Excellent graphics. The motion on the left also reduces the loss of grip through weightlessness at the top of the stroke.
This associated page also makes things clearer when we speak about wasting energy.
"1. Cranks at 3 oâclock (horizontal). Pressing down on the front pedal will cause the cranks to rotate in the direction that we want them to go. Pressing down on the rear pedal will cause the cranks to rotate in the wrong direction. If the force on the front pedal is greater than the force on the rear then weâll get some rotation in the right direction. Any downward force on the rear pedal has to be overcome by downward force on the front pedal before any effort is actually used to propel the bike forward. Remember that.
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Cranks at 6 oâclock (vertical). Theoretically pressing down on the top pedal wonât cause the cranks to rotate but in practise it will because the position is unstable. Whether it causes them to rotate forward (to 3) or backward is anyoneâs guess. Pressing down on the lower pedal will not cause the cranks to rotate - in fact it will stop them.
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Cranks between 1 and 2 oâclock. Pressing down on the top pedal will cause the cranks to rotate in the direction we want them to go - but only a small part of the force will contribute to the rotation⌠The rest of the force is wasted. Pressing down on the bottom pedal will cause the cranks to rotate in the wrong direction - but again with only part of the force. As long as the force on the top pedal is greater than the one on the bottom rotation will be in the right direction.
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Cranks between 4 and 5 oâclock. Similarly to 3, aproportion of the downward force applied to each pedal will affect the rotation, the remainder will have no effect."
"In the diagrams above the direction of travel is left to right (as with the animations below). The black arrow represents applied force. The coloured arrows show the applied force resolved radially (in red) and tangentially (in blue and green).
Bad pedalling works because the blue arrows are longer than the green ones. The effective contribution is blue minus green, Iâve shown that in amber. The amber arrows represent the âtorqueâ.
Bad pedalling is bad because all of the force represented by the red and green arrows is wasted.
The aim of good pedalling is to modify the direction of the black force to minimise radial forces and maximise torque."
It think this is the reason I am stalling, and the cycle is shooting out from underneath me.
I must be pedaling too early with my top foot at the 12oâclock position.
On the 24" I found it much easier to ride with the heavier 1kg tyre, because it helped to keep the wheel rotating via the extra momentum.
Itâs no fun to land flat on your backside for no apparent reason.
Now I know how to fix it properly.
In fact I just found this :
Here is a video showing how it works :
It is expensive but this video makes me feel trying this on a unicycle, it could be cool for my duck feet
Those platform pedals can twist and move laterally, increasing Q-factor at low position.
These pedals looks interestingâŚ
I just wonder if it wouldnât feel weird and impair control when riding without handlebarâŚ
Anybody ordering from outside Europe should get a 19% discount as usually VAT does not apply 
Do you really want your knees bounding outward like that at the bottom of the stroke? Seems like thatâd wreck your knees (and ankles/feet) far worse than keeping your feet semi-locked on an SPD pedal.
Well I donât know⌠I was only looking for flat pedals that can twist a bit.
The only thing I can say is that since I use 27mm pedal extenders, even on spirit cranks that already have some Q-factor, I feel very much comfortable and Iâve got better control.
But itâs locked, I have no idea how it feels to ride unicycle with BIUS1 Pedals and it is too expensive for me to be the first reviewers 
This is something more related to duck feet issues than with easy pedaling, so I guess we are a bit off topic.
foot readjustment
I wanted to clarify âfoot readjustmentâ. With relatively smooth pedals, the readjustment is ongoing, whereas with extreme pinned pedals, the readjustment is a more discrete act (such as momentarily lifting the foot off the pedal). Most pedal/shoe combinations are somewhere between totally slippery and completely fixed.
As Iâm sitting here on the couch, typing, Iâm experimenting with pushing one of my feet, which is flat on the floor, forward, backward and to the side. As Iâm doing this, Iâm feeling the muscles around my kneecap flexing in different ways.
When I shift my feet thusly, my reflexes tell my knees to contract muscles accordingly. But if the motions of my feet come as a surprise, my knees donât have a chance to react to the impending stress or impact. Imagine the difference between being punched in the stomach as a surprise, vs. having a chance to flex the abdominals prior to being hit.
What Iâm suggesting, maybe incorrectly, is that pinned pedals mask some of the feedback to our feetâŚwhich is necessary in order for our knees to work properly. If a particular maneuver causes our feet to slide forward, we may adapt, next time we perform the maneuver, by exercising some counteracting pressure, prior to sliding. This counteracting pressure comes in part from the knees. But with pinned pedals, our feet stay on the pedals, no matter what. This may inhibit the muscles around the knees from contracting properly, or quickly enough.
Continual readjustment on somewhat slippery pedalsâŚaccomplishes a few things. 1. It teaches us how to adjust our feet. 2. It helps strengthen the muscles around our knees. 3. It softens the effect of sudden changes in pedal pressure or twisting motion coming from the pedals.
Iâm not bagging on pinned pedals; they still make the most sense regarding the problem of how to continue pedaling with power during the 12:00 and 6:00 part of the pedal stroke, they have undoubtedly saved me from injury while riding mUni, and theyâre great for wet conditions. I think we all need to experiment with our setup, however.
itâs going a triffle too quickly âŚ
but I would say that the ankle movement might be different on a unicycle (specially for a Muni)
I suggest a foot always slightly angling downwards with less stress on Achilleâs tendon.
When going down a steep hill I also have a strange position: I bend my torso forward (not backwards) and thus I have more control on the pedal which is going up.
I just gave it a try on my 29er with 110 cranks and pedal extenders but itâs not so easy to focus on the feet positions with so short cranks and with the fast pedaling that goes with it.
Those last few weeks I have lowered again and again my seat on the 29er and 36er to prevent me from having my ITB rubbing against the knee bones. (in theory it arrives when the knee passes from fully stretched to flexed through the 30° angle so keeping the knee flexed at at least 30° should avoid the ITB syndrome)
What I observed more recently (but this is obvious) is that when I do some step back on this lowering process, the higher seat makes the good seating and easy pedaling simpler to notice and to practice.
So instead of betting on very low saddle I will try to set it less low and better focus on my pedaling in order to make it easier and easier and will see if it allows me to do more km/miles without pain.
The motion on the left GIF is probably more doable on longer cranks.
137 seams to be the perfect crank size for the 36er to train this special feet movements.
On the 29er I guess 125 would be more accurate than 110.
(Iâm speaking about road rides)
This thread is probably going by too fast for my poor, tired mind to really engage with it, but a couple things stuck in my brain that Iâve reflected on while riding so Iâll just comment on them.
Maybe weâre saying the same thing in different ways but Iâd claim the opposite of that. Being steady on the seat and having weight there makes it possible to make small light balance corrections by putting pressure on the pedals at spots in the cycle where it doesnât affect forward progress. When a lot of weight remains on the pedals through bottom dead center, itâs hard to make precise corrections that way.
This is important for being able to ride with both hands on handlebars, where you wonât be able to affect balance by twisting your upper body around or waving your arms. And using a handlebarâand learning how tight or loose to grip it to effectively damp out pedaling wobbleâhelps in turn for staying smooth and minimizing the balance corrections needed.
Yes. I really noticed this when I started riding a 36" unicycle and got into the âas if it had a freewheelâ mindset, trying to only use more or less forward pressure on the pedals, not applying back pressure unless I was going downhill or trying to stop. It made a big difference in effort versus average speed when I was riding well enough to avoid having to âcheck upâ to correct front-to-back balance.
I agree with you that the old-ish quantitative type of dude you tend to find here and also among online groups of runners, cyclists, etc, is probably way over-obsessed with speed and distance. I include myself there. A lot of too-much-too-soon issues trip up beginners in all of those sports. Like you, Iâm also strongly in favor of trying all different types of riding, different size wheels, etc., and learning lots of skills to be an all-around rider.
I will say though that there might be some things we only really figure out well into in a long-ish ride, when weâve settled in, built up a modest amount of fatigue, quit over-thinking things, and let our innate laziness discover more efficient ways to ride. Donât underestimate the power of innate laziness. 
That applies to a bike with clipless pedals (and a select few who ride high geared unicycles with clipless pedals).
For most unicycles, itâs a recipe for slowing you down, because youâre concentrating on the up stroke when your leg should be relaxed.
Iâve found the best way to increase cadence is to âfloatâ on the pedals. You keep just enough pressure on the pedals to stay on and to adjust balance. The legs cannot move fast if muscles are tense, which is what is achieved by the mere thought of âscraping backwardâ on the down stroke, and âpedaling in circlesâ
I think youâre right, at least itâs the way I felt it the few last times I tried to focus on what happens.
When I manage to relax my leg on the up stroke, the feeling of pedaling in circle and with less effort naturally comes with it.
I found that one way of relaxing the legs is to just focus on it while itâs pedaling, tracking any tension/stress/resistance on the legs to make it disappear, and also to check that the pressure on the crotch is on its maximum.
Because of the last point, a good cyclist short/pant with good pads could be very important.
I find that my bad reflex of putting too much weight on the pedals could partially come from an unconscious attempt to lower the pressure on the crotch because of the pain and discomfort it triggers in the end.
I personally use 2 cyclist shorts at the same time, and plan to try 3 (I know it sounds silly) to see if it can be even better.
The more comfortable you are when all your weight is on the saddle, the more likely youâll be to let it happen.
I never thought about this tight vs loose aspect of how to grip the handle, but holding the t-bar handle with both hands definitely plays a roll.
Since Iâm able to ride with both hands (which is very very recent) I spend much less energy for riding the same distance as when I was only able to keep one hand on it, and even more than when I was riding without handle.
What do you guys think about Long and low T-bar VS short and close to the saddle for the easy pedaling stuff?
Thanks for sharing your experience GD, and knowing your blog, it comes from a pretty serious rider.
When you (and others) say ârelaxedâ, Iâm a tiny bit confused. If the leg is relaxed, then it offers resistance (its own weight) to the pedal going up, or do I misunderstand what it means?
There will always be some resistance as the muscles change length, and as you point out, from the weight of the leg on the pedal.
But if you tense the muscle by actively trying to control âliftâ, it slows the ability of the muscle to change length quickly, which slows down your leg speed. It also increases energy use because the muscles continue working instead of being passive on the upstroke.
The easiest way is to think about the feet âfloatingâ on pedal. Once each leg has driven the pedal, the work is done and it should relax and âfloatâ.
Just did a ride with several bikes (family ride), I was on my 29er with lightweight supermoto tire and foss tube but with 110 spirit cranks and extenders.
I tried to work on my pedal stoke but didnât manage to avoid the ITB pain after a certain distance.
I rose the seat (to well put the body weight on the seat), lowered it a little after few km but it was still higher than how I was supposed (in theory) to set it to avoid ITB syndrome.
Iâm not sure the pain is so much related to this seat height, the more I ride the more I think it is much more related to how I have been pedaling since the beginning, even if itâs much better now, itâs not âlightâ enough to prevent the wakening of the ITB tendinitis.
Basically I realize I pedal very much like if I was on a bicycle, which means with too much effort but without the opportunity to let my tendons rest (no free wheel).
During this ride I often tried different ways to make pedaling very easy but non of them was easy enough or I wasnât able to do it for a long moment.
Like often itâs during the last half mile that I understood something interesting which matches very much this :
I tried to remove as much weight as possible from the pedals and I managed to do it by literally floating on the pedals, like if I was trying to lift my foot in order to change its position on the pedal, but without really changing it, and with both feet during all the rotation.
I immediately remembered this GizmoDuckâs post on this thread.
During this last half mile I found that trying to keep all the way this âfloating on the pedalâ sensation was indeed the more efficient way I 'd ever tried to keep the pedaling very very light (probably close to the minimum needed)
My next try will be dedicated on this floating sensation.
According to my analysis during the process, trying to make feet almost levitate above the pedals automatically makes you lift your legs even if the only leg that is actually lifted is the one which is doing the upstroke.
This must guarantee to have almost no resistance from the leg that does the upstroke against the one doing the down stoke.
It also prevents to put too much pressure during the down stroke so the resisting leg will have less stress.
This is a very new way of pedaling to me, and I canât wait to test it again, but will give to my knee a couple of days off.
Duh, I just re-read the entire threadâŚso much information. GizmoDuck mentioned how handle bars can dampen out wobbliness. I wonder if wobbliness creates extra tension on the knees. When the wheel wobbles at a fast rate, that may cause a twisting motion in the knees, perhaps similar to the hypothetical twisting motion I attributed to pinned pedals. When the rate of wobbliness is high enough, the upper body tends to remain moving straight ahead (inertia), but somewhere between the feet and hips, the right-to-left twisting needs to be absorbed.
I am a HUGE fan of handlebars. They helped reduce wobble in my ride, and they allowed me to pedal at a higher cadence, even with longer cranks. So, to the extent, if any, that wobbliness contributes to stress on the knees, handle bars could be helpful.
In my almost two years of unicycling, I have avoided riding, except for short experiments, on large wheels and/or short cranks. Once I took my 29" out on the road with 114mm cranks; there were hills involved; I was in a mild panic for the entire ride; whenever I started losing balance, I had to work harder to regain it; I was riding faster, but was concerned about eating the pavement. I also felt more tension on the knees. There have been some other threads related to knee pain and crank length.
Iâm not sure I would say that, but I havenât looked back through the whole thread
I ride on just the plastic handles without much wobble on most of my unis. The handlebars allow me to apply extra torque, usually on bigger wheels or geared unis.
Wheel wobble usually means too much pressure on the down pedal because it is making the wheel change direction.
Some great advice in that thread, on all pages! As someone who is also working on bettering his riding, I fully appreciate what I read.
Iâm wondering one thing UniD, 114mm might be on the short side if youâre re-training your brain (and body) to a more efficient pedaling. Maybe you should switch back to the 137mm you have. The added leverage will help you with more precise (and lighter) pressure on the pedals as you perfect your motions. I know itâs tempting to go shorter soon because the feeling is much better, but there is a time required to fully assimilate what youâre learning.
Personally, I waited 200km before going from 140 to 125mm on my 36" and itâs probably the best thing I ever did when it comes to uni. My 29" is still on 125 and Iâm just beginning to consider trying shorter - probably done 500km on it, if not more.
Of course, YMMV but you should give it a try.
This was the purpose of this thread, I was expecting some good advices and discussions and Iâm glade it goes this way
You are absolutely right.
110 was way to short, and I should have taken my 36er since I planed to follow bikes, even if two of the bikes were driven by children.
I definitely donât plan to use my 29er anymore for anything else than urban sidewalks or low speed rides and this will be with nothing shorter than 125 cranks.
For long distance or road rides with or without bike, I have my 36er, and I plan to stay at 137 cranks for a while with the big wheel.
100-110-114 are made to pedal fast, and this is not the more accurate size to learn a new way of pedaling.
I also took some risk by coming back to higher seat and testing it in a non loop trip, so when the pain went off I couldnât just stop my ride like I should and I worsen the ITB inflammation.
it finished by the same pain intensity as at the end of the canal de lâourcq trip you rode with me.
Anyway, I have to take some risks and make some experiments to find a way of liberating me from those ITB issues and mistakes are part of the process I guess.
Without this ride, maybe Iâd never felt this very abstract/theoretical sensation of âfloating on the pedalâ.
I know I have to experiment this particular way of pedaling now, so it worthed the pain.