This video caused me to reassess my saddle height. I ended up dropping the seatpost a good inch. Soreness at the end of a two hour ride was greatly reduced. I have recently been trying different saddles and neglected to adjust the seatpost. Thanks, GCN!
Got to agree on this comment. Doing stretches helps everything about riding. How about some classic examples specific to pedaling motion like race your buddy 1 mile in your lowest gear (it exaggerates your pedaling flaws and forces you to correct.). BTW, I completely disagree with the recommendation not to pull up on the up stoke. To be smooth you need consistency and saying to not pull up on the down stroke creates the impression people should only push down.That creates a very choppy picture in ones head. Better to think "push down, pull back, pull up, and push over the top" as if it is a complete cycle rather than "push left, push right, push left and push right"
look at his position at 6:06 though... he needs all the headtube and spacers he can get. Sucks to be a "body-freak", I have similar problems because my legs are disproportionally long in comparison to my torso. I can not dream of riding/owning a madone or aeroad one day, the drop would be something like 20cm
single leg pedalling on the turbo is great for smoothness & improving technique. Riding a track bike/fixie too is also good for that constancy of pedal motion.
I was always taught to keep my feet in line with the bike as any angle could cause knee issues. Took the advice seriously as I had an earlier knee injury and went from spending the following week in agony to painless more efficient riding, albeit with a mid float setup.
Love this video not to much technical jargon easy advice to follow for us folks who are new to this and GCN please remember this as the pros out there already know a lot of these tricks where as we do not so keeping it simple like this works great video maybe a spin of channel like GCN amateur might be an idea 😀
It's nice to see that the folks at GCN are once again recognizing the importance of a good pedaling technique. I saw a recent video where Simon made the absurd claim that pedaling technique is not important. A smooth, round pedal stroke is critical to producing a more powerful and efficient stroke. The reason many pro cyclists make pedaling look so effortless is because, due to their good pedaling technique, IT IS relatively effortless. Working on pedaling technique is one of the most important things you can do to improve your speed, power, endurance and most of all FUN.
You'll get a smooth pedaling stroke through simply riding your bike however, it's a subconscious effort that takes time to perfect. If you're making a concious effort to change you posture, something is wrong
@@calebgonsalves2970 A good pedal stroke is not intuitive at all. If you practice pedaling squares you will get good at pedaling squares. So simply riding your bike is not going to turn a bad pedal stroke into a good one. It will make a bad pedal stroke even worse and harder to correct later. This is true of any mechanical motion you train, not just pedal strokes. Every see a bad golfer get good simply by playing more bad golf?? If you want a smooth pedal stroke it takes a conscious effort to develop the muscle memory, then once this is ingrained, it will become more natural and require only occasional attention to keep it fine tuned. This has absolutely nothing to do with POSTURE so I'm not sure why you even introduced posture in your comment. I've been riding road bikes for over 45 years and have been a student of pedaling dynamics for most of that time. I know a thing or two about what makes an efficient pedal stroke.
The best way to smooth your pedaling is to do one leg riding on a trainer or on gradual climbs. I was still beating 30 yr. olds when I was 50. I'm 70 now and finally riding again in retirement.
Power yoga and cycling are the perfect partners ,balance , strenght ,core strenght and indurance. Forearm plank is great but dont disenguage your core like our narrator keep it rigid. If anyones does have 1 leg longer, check your hip joint alignment as in most cases the long leg appears longer as the hip joint is out.If so find a Holistic healer as its easy fixed. Great vid and advice Thanks !
Another great topic, thanks. Years ago, I can remember talk of Greg Lemond using an horizontal technique, likened to "wiping your feet" from 3:00 to 9:00 on the stroke, vs. a more piston-like vertical stroke. Any talk of this type of thing these days, in terms of efficiency?
Oval hyperglide 80s old school style ChainRings r back in vogue won the last dozen or more tours these Shaped non round Rings up front have Yoda speak there that final sent ace b4 sorry Forgive Me U Must! He he
Great and useful vid Conor! Its always good to see your (me) doing most things correctly! In my experience, stretching is so important because like you I get hammy pain, best thing though is foam rolling. It's amazing! General stretching for lower back is also good, especially if your in that aero position on your bike for upwards of a couple of hours. Thanks dude!
Thanks so much Conor! I have been having some patella-femoral and some achilles issues over the last year...and your bit was a helpful reminder to me that staying smooth will help to keep the legs healthy.
You look like you're riding a bike with 26" wheels. As a completely ordinary guy at 5' 9" tall I've always wondered what it would be like to see things from your perspective. Great video sir!
Another nice how to video. thanks, i really like them. And I also have a (maybe weird) request: Could you make a how to crash/fall like a pro video? I had some bad luck recently leading to a couple nasty crashes with broken bones and I was always wondering if I could have done something different in those split seconds while going over the handelbar. Maybe the pros have some advice what they did.
Conor sure looks really good on a bike. I am tall too but not quite a tall as him. Now I am really a roadie at heart but I mostly ride a 29" wheel mountain bike for my daily training and rides out. 29" has been a revelation for larger riders in the mountain bike scene. The larger wheel size means that the frame looks in proportion to the wheels and on top of that there is no getting away from the increased stability it brings by effectively lowering the centre of gravity. Its probably got a lot to do with UCI rules but you could make an argument that road bikes for taller people would also be better off with slightly larger wheels too.
Great easy to follow advice. I've seen and heard so much bad advice given out by 'experts', so it's great to see some advice that will actually help cyclists in under 8 minutes.
GCN does this a lot, you rarely see them actually getting overtaken by traffic and interacting with other cyclists. Maybe it's for the immersion? It'd be interesting to have videos played out in more real time.
Good video. I would say you would naturally pull up a little and you should do to some extent otherwise you would weight the pedal on the up stroke, causing a negative power as it acts against the down stroke. Dual Power meter with pedal smoothness, torque effectiveness or a wattbike maybe be good measurement/guidance tools .
Late to comment, but my first semi competitive road bike was a track bike, fixed wheel 87" gear and a front brake. A fixie over the first 12 months though forced me to be fluid at speed not just in the legs but on the seat. Also improved my bike skills. For me it's still the ultimate whole body workout (no gym), even though i use my road bike & fully rigid and lightweight mtb on alternate days for work etc.
So I’m new and riding a few miles everyday right now. I ride in a park in NYC but I can only go so fast. I find I can pedal until I reach a safe cruising speed to go around the park but I need to maintain that speed. When I am at speed, the tension falls away from pedaling and I start jerking and peddling squares as you say until I need to corner and pick up speed again. How can I stop this and feel like I’m peddling smoother? Hope that made sense, thanks!!! Love the gcn videos! Lots of good advice for my level. Thanks for that too!!!
I got a new bike last week and went clipless for the first time. Realized very quickly how terrible my pedaling technique was. Clipless definitely forces you to fix glaring issues immediately. Focusing on it has made my rides much more enjoyable, and less painful afterwards. And just the one fall clipping in🤣
Thank you. Techniques are really important non only to improve, they are useful to avoid injuries. The first part although was not very clear. At the gym, we had a teacher who made some drawings, anyway, all those tips are very useful, thanks again.
Probably due to the higher rolling resistance (either due to the bigger wheels or riding rougher terrain). Could be emulated on a road bike by just using the largest gears/limiting yourself to a few gears only.
@@sadbadmac I "spin" more on the mountain bike. Climbing frequently requires a super low gear due to rough terrain and steepness. You have to keep pedaling or you'll fall over or crash.
It really isn’t. It’s an allusion, any effort that you’re using to pull up is totally wasted energy. People used to say pull up on the pedals but the problems was it was meant as a sort of euphemism for ‘pedal smoothly’. Being clipped in in and of itself is enough to keep your pedal stroke smooth enough. You’ve got to be careful with advice like ‘pull up’ because a lot of people will take it literally.
LOL! "Like a graceful swan swimming through the water..." I will never forget that imagery. I'm astonished how well you can deliver this on camera while riding. Hats off to you.
Good video, but I'm a little surprised no mention was made of how to develop a smooth spin. I could the best way to to pedal in smooth circles is at the end of a ride spend 5-8 minutes pedaling with one foot then the other, to force you to pedal in circles. I've shared this tip with others and they've found it very useful. Anyway, just my 2 cents worth !!!
I like to pedal with a pull force at the same time as a push force sometimes for variation (tho not most of the time) and I am curious as to why that is apparently wrong. Any idea? I would have thought constant rotational force is good!
Lately I bought a CITYbike and it made me fall into this bike-rabbithole, now I ended up watching all these videos about bike racing, mountainbiking, bike packing, and all sorts of things I've never done. It's interesting though.
Quick question: if you're not supposed to pull up between 6-12 on the rotation, what benefit does the clipless pedal bring? Would a regular flat pedal or cage suffice? Cheers
It makes sure your feet are always in the same position and don't slip off. It also has benefits while sprinting because you might not be able to not pull while going all out.
When sprinting or doing other types of spikes in wattage output, you naturally start to pull up. Those are conveniently the times when pulling up is beneficial to your power output. Another reason for clippless pedals is that you stay connected to the pedal when you're standing on them. Clips and straps or a cage is less safe because you can't get your foot out as easily
Yeah it's been a bit of a minefield. For years I've used cages, always been most comfortable with them and they offer greater versatility; however every video on UA-cam days to get clipless because you can utilise the upstroke. This threw me somewhat! Particularly after finally investing in clipless haha
My Achilles’ tendons are quire short, as such my toes tend to point down automatically when entering the upstroke, with a little extra push backwards, handy when climbing in the saddle . (Also, because of this, I’m bad at doing squads, but it doesn’t seem to hamper my overall power, but it might explain why I like climbing out of the saddle)
Ok...I have an issue with the stretching bit. I was told many years ago, that all those years of stretching that I did fastidiously..religiously..for all my sporting endeavours...footie (or *soccer* here in the colonies) squash, cycling etc, was a must. There was a stretch for everything. Then one day..like magic, we were all told to stop. By the same experts who told us to stretch everything all the time in the first place. The new mantra was *naturally* warm up your muscles before use, and you will perform better and hurt less. Now, I kinda buy into that, as decades of pre-game/ride/court stretches did not totally stop the odd injury. So...I being a good sport tried the "new" advice. I do a nice slow spin down the road for 5 k before "getting my freak on" and it hasn't failed me yet. I know most of you will gasp in horror and nixing the religion that is stretching, but just sharing my experience is all :-)
i don't have clips/pedals with cleats. I have rough pedals wear regular shoes. I get jerky pedaling when my feet move. Not sure I'm ready for clipless pedals and I have reduced mobility in 1 knee.
How smooth is your pedal stroke?
Well that bike is Huge
Smooth as butter..😁😁🤓🤓
Global Cycling Network smooth as oil
Bro its as smooth as leggos on a treadmill...😁
Freshly waxed
Seeing a 6’8” man doing a plank across a country road gives a whole new meaning to creating a “bridge”.
ua-cam.com/video/bVk_UPTxM78/v-deo.html
Emma Pooley could teach Connor a few things about plank form
@@CarlForde you can’t make a single span bridge that long without an arch. Materials science isn’t that advanced yet.
He's got more space in that front triangle, than I have in my apartment.
if he goes bikepacking he can take everything in a framebag
@@8paolo96 and still have some spare space..
Its not a triangle anymore its a trapezium
@@rato_gordo "modified triangle" for me..
Lmao
The presenter did an excellent job. Easy to understand, hope he does a lot more of these types of videos.
This video caused me to reassess my saddle height. I ended up dropping the seatpost a good inch. Soreness at the end of a two hour ride was greatly reduced. I have recently been trying different saddles and neglected to adjust the seatpost. Thanks, GCN!
Can GCN tell me why Conor puts 20 inch BMX wheels on his Pinarello - 😂
...so for some light hearted quarantine entertainment - next week let's see Conor ride Emma's bike...
OMG hahahahah
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This was very helpful and timely as indoor training seems a good place to practice the pedal stroke. Thanks Conor.
This channel is so far beyond me, and I'm totally ok with that! Still love to watch and learn.
Video: How to pedal smooth
Final tip: Pedal smoother
In all seriousness I love your content keep it up!
Got to agree on this comment. Doing stretches helps everything about riding. How about some classic examples specific to pedaling motion like race your buddy 1 mile in your lowest gear (it exaggerates your pedaling flaws and forces you to correct.). BTW, I completely disagree with the recommendation not to pull up on the up stoke. To be smooth you need consistency and saying to not pull up on the down stroke creates the impression people should only push down.That creates a very choppy picture in ones head. Better to think "push down, pull back, pull up, and push over the top" as if it is a complete cycle rather than "push left, push right, push left and push right"
ua-cam.com/video/bVk_UPTxM78/v-deo.html
@@logicaldad1917 totally agree about "push down, pull up and push over the top"
This guy is a great addition to the team
How tall is he? The frame is so much bigger than the wheels he might just be a metre higher in elevation than the peloton.
Conor Dunne is 6'8"
look at his position at 6:06 though... he needs all the headtube and spacers he can get. Sucks to be a "body-freak", I have similar problems because my legs are disproportionally long in comparison to my torso. I can not dream of riding/owning a madone or aeroad one day, the drop would be something like 20cm
@@Horstelin but the long head tube pinarello still look cool tho
@@Horstelin 20cm drop is fine though.
@@MrBusunglueck Tell that to my back hurting at 12cm of drop :P
This is good advice and very well presented.
Just enough information to be useful without being overwhelmed by the detail.
Thanks GCN!
Conor great presenter - best gcn first couple months - Hank took you way longer but now your probably my fav
single leg pedalling on the turbo is great for smoothness & improving technique. Riding a track bike/fixie too is also good for that constancy of pedal motion.
I was always taught to keep my feet in line with the bike as any angle could cause knee issues. Took the advice seriously as I had an earlier knee injury and went from spending the following week in agony to painless more efficient riding, albeit with a mid float setup.
What a great presenter, definitely grew into the role fast Conner! Your are fun to watch...although 5:25 is more of a Tipi than a plank lol
ua-cam.com/video/bVk_UPTxM78/v-deo.html
Really like connor videos its nice to se us tall guys represented
Love this video not to much technical jargon easy advice to follow for us folks who are new to this and GCN please remember this as the pros out there already know a lot of these tricks where as we do not so keeping it simple like this works great video maybe a spin of channel like GCN amateur might be an idea 😀
ua-cam.com/video/bVk_UPTxM78/v-deo.html
It's nice to see that the folks at GCN are once again recognizing the importance of a good pedaling technique. I saw a recent video where Simon made the absurd claim that pedaling technique is not important. A smooth, round pedal stroke is critical to producing a more powerful and efficient stroke. The reason many pro cyclists make pedaling look so effortless is because, due to their good pedaling technique, IT IS relatively effortless. Working on pedaling technique is one of the most important things you can do to improve your speed, power, endurance and most of all FUN.
You'll get a smooth pedaling stroke through simply riding your bike however, it's a subconscious effort that takes time to perfect. If you're making a concious effort to change you posture, something is wrong
@@calebgonsalves2970 A good pedal stroke is not intuitive at all. If you practice pedaling squares you will get good at pedaling squares. So simply riding your bike is not going to turn a bad pedal stroke into a good one. It will make a bad pedal stroke even worse and harder to correct later. This is true of any mechanical motion you train, not just pedal strokes. Every see a bad golfer get good simply by playing more bad golf?? If you want a smooth pedal stroke it takes a conscious effort to develop the muscle memory, then once this is ingrained, it will become more natural and require only occasional attention to keep it fine tuned. This has absolutely nothing to do with POSTURE so I'm not sure why you even introduced posture in your comment. I've been riding road bikes for over 45 years and have been a student of pedaling dynamics for most of that time. I know a thing or two about what makes an efficient pedal stroke.
Great advice bro!
These videos are awesome
The best way to smooth your pedaling is to do one leg riding on a trainer or on gradual climbs. I was still beating 30 yr. olds when I was 50. I'm 70 now and finally riding again in retirement.
Cheers, Osbo. I, too, am 70 and retired. I watch UA-cam cycling videos too much and ride too little. But I still ride!
Power yoga and cycling are the perfect partners ,balance , strenght ,core strenght and indurance. Forearm plank is great but dont disenguage your core like our narrator keep it rigid. If anyones does have 1 leg longer, check your hip joint alignment as in most cases the long leg appears longer as the hip joint is out.If so find a Holistic healer as its easy fixed. Great vid and advice
Thanks !
Oval Chainrings make the Pedalstroke a lot smoother, Trier ist, love it and never go back to round ones. Greets to Froome ☝️
At 5:32 - that’s actually the M25 he’s planking across...
He is so tall he blocks the entire road
ua-cam.com/video/bVk_UPTxM78/v-deo.html
Another great topic, thanks. Years ago, I can remember talk of Greg Lemond using an horizontal technique, likened to "wiping your feet" from 3:00 to 9:00 on the stroke, vs. a more piston-like vertical stroke. Any talk of this type of thing these days, in terms of efficiency?
Oval hyperglide 80s old school style ChainRings r back in vogue won the last dozen or more tours these Shaped non round Rings up front have
Yoda speak there that final sent ace b4 sorry
Forgive Me U Must! He he
Oval Qrings team
interesting, i always feel like i want to get ahead of my bike in that way
Great video. The cycle fit is something I really need to pay attention to.
Fantastic Informative video!!! Connor in such a natural in front of the camera and good with well spoken too 😃👏🏻
Great and useful vid Conor! Its always good to see your (me) doing most things correctly! In my experience, stretching is so important because like you I get hammy pain, best thing though is foam rolling. It's amazing! General stretching for lower back is also good, especially if your in that aero position on your bike for upwards of a couple of hours. Thanks dude!
Nice to have a GCN video that isn’t trying to sell me something for a change. 👍
I've been riding for decades and a smooth pedal stroke and still upper body are my mantra. Good advice here.
Thanks so much Conor! I have been having some patella-femoral and some achilles issues over the last year...and your bit was a helpful reminder to me that staying smooth will help to keep the legs healthy.
ua-cam.com/video/bVk_UPTxM78/v-deo.html
Very simple but very important content, cheers man
Great advice. Thanks guys. Will try that little session tomorrow morn on way to work. With NZ Police so able to ride to work!!
You look like you're riding a bike with 26" wheels. As a completely ordinary guy at 5' 9" tall I've always wondered what it would be like to see things from your perspective. Great video sir!
What's the size of that frame omg like 4XL
Ya, lol!🤣
Looks like a giraffe lol
That fork is like half fork have steer tube.
@@colostomybag9367 Lmao for real 6:06
ua-cam.com/video/bVk_UPTxM78/v-deo.html
Thank you, Global Cycling Network
5:35 Man just dominated the whole width of the road there
Love all your videos 💪💪💪
Another nice how to video. thanks, i really like them. And I also have a (maybe weird) request: Could you make a how to crash/fall like a pro video? I had some bad luck recently leading to a couple nasty crashes with broken bones and I was always wondering if I could have done something different in those split seconds while going over the handelbar. Maybe the pros have some advice what they did.
he is so tall ,the 700c wheel set looks like a 26er or a 24 on his bike 🤩
More like a aero 20" folding bike lol
ua-cam.com/video/bVk_UPTxM78/v-deo.html
It sounds as though cameraman rides along on a lawnmower ;)
finally someone else noticed
ua-cam.com/video/bVk_UPTxM78/v-deo.html
Brilliantly & well presented video. 👊
Nice music, love it!
I started biking 2 days ago and i never imagined it to be this complicated. hahaha
Are you getting it now?
@@Adrian-xh2ld so far yes but sadly i stopped cycling for a while now. 😔
@@SingleMind awh what’s your hobbies as of now?
@@Adrian-xh2ld currently none but before biking i like badminton why you asked by the way?
@@SingleMind curious, and yeah I love badminton too , it’s so fun
Conor sure looks really good on a bike. I am tall too but not quite a tall as him. Now I am really a roadie at heart but I mostly ride a 29" wheel mountain bike for my daily training and rides out. 29" has been a revelation for larger riders in the mountain bike scene. The larger wheel size means that the frame looks in proportion to the wheels and on top of that there is no getting away from the increased stability it brings by effectively lowering the centre of gravity. Its probably got a lot to do with UCI rules but you could make an argument that road bikes for taller people would also be better off with slightly larger wheels too.
Great job Connor!!!
As a follow-up to this piece, would like to learn how Climbers vs. Puncheurs apply force in different parts of the pedal stroke. Thanks as always!^♡^
Smooth like butter.
Great easy to follow advice. I've seen and heard so much bad advice given out by 'experts', so it's great to see some advice that will actually help cyclists in under 8 minutes.
I think this is the best technique video you’ve made so far! Great advice!
Quite frustrating not to meet the cyclist that is coming at around 2:10 :(
GCN does this a lot, you rarely see them actually getting overtaken by traffic and interacting with other cyclists. Maybe it's for the immersion? It'd be interesting to have videos played out in more real time.
ua-cam.com/video/bVk_UPTxM78/v-deo.html
One of the best tips I read (don't remember from whom it was): think about pedaling fast, not strong.
Good video. I would say you would naturally pull up a little and you should do to some extent otherwise you would weight the pedal on the up stroke, causing a negative power as it acts against the down stroke. Dual Power meter with pedal smoothness, torque effectiveness or a wattbike maybe be good measurement/guidance tools .
I heard this advice similarly described to newbies as, "lift your rising foot a bit, otherwise your downward foot has to lift it for you."
my saddle position technique is to always position my saddle parallel to my hip whilst standing....and it works and never fails me everytime😌
Late to comment, but my first semi competitive road bike was a track bike, fixed wheel 87" gear and a front brake.
A fixie over the first 12 months though forced me to be fluid at speed not just in the legs but on the seat. Also improved my bike skills.
For me it's still the ultimate whole body workout (no gym), even though i use my road bike & fully rigid and lightweight mtb on alternate days for work etc.
Good video my friend well done 👏 thanks
great information. thank you
Nice...very useful. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
So I’m new and riding a few miles everyday right now. I ride in a park in NYC but I can only go so fast. I find I can pedal until I reach a safe cruising speed to go around the park but I need to maintain that speed. When I am at speed, the tension falls away from pedaling and I start jerking and peddling squares as you say until I need to corner and pick up speed again. How can I stop this and feel like I’m peddling smoother? Hope that made sense, thanks!!! Love the gcn videos! Lots of good advice for my level. Thanks for that too!!!
Great tips. New Biker on cleats.
I got a new bike last week and went clipless for the first time. Realized very quickly how terrible my pedaling technique was. Clipless definitely forces you to fix glaring issues immediately. Focusing on it has made my rides much more enjoyable, and less painful afterwards. And just the one fall clipping in🤣
Thank for the video man
Thanks for watching!
Ima gonna try some of these peddlin techniques.
Good channel sir I love it
Thank you. Techniques are really important non only to improve, they are useful to avoid injuries. The first part although was not very clear. At the gym, we had a teacher who made some drawings, anyway, all those tips are very useful, thanks again.
I find riding a mountain bike in the off season has helped me immensely.
As far as I'm concerned there is no "off season"
@@markjowen66 Good fo you!
Probably due to the higher rolling resistance (either due to the bigger wheels or riding rougher terrain). Could be emulated on a road bike by just using the largest gears/limiting yourself to a few gears only.
@@sadbadmac I "spin" more on the mountain bike. Climbing frequently requires a super low gear due to rough terrain and steepness. You have to keep pedaling or you'll fall over or crash.
Great video. Can’t wait for Hanks rebuttals in a future episode.
How about riding rollers? I’ve always heard that is a sure fire way to improve pedaling smoothness.
Improves smoothness bike handling and makes you more relaxed on the bike. I have all my students learn how to ride rollers.
Really helpful, any suggestions for counting my pedaling? Cadence? 🙏 Thanks.
The camera bike sounds like a nice twin engine!
ua-cam.com/video/bVk_UPTxM78/v-deo.html
pulling up on the pedal with clipless when riding uphill is actually quite helpful.
Right? Not sure what the point of riding clipless would be if you didn't pull up.
pulling up intensely sounds like knee-abuse
It really isn’t. It’s an allusion, any effort that you’re using to pull up is totally wasted energy. People used to say pull up on the pedals but the problems was it was meant as a sort of euphemism for ‘pedal smoothly’. Being clipped in in and of itself is enough to keep your pedal stroke smooth enough. You’ve got to be careful with advice like ‘pull up’ because a lot of people will take it literally.
Excellent Video and Great Presenter. Keep these coming!!!
LOL! "Like a graceful swan swimming through the water..." I will never forget that imagery. I'm astonished how well you can deliver this on camera while riding. Hats off to you.
don't jerk lol, got my mind turning grin for a moment
Great tips!-) Thanks~
I hope One day i have a Road bike like yours 🤧
Good video, but I'm a little surprised no mention was made of how to develop a smooth spin. I could the best way to to pedal in smooth circles is at the end of a ride spend 5-8 minutes pedaling with one foot then the other, to force you to pedal in circles. I've shared this tip with others and they've found it very useful. Anyway, just my 2 cents worth !!!
I like to pedal with a pull force at the same time as a push force sometimes for variation (tho not most of the time) and I am curious as to why that is apparently wrong. Any idea? I would have thought constant rotational force is good!
Thanks for the video... Top
Lately I bought a CITYbike and it made me fall into this bike-rabbithole, now I ended up watching all these videos about bike racing, mountainbiking, bike packing, and all sorts of things I've never done. It's interesting though.
Hi Conor , Ken here . Your bike looks so tiny . I practice yoga everyday , it really helps my biking .
Cheers to the GCN orchestra for their work on this video
Smoother than a cashmere codpiece!
Quick question: if you're not supposed to pull up between 6-12 on the rotation, what benefit does the clipless pedal bring? Would a regular flat pedal or cage suffice?
Cheers
It makes sure your feet are always in the same position and don't slip off. It also has benefits while sprinting because you might not be able to not pull while going all out.
I think you aren't supposed to force yourself to pull up unnaturally - if you have fitted your bike well, a small pull factor should appear from alone
When sprinting or doing other types of spikes in wattage output, you naturally start to pull up. Those are conveniently the times when pulling up is beneficial to your power output. Another reason for clippless pedals is that you stay connected to the pedal when you're standing on them. Clips and straps or a cage is less safe because you can't get your foot out as easily
Flat pedals are great. You can sprint better with clipless, because you can pull up. Outside of that, nothing wrong with flats.
Yeah it's been a bit of a minefield.
For years I've used cages, always been most comfortable with them and they offer greater versatility; however every video on UA-cam days to get clipless because you can utilise the upstroke. This threw me somewhat! Particularly after finally investing in clipless haha
0:40 you are saying not to pull up but simon and matt told to pull up
I don't jnderstand the idea of using clipless pedals if not taking advantage of pulling up. Would love a proper explaination.
At 1.30 you say correct angle should be 25-30°, please can explain this. Angle of what? And relative to which other element on the bike?
omg that headtube
There really is nothing better than doing practice on rollers for smoothing out pedaling.
Get a dual-sided power meter, and focus on improving your TE (torque effectiveness). I'd say if you can average above 70%, you've reached smoothness.
good but very expensive advice ;-)
You would not overthink things when you are freakishly strong/fit and everything would look effortless.
What a great fkn video,
Love you guys.
Thanks really good.
My Achilles’ tendons are quire short, as such my toes tend to point down automatically when entering the upstroke, with a little extra push backwards, handy when climbing in the saddle . (Also, because of this, I’m bad at doing squads, but it doesn’t seem to hamper my overall power, but it might explain why I like climbing out of the saddle)
Ok...I have an issue with the stretching bit. I was told many years ago, that all those years of stretching that I did fastidiously..religiously..for all my sporting endeavours...footie (or *soccer* here in the colonies) squash, cycling etc, was a must. There was a stretch for everything. Then one day..like magic, we were all told to stop. By the same experts who told us to stretch everything all the time in the first place. The new mantra was *naturally* warm up your muscles before use, and you will perform better and hurt less. Now, I kinda buy into that, as decades of pre-game/ride/court stretches did not totally stop the odd injury. So...I being a good sport tried the "new" advice. I do a nice slow spin down the road for 5 k before "getting my freak on" and it hasn't failed me yet.
I know most of you will gasp in horror and nixing the religion that is stretching, but just sharing my experience is all :-)
oh the soundtrack in this episode !
i don't have clips/pedals with cleats. I have rough pedals wear regular shoes. I get jerky pedaling when my feet move. Not sure I'm ready for clipless pedals and I have reduced mobility in 1 knee.
helpful vid! thanks.
You're welcome
I'm old school. I still use toe cages, not clipless 😁👍
Yep, me too I much prefer them than clipless.
deja vu! i've seen this title before