81–90 of 206 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The idea that your muscles have enough strength on the upstroke to contribute meaningfully to cycling is actually a bit of a misunderstanding. Absolutely not, and there are plenty of easy counterexamples. If you've ever raced track, team pursuits start from a dead standstill. You have to expend a ton of force to turn a huge gear, and the contribution of the lifting leg is crucial to getting up to speed. Of course i…
Those are not necessarily examples of lifting . Those could as well be explained by the contribution of not pressing on the opposite pedal (to keep the foot from sliding). And not pressing doesn't shine any light on the force of lifting.
So you obviously have never used clip in bike pedals before. Why are you trying to argue this point if you know nothing about what you're talking about?
ITT: people who read scientific articles by skimming the pictures. The proposal isn't "springs under your feet" it's "springs along your legs that you load while your leg is in the air". The point is that by loading the spring with a leg which is otherwise not doing anything you're able to increase the overall energy output of the body. Their Fig. 2 shows exactly the (theoretical) difference between the naive "jumpin…
One of the reason pro cyclists clip their feet to their pedals is so they can load the “other” leg through the back of the stroke, and across the bottom as well by pulling back on the loaded leg. Come unclipped in a sprint and you’re fucked. Sounds like this is the same thing for running.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the reason pro cyclists clip their feet to their pedals is so they can load the “other” leg through the back of the stroke, and across the bottom as well by pulling back on the loaded leg. Come unclipped in a sprint and you’re fucked. Sounds like this is the same thing for running.
The idea that your muscles have enough strength on the upstroke to contribute meaningfully to cycling is actually a bit of a misunderstanding. Your leg muscles for lifting are much much much weaker than your leg muscles for pushing - they're designed to only lift up the weight of your leg and not much more. The main advantage of the clips is to keep your leg in contact with the pedal throughout the cycle and make sur…
Similarly there as a few different muscles that can bring your knee up if it’s pinned between your hip and a pedal. The hamstring being one of them. Though personally (as an enthusiast rather than a pro) I always felt like I had more stamina from just driving through the bottom of the stroke. I only pulled up on hills and when someone tried to drop us.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The idea that your muscles have enough strength on the upstroke to contribute meaningfully to cycling is actually a bit of a misunderstanding. Your leg muscles for lifting are much much much weaker than your leg muscles for pushing - they're designed to only lift up the weight of your leg and not much more. The main advantage of the clips is to keep your leg in contact with the pedal throughout the cycle and make sur…
> The idea that your muscles have enough strength on the upstroke to contribute meaningfully to cycling is actually a bit of a misunderstanding. Absolutely not, and there are plenty of easy counterexamples. If you've ever raced track, team pursuits start from a dead standstill. You have to expend a ton of force to turn a huge gear, and the contribution of the lifting leg is crucial to getting up to speed. Of course i…
Oh goodness yes. When you’re going full out it’s like you’re trying to wring water out of a steel towel. Pull up on left handlebar while using right arm to prevent oversteer.
Another fun failure mode is when you don’t quite trust your handlebars. I’m either not going to pull on these or I’m gonna stop before the Big Hill to find an Allen wrench and tighten these stupid things. I think the new design is meant to prevent a lot of that.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are you trying to achieve? Keep weight/volume of the device low? Or is about training running but being bicycle-fast?
I want to get somewhere faster with portable tools. Used to skate, but annoying to take skateboard everywhere. I live in SF, so bike gets stolen. Currently use Lyft e-bike rental but ideally have similar speed but backpack-able portability. Honestly, maybe I wear cooling vest and just jog to work. Walking too slow: 15+ min / mile.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The idea that your muscles have enough strength on the upstroke to contribute meaningfully to cycling is actually a bit of a misunderstanding. Absolutely not, and there are plenty of easy counterexamples. If you've ever raced track, team pursuits start from a dead standstill. You have to expend a ton of force to turn a huge gear, and the contribution of the lifting leg is crucial to getting up to speed. Of course i…
We have a large amount of power meter data demonstrating that elite and pro cyclists do not, in fact, exert much force on the rising stroke when in the saddle. They maintain a net downward force on the pedal most of the time. The benefit of clipless pedals is repeatable positioning and the ability to start the downstroke right at top dead center, without slipping off the pedal. The benefit is not from powering the ba…
But I think you have to go to triathletes to really see that effect more pronounced. Since they like to sit tilted a couple degrees farther forward on the bike, the hamstring is more accessible.
At the end of the day a pro is 5-10% better than a serious cyclist at five different things. Even before you get to diet and genetics (and doping, sorry) they’re already outputting more watts and getting more of them to the wheels than I could hope to. Technique adds up.
ITT: people who read scientific articles by skimming the pictures. The proposal isn't "springs under your feet" it's "springs along your legs that you load while your leg is in the air". The point is that by loading the spring with a leg which is otherwise not doing anything you're able to increase the overall energy output of the body. Their Fig. 2 shows exactly the (theoretical) difference between the naive "jumpin…