got a question for some more experienced guys… i usually see people but the balls of their feet on the pedals for regular riding, but for MUni, i heard dave poznanter say something about putting the back part of his foot on the pedal when doing MUni stuff…should i be doing this?
There was a recent thread on this - search back about four weeks or so (?).
However, the basic answer is: ride with the balls of the feet on the pedals when the terrain presents no special challenges. However, on rough ground or steep hills, it is easier and safer to ride with the insteps on the pedals.
Putting the balls of your feet on the pedals introduces more flexibility into the system. This allows for easy small adjustments of pressure to keep balance, and allows a bit more variety in the movement of your ankle and knee joints. However, there are times when you don’t need that flexibility, or it is counterproductive.
In really diificult conditions, using the instep on the pedal makes the drive from the thigh to the pedal more direct, and you can respond more quickly to sudden balance problems. On descents, putting the insteps on the pedals reduces the risk of the force of the pedal folding your foot back painfully. I had this happen once when I dropped over an unexpectedly steep edge, and the pedal force folded my foor back causing me to jump with pain - just as the pedalwas lifting me from the seat. The uni got to the bottom of the hill before I had landed from my vertical take off…
So - balls of the feet for normal riding; insteps for difficult stuff. It’s up to you to decide what counts a ‘difficult’ though.
Re: foot placement
On Fri, 5 Jul 2002 10:29:34 -0500, Mikefule
<Mikefule.7bqwy@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>So - balls of the feet for normal riding; insteps for difficult stuff.
>It’s up to you to decide what counts a ‘difficult’ though.
May I add another question. (Or two if you count the previous sentence
as a question too.) If a trail varies in difficulty, do expert riders
adjust their foot position all the time, and then what is the sort of
time/length scale that you bother to change it?
Klaas Bil
How about trials riding?? Where is optimum foot position for trails? I just assumed that balls of your feet would be better but now I just dont know…
Mike Fule wrote:
In really diificult conditions, using the instep on the pedal makes the drive from the thigh to the pedal more direct, and you can respond more quickly to sudden balance problems.
I might add, in order to do this, some people feel that a heeled shoe makes this work better, than say a flat soled shoe.
Work the maze.
Re: Re: foot placement
All depends what you mean by ‘expert’, I suppose.
An expert might be constantly adjusting his/her feet to cope with the varying demands of the terrain. On the other hand, perhaps a real expert is so good that he/she can ride almost anything with the feet in one position, and is so expert that he/she no longer needs to adjust the foot position.
I can only speak for myself, and I consider myself experienced rather than expert, but I shift my feet with about the same regularity as I would change gear on a 3 speed bicycle. That is, I’d change to insteps for a short difficult obstacle, or for a prolonged climb/descent, but I generally ride on the balls of my feet.
(Another consideration is comfort. I damaged my feet years ago with too much bicycling and too much dancing, so when the balls of my feet start to hurt, I shift my feet a bit to compensate.)