Analyzing the pedal stroke

Heading into analysis/paralysis with our esteemed colleague James Wilson...

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Which-Muscles-are-Really-Used-During-the-Pedal-Stroke-2012.html

Fact or fiction?

^^^^^^That's what I was a believer of^^^^^^^

In summary:

Collateral:

http://www.bicycling.com/training/fitness/perfect-pedal-stroke

 

BTW, I'm having a feeling that part of the root cause of the lower back pain is potentially mashing uphill climbs in ~15th gear on more recent (and longer) rides. Which is what SS guys are doing all the time but not me so my lower back (hip flexors?) is not used to it (yet). Potentially this mashing vs. spinning is related to the damaged back.

So in terms of pedaling efficiency and less injury rate, is spinning uphill in lower gears preferred to standing climbing in higher gears???

 

Fiction.

Muscles have only two states: relaxed or contracted. Contracting the hamstring brings the heel closer to the butt cheeks. It cannot contract unless the quad is relaxed.

The hamstring cannot exert force on the downstroke because it swings the leg up behind you. It does not extend the lower leg.

 

And for all you Lance Armstrong fans:

http://www.active.com/cycling/articles/3-drills-to-improve-cycling-efficiency-and-pedal-cadence

From the Lance videos I've seen of TdF, when he was stand/climbing, his cadence was much higher than my ~15th gear stand/climbs. Of course I'm not a pro but perhaps the mashing (although it seems like you're more efficient/stronger) is merely an illusion.

 

I'm no expert, but like Herz says, I have a keyboard and an internet connection! So, here's my take...

I started on the road long before Strava and GPS units... I used to use a watch and count the pedal revolutions. When I was a kid, I always aimed for 74 revolutions per minute. That was my long distance cadence, and where I felt the best. I don't put many road miles in anymore, just a couple century rides per year, but I still focus on cadence. Now, I have a handy dandy electronic gizmo that tells me exactly how fast I'm pedaling at any given time. I try to keep it in the upper 70s to low 80s. I do zero training for the century rides, but I manage to do just fine as long as I keep the pedals spinning pretty quickly...

On the mountain bike, however, that never seems to work. The trails are constantly changing, and it's difficult to just focus on cadence, so we tend to lump climbing into one of two categories: mashing or spinning. I was a spinner when I first started, because I wasn't strong enough to mash. As I rode more, though, I found myself out of the saddle more and more. Some riders will tell you that mashing is bad, and spinning is good... I think that's too simplistic, and I tried to get stronger at both. Now, on the single speed, I have no choice. I need to be out of the saddle to keep moving...

My advice is: Don't rush it. You seem to want to skip steps with your bike, training, skills, etc... Just go ride. You'll get stronger and more skilled in time, and figure out what works fro you. Then, you'll want to ride more than just the flat fire roads, and you won't worry about going over 25 mph anymore.

 

I don't know why they call it ankling, but if I'm in the saddle, I'm pushing my heel "through the pedal" to generate power to get up to a cadence that I can spin, and then just get into rhythmic "upper legging", leaving everything from the knee down as loose as possible.

Basically, I'm just trying to only really use the big muscles in my pedal stroke, with the quad being the initiator. It really is just as simple as just pressing down with the quads, just behind the knee, and leave the rest limp, picking up the other leg, and just sort of pumping. The heel down drops down naturally on the power stroke.

That reminds me, one thing I like about platform pedals is that I can center the axle further back, to the point where it's midfoot or even a little behind that.