Re: [CR]Pulling up in the stroke

(Example: Framebuilders:Tony Beek)

In-Reply-To: <000b01c8b746$40a184e0$6400a8c0@OFFICE1>
References: <a13b6c65f4505d3523c33437d51e860e@comcast.net>
Date: Fri, 16 May 2008 08:28:40 -0700
To: "ehbusch" <ehbusch@bellsouth.net>, <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>, "Bianca Pratorius" <biankita@comcast.net>
From: "Jan Heine" <heine94@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]Pulling up in the stroke


At 7:16 AM -0400 5/16/08, ehbusch wrote:
>Pulling on the upstroke, Absolutely. THEY USUALLY PULL THIER FOOT
>OUT OF THE PEDAL....

You usually pull out of the pedal near the bottom of the stroke, when you pull backwards and upwards. The best advice to obtain a good spin I have heard (from Bicycling, no less, but that was many years ago), was to pedal in triangles. At the top, push forward and down, at the bottom, pull back, then pull upward and forward...

If you don't connect your foot to the pedal, you lose out during the bottom part of the stroke.

Whether you pull up during the upstroke or only unweigh the pedal is a moot issue. The pedals move in circles, so the upward component of the pedal's speed varies between 0 at the top/bottom and full speed in the middle. It is possible that you cannot move your leg as fast as the pedal comes up in the middle of the stroke - thus all you can do is unweigh the pedal - but there is not doubt that you can move your leg faster than zero at the bottom of the stroke. And thus you can pull out of a toestrap.

Interestingly, with OT spd pedals that are spring-loaded back and front, I tend to uncleat at the top of the stroke as I push forward, and the pedal opens. Even though the pedal is already moving downward, my foot is inclined forward, and thus pushing upward on the cleat. This happens only during very hard efforts.

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.bikequarterly.com