Cycling UK Forum

This stuff about pulling up on the pedals, brushing your feet etc. is really just hocus pocus. It's been shown that practically all the power is in the downstroke.
Pedal at a rate that your legs tell you to do.
That's it. You don't need cleats etc., though most people use them. I don't in winter and I don't miss them.

Sheldon's description suggests that he was doing it in a way unlike that of most people, ie that he was trying to do it all the time . Likewise JB saying that racers don't do it is also incorrect, although see my final comment.

I suspect that different people have different definitions of what 'ankling' is. Suffice to say that pulling up on the backstroke does give you extra power, but it is best employed in short infrequent, bursts rather than doing it all the time, and you do need to work on it to develop the power. It is not necessarily more economic than just pushing down, but can deliver more power. When you hear a racer say that they "pulled a foot" <out of the pedal> in a sprint or on a steep climb, it is because they are pulling up on the back stroke to produce short bursts of extra power. IME there is no need to radically change the angle of the ankle to do this, this ankling may not be the best term for how the technique is used these days- it may be that in days gone by the dramatic ankle angle changes were because old cleats and straps were not as good at transferring the power/staving off injury as modern 'clipless' pedals.

As someone that only really started cycling a year ago, hopefully I'm in a position to help...

DaveP wrote:Pinches of salt would seem to be called for!

Agreed, especially the bit about the ball of your foot, as some research suggest it's actually less efficient. The energy you use in your calf isn't as efficient as if you used the same energy in your quads. If you look at those weird shoes from Germany, that have the cleats set further back...

DaveP wrote:If you are cycling for fun and health then then, IMO, there are two main considerations: Avoiding injury - a reasonable bike set up plus basic traffic skills, and, possibly more importantly, enjoying the experience - if you dont, then you wont be keeping it up for long.

Vital.

DaveP wrote:Dont worry about "most efficient cadences" The research brought forward in such articles only relates to elite trained athletes, mostly of a certain age...

I disagree, I've found increasing my natural cadence to be the most beneficial thing to my cycling. Your muscles don't tire as quickly, and I can go a lot longer. You'll suffer less injuries and feel better the day after a long ride. It has also really helped the technique, by spinning faster it seems to force you to pedal smoother. It was abit of an effort, whilst the last month of my gym membership ran out i pretty much just used the excercise bikes at a really low resistance and just kept the cadence high.

DaveP wrote:And clipless pedals? I'm just trying them out for myself, to see if they help with dodgy knees, but you should be aware that the latest studies seem to establish that even top competition cyclists dont actually pull upwards with the back foot! Apparently, what they do do, is to unweight the rising foot, so that none of the pedalling effort is wasted on lifting the recovering leg

The best advice i've ever had, is try and imagine you've stepped in some ****. In a single movement, push down as normal, but then "scrape" the **** of you're shoe on the way back up. It takes a little getting used to but works. As said earlier, it's not actually the lifting up, but more the unweighting of the pedal on the up stroke.


(DaveP, sorry, i'm not picking on you! It was just your post seemed to have most of the points and it was easier to just use that!)

I dont feel picked on - for one thing you agreed with me about something!

The point I was trying to make about "most efficient cadences" was basically about not worrying too much about the numbers that come out of such articles. Research is generally done using fit young chaps and the numbers really only relate to such people. The rest of us really shouldnt worry if we cant match the numbers, and if we ride for pleasure rather than competition we dont even have the motivation, never mind the youth!
If the OP just rides on, preferably using his gears sensibly but anyways just riding regularly he will soon find out what suits him - and then he will notice things getting easier...

As with the hungry monkey (great name btw) I've been cycling about a year or so. I use SPD cpedals and shoes, find a high cadence easier, and don't generally pull up at all, but on the few longer (60 miles like london to cambridge) rides I have done with a friend, if we're getting all macho and racing up a hill when your quads and calves have just about given up, using the other muscles to pull up definitely gives you a good few meters before succumbing to the burn!