machka 

I've been riding with my cleats as far back as they'll go for years ... since 2004, if I'm not mistaken. I was suffering from hotfoot before that, and I read something that suggested I move my cleats back ... I did and I haven't experienced hotfoot since.

Note that moving my cleats back means they are now at the back of the ball of my foot. I am still not pedalling with my arch or my heel (just in case the OP gets the idea that moving the cleat back means we're pedalling with our heels)

tntyz

+1 for moving cleats back. I was all the way back, but have moved them up a few mm recently.

Wolfvegas

should the movement feel fluid or should it be like hammering hard up and down?

BarracksSi

Well, all I know is, it feels a lot like it did when I was seven years old. Uncomfortable is unnatural and, obviously, hurts more than if I stay smooth.

BlazingPedals

When I started cycling seriously, I followed dogma and put the pedals under the balls of my feet. But I found I had foot problems that way -- sore feet and even worse, sore Achilles tendons. So I started placing my cleats back as far as they'll go. Once I even elongated the holes so I could move the cleats back even further. It's good to know I'm not the only one.

https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/...leat-position/

BarracksSi

^^^^ This is why we look for clipless pedals with a low stack height, too. The thicker the cleat-pedal "assembly" is, the further the foot moves around the spindle, making foot positioning more difficult.

There were pedals way back when that actually hung below the spindle, putting the center or top of the forefoot at the spindle axis, but -- probably for good reason -- they're not around anymore.

LAriverRat

I can spin 150 without bouncing so i guess i am doing it right. Ball of foot over pedal.

tntyz

Strive for a fluid motion.

v70cat

I found that the stack height of my S Works carbon shoes is much less than my old Sidi plastic. I find it a big benefit that no one talks about?