tihi, footless pedals, tihi…

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I’ve had issues with overuse problems since August 2008. I’ve been riding clipless pedals for the last 16 years and I pedal exactly how James explains (the bad way). I’ve recently tried to switch back to platforms right after the birth of my 3rd daughter and failed (I was so exhausted with the baby that I didn’t have the patience to stick with it). After reading these articles I’m going to follow my original intuition again and make an honest effort to stick with it for the next year (my wife is going to hide my clipless pedals and shoes). Thanks for inspiring me to revisit platforms (again).

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I believe the best explanation regarding the action required at the bottom of the pedal stroke was made by
Brian Lopes (The sprint king), who said it’s like scraping dog sh*t from your shoe!

PS. Thanks James and keep up the great work for MTB’rs

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James, After watching the video it seems like moving your seat a little forward would help with the hip drive pedal stroke, what are your thoughts?

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bikejames Reply:
May 22nd, 2010 at 2:40 pm

Being back a bit isn’t bad as it will let you use your quads more, what you don’t want is it being too far back and not letting you “scoop” through the bottom. I like to use standing and sitting pedaling to compliment each other – I stand most of the time and sit down to give my hips and core a rest. Hope this helps…

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I thought that also Jeff, common fitting approach is to have the pedal spindle directly beneath the bottom of the patella at the 3 o clock/level position… That might encourage the straight down push and not the arcing push described by James.

Sore knees are common if the seat is too far backwards in general, which maybe because of the over-use of the quads to push straight down. Another issue wit straigh down push and crap pedal stroke is the seat being too low, with clipless you can easily drag the pedal backwards but you can’t while on platforms, maybe the seat height needs to be checked.

Another thing, how do rocking hips come into play here… i was always told NO ROCKING! but it seems if you’re going to sweep back more then rocking might increase? Maybe more side planks are in order

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bikejames Reply:
May 22nd, 2010 at 2:38 pm

Your hips won’t rock if they have enough anti-rotation stability. Renegade rows are one of the best exercises to work on that ability…

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I went on a ride thinking about this post and noticed that since you sit behind the bottom bracket, you don’t get that full extension that James talks about. If I were a time trailist where you sit extremely forward on the bike, you might achieve that extension. Where I did find myself reaching that extension was during standup pedaling.

Always enjoying your post James. Keep up the good work!!

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bikejames Reply:
May 27th, 2010 at 6:58 am

@ Toby – yes, you can not get the extra extension behind the body while seated but your hips can still drive through the deadspot. If your hips function this way then it will just happen but if they don’t you’ll tend to just push straight down and not “scoop” through. The exact angles are different but the overall concept can, and should, still be applied.

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Thanks for another great tip! My cousin told me the same thing and he’s been riding for over 10 years. I’m still learning how to ride technical and man, have I’ve had some injuries. It’s been 4 months and have noticed that climbing has been very week with flats. Found this out when I forgot my clip on shoes. Luckily, I have the dual clip/flat pedal from Shimano. Anyways, he recommended that I go back to flats completely to improve not only my pedaling technique but also my mtb technique. Going to try this for a while. Hopefully, I’ll feed back in a few months or so to let you know how I’m doing. Thanks again for the video and input.

- Joe

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Hi James, excellent tip thanks!! Two questions:

1. Would it be fair to say that getting the hips (gluts) dominating is more about awerness and good functional strength/recruitment patterns (as many of your other posts/programs address) as opposed to just the pedals and bike set up?

2. I know you’ve recommended 5/10s before (which I bought recently) but apart from grip issues would it make sense to occassionally train/ride with a minimalist shoe for the benefit of the foot/ankle and whole kinetic chain?

Cheers,

Jefferson

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bikejames Reply:
December 5th, 2011 at 6:18 pm

Great questions…

1. Awareness is a big part of it, and that is developed through awareness during strength training. It can be tough to figure it out on the bike since there is a lot of other things going on. However, flat pedals force you to develop a more hip dominant style and standing up more also forces that, so pedals and pedaling position can influence it.

2. If you are referring to the Impact line of 5:10 shoes then yes, I do see a value in a more minimalist shoe. I actually like to pedal in the Freeriders as the soles are much thinner. They have another shoe that is a step below the Freeriders that is even more minimalist. I only wear the Impacts when riding downhill.

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