Pedaling technique - anyone work on it?
 

I really didn't know where to start this thread but road cycling ought to do it. Please share with me if you have or regularly work on pedaling technique. I am certain there is more to it than just big circles. My right foot seems more receptive to good technique than does my left foot.

Constantly. On a long ride, I'll change my technique from time to time to rest various muscles that seem to have developed issues.

Well, not really sure precisely what you mean by "work on it", but if you mean do I spend time consciously spinning and using the full pedal rotation to apply forward momentum, then yes, I do this.

+1

Targeting muscle groups was VERY abstract at first (at least to me)

It is something I learned when I started lifting weights. I could never build my chest because I had very strong shoulders, so it really is best to learn early on so you don't get extremely dominant muscles, which will make it much harder. Really try to become attuned to what muscles are "firing" and from there try to shift how you generate the energy you are transferring into the pedals. This is one of the somewhat cerebral part of sports that can be a huge advantage, because in my experience I have found that rotating muscles groups because of fatigue isn't quite instinctive or natural.

The short answer is yes.
I change position to work different muscles, and lift (not pull) the leg through the back of the stroke, "scrape" through bottom, "slide" across the top, pedal circles, etc.....
I will pull through the back of the pedal stroke when I need that little extra burst of power, but it will "gas" me if I go too long.
When working on the trainer, I will single leg pedal to work my (left) weak leg strength and technique. I found my right leg had been "carrying" my left leg, and the changes in pedaling helped speed, stamina, and hill climbing:).
Pirk

Rollers.

Only in the off season, one leg drill and high cadence.

Never , I just pedal.

/end thread

Yup. Rollers. Ride on rollers and you'll learn the correct pedaling technique just out of self-defense and so you don't bounce off.

I just can't resist. OP, you need to investigate "ankling". Google it and/or see this article: http://cyclingtips.com.au/2009/05/ef...troke-ankling/

Maybe Sheldon Brown says something about it too.

People have been arguing about pedaling technique for decades. Ankling used to be a favorite subject before forums made it possible to argue about all this online. I haven't seen much about this lately, but that is no reason we shouldn't pick it up again here. :)

Robert

Wait, before this goes any further, you did mean pedaling, not piddling, right? That is a technique I for sure could all use some practice with to hear my wife talk.

I'm curious as well - the guys have been bugging me about me not using the lift and I can't seem to find the correct feel. Guess I need to unclip one leg and force it for a few sets of repeats.

Nope.

The only attention I pay to pedaling technique is watching that my power doesn't drop. I'll take added power any day over pedaling technique.

Best to do it on the trainer with low resistance. Also do some high cadence work by pedaling as fast as you can smoothly.

Improve your pedaling technique and you would have extra power. 2 different exercises.

On recovery days I limit myself to only riding in the small ring in the front. That forces me to ride at a very high cadence and just spin.

Do one-legged drills.

You'll be surprised at how quickly that highlights your weaknesses.

This is what I do. On the trainer always. High cadence work coupled with intervals (one minute on, one off), one-legged drills etc. Also, I always pay strict attention to form when doing these drills.

Generally, no. Do hard intervals and increase distance, and improve power.

Smoothen out your stroke on rollers - you'll gain maybe 2 watts on average, if even that. Often you'll actually lose power with the smoothness. Although your roadie paceline buddies will thank you for your fluid accelerations. (The guys in the crit race will also love you - and use you them dump you after eating your draft!)

Contrary to what folks think, it's really hard to lose significant power by intentionally pedaling less circle-like, as the pedal crank limits your motion. There are a lot of coaches including elite ones that say to just throw out the attention to pedalstroke and just focus on power and practice high cadences for when you need it. (They're not making you rush out to use the analytical spinscan feature on Computrainer which tells you the areas of your stroke that are putting out less force.)

Hi,

Your legs are remarkably good at working out what to do
in different situations once you rack up some mileage.

No real conscious effort involved, mix up your riding
and you will shift position and pedalling style to suit.

The only thing I do occasionally is jam both feet as
far forward into the toeclips as they will go, generally
for an uphill slog, the rest of the time my feet position
varies on the pedals depending on what I'm doing.

Same with my flat pedal folder, sometimes I purposely
move my feet forward, rest of the time go with the flow.

Putting low torque through the pedals I tend to use the
ball and toes, as as the torque increases my feet move
forward on the pedals, don't notice that most of the time.

rgds, sreten.

I can now pedal as smooth as butter pushing somewhat,
with no effort trying to learn to do it, it just comes with
doing it, and I will get better at pushing hard smoothly.

At some point in every ride I'm thinking about this. You don't have to have rollers, just an ability to focus on the smoothness of your stroke, how evenly you put power down left vs right, where in the stroke do you apply power (I like to feel like I'm dragging each pedal a little over the top of the stroke to avoid the feeling that I'm pedaling in squares), ankling vs not on a climb, how high can I spin a cadence without losing good form/bouncing, how efficient/economic am I - is the rest of my body as still and relaxed as it can be, etc. etc. you get the picture.

I do, during rides especially. I focus on keeping a smooth stroke at high cadences (100+ for me) without bouncing in the saddle.

As already noted, one-legged drills will help tremendously. I do them regularly.

Most people have a dominant leg. Because pedaling requires both legs working in tandem, it's very easy for the dominant leg to compensate for inefficiencies in the other leg.

It can pay off to work on pedaling technique but only when you are using the correct objectives. Contrary to what all experts believe, the perfect pedaling technique does exist. There never should have been a need for biopace, rotorcranks, L and Z shaped cranks and the never ending supply of non round chain rings because (believe it or not) the lower leg is capable of applying greater cumulative torque to the crank between 11 an 2 than the upper leg can apply between 2 and 5 o' c. Combine torque of the upper leg and lower leg and you get the ideal 180 deg. pedal stroke. The fact is, the most powerful cyclists never use their lower legs to assist in power production when pedalling.

I didn't know this, at least for me, until I had a DFU/Retul fit. Instead of 50/50 power from each leg, I was 40/60. That doesn't seem like much until the fitter explained one leg is putting out 50% more power than the other.