Do Pros Really Pedal More Smoothly? | GCN Does Science
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- Опубліковано 26 гру 2017
- We often think that smoother pedalling technique is better - but is it really? We investigate, with the help of some UAE Emirates pro cyclists, and some not-so-pro riders too.
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Pedalling technique is always a controversial subject amongst cyclist. Is smoother better? Should we try and pedal more smoothly or should we just leave it up to instinct and our bodies will find the most efficient way naturally. Well, we thought we try and do a little experiment. We are at the headquarters of Elite in Northern Italy cause they have a pedalling analysis app that utilises some of the mind-boggling array of data that's generated by the top of the range Smart Trainer, the Drivo. And two top Pro Cyclist, Marco Marcato and Federico Zurlo, are just about to walk through that door. Do pros pedal smoothly? And does it really matter? We're gonna do a simple test to really get a feel for just how smoothly their pedalling and we're gonna gauge it using the Elite Pedalling Analysis App. It gives us a real-time polar view which you can see this behind me there. It's measuring the force that Marco's putting out. 24 times per pedal stroke. The more even output, the smoother the pedal stroke. So to start with, they're gonna be riding 150 watts. We should tacks them greatly Federico in particular is probably gonna be cursing his luck that he's in the middle of his off-season. But then they're gonna up it to 300 watts for a minute for finally 450 watts for a minute. The end of each interval we're gonna get a number which is the uniformity index and that should categorically show just how smooth they really are. Marco, you ready?
- Yes, I'm ready.
- Let's go.
- Smooth, I think. Smooth! Federico, you ready?
- Yes.
- You ready, alright, so 150 watts for one minute, let's go for it. I feel like a mad scientist down here making them run at 450 watts. Now before we delve to D.P. end results as you could probably tell I can't resist and I'm gonna have a go as well. Clearly I don't have the talent of the other two, but potentially there is a chance that I might be as smooth as the other two, fingers crossed. Who's gonna win the Crystal Crank trophy?
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This should have been a blind test, without them looking at the screen, possibly without even the riders knowing that their pedalling efficiency in particular is being analysed.
This is only five years late, but I couldn't agree more. The direct live feedback would have so contaminated the "experiment" that the results would be essentially meaningless.
You shouldn't show the data to the rider during the experiment
Hal Incandenza yeah... This paid test is flawed from the selection of the gear"
Why? As long as all participants had the same conditions, the results should be comparable.
Yeah they are comparable but you may be measuring whether pros are more willing or able to adapt to the feedback on the monitor which has nothing to do with the question they were trying to answer.
I think the pros just pedaled normally as they have nothing to prove. Si and the rest attempted to smooth out there pedal stokes to improve their scores. Should have hidden the screen and told everyone completing the test they were investigating something else.
This would have been the best way to do the test, or only show the screen for an initial minute.
Yes, exactly this, 100%.
Should've been completely blind. No one should've had any idea what was being researched. Putting a monitor in front of everyone introduced bias to the experiment. :(
Please try this test with oval chainrings. Do they improve pedaling style/smoothness with regards to regular chainrings? Amazing video!
Yannis Zographopoulos I’ve run Osymetric, Rotor Q Rings, and Standard, and find my pedaling efficiency increases on the non round Rings (inefficiency in this case would mean wattage applied in any direction other than the direction of pedaling.) measured with a Pioneer power meter.
I don’t know if this is due to the irregular shape being better suited to muscle groups used to pedal or simply because the changing mechanical advantage through the pedal-stroke isn’t interpreted correctly by the system.
Thank you Ryon Beachner! I believe shedding light in this kind of staff is really interesting. We always try to improve our wattage and fitness level but if there is a shortcut to free speed, why not take advantage of it ;)
Yannis Zographopoulos It’s certainly interesting! I only stumbled upon the Osymetric rings that I now use all the time because I had problems with my knees, and I found that they helped alleviate this. I was trying to pedal in a circle, and actually found myself with an overuse injury from improperly using certain muscles. (Chondromalacia patella)
Now I can’t pedal in a circle to save my life, but I’m much more comfortable and going faster little by little with the Osymetric.
Despite the repeated claim - and occasional ludicrous attempts to draw valid conclusions - GCN *never* does Science, and you've made very clear some of the significant shortcomings in all these sort of videos.
was this test blind? Did all your volunteers know you were testing for smoothness? if they did, they might be changing their pedalstroke, especially if they can see how smooth they're being on a live feed in front of them.
Simon certainly did.
Also the pros and apparently Matt were outputting higher wattage so not an accurate comparison
that higher wattage for them is not more effort - but that should be the reason I think. If you train and get fitter, those strong muscles get much stronger, but those muscles unable to do a significant percentage of the overall power will not benefit as much from training and will not get nearly as much stronger
Exactly what I was thinking when watching it
This is a good experiment. Can you guys redo this with a modern oval (absolute black, wolf tooth, etc...) chainring to prove what they're claiming? #torqueback
I think this could be interesting too
Chris Froome's and Sir Bradley Wiggins's O'symetric chainrings too!
Very interesting!!! Please revisit this subject and do more tests.
Regarding "pulling", there appears to be some bad information floating around by some well-meaning bike fitters that you should not pull up on the stroke. They usually cite the fact that our hip flexors are not powerful enough for us to do this and it will lead to hip problems. This is true if you try to do it too much. But there is nothing wrong with "pulling" for short durations at strategic points in a race or ride. The most obvious example would be during a sprint when "pulling" is essential for winning! In my own experience, I've found that I can increase my power output (measured with a Stages power meter) as much as 40% by pulling and there is very little perceived increase in effort. I do this during steep climbs while remaining on the saddle and it enables me to maintain a higher cadence and power level. But it's not something I would try to sustain for a long time. I also "pull" in intervals on flat roads when I'm getting tired and need help keeping my cadence and power up (as when doing an FTP test). Pulling temporarily allows some relief for my primary muscles since I can relax my "pushing".
I don't think we can look at our pedal stroke as a static thing where there is only "one" best or optimal pattern for us. What I think we need is a variety of pedal techniques that we've mastered for different situations so we can use the right "tool" out of our pedaling toolbox for the "job" at hand.
Lastly, I do not think that a fixed trainer is a good device to use for these tests. The problem is that it doesn't allow you to lean the bike from side to side as you pedal and this may artificially increase pedaling asymmetry. I'm aware of only one trainer that may overcome this problem: the Rock and Roll Smart Trainer from Kinetic ( www.amazon.com/dp/B01J0BQM2Y/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1J31Q7QA9H4BC&colid=1VQDTWUQD9MXU&psc=0 ) but I haven't had a chance to try one yet. I believe your data will correlate better to the "real world" if the cyclist is able to move the bike laterally as they pedal. Is there a power meter you can use on the bike that will provide as good of data as the Elite Drivo? (It would be great it if could distinguish upstroke power from downstroke power.) If so, please do your next tests either on the road or on a Kinetic Rock and Road smart trainer. Thanks.
Maybe do the test on a set of rollers using a bike equipped with left and right power meter?
As with almost everything in life what is optimal depends on a case by case basis among individual types as well as road circumstances and demands.
Everyone always wants a universal and simple response when variables are the reality.
Agree 100%, pulling for short periods allows to mantein speed while resting the principal group of muscles
I love your channel! You guys come up with fantastic videos and great ways to put the questions to the test. Great job. Keep it up!
So Elite's mind boggling array of data doesn't include the upstroke power, and therefore the pedalling uniformity calculation presented is useless, got it.
Tolyzor Sounds like they should contact Pioneer.
I gather the fact they can see the results pretty much also invalidates the whole test!
absolutely. crazy. BTW there are machines that sense force vector through 360 degrees, and a study of elite track cyclists (4000 meter specialists) showed they don't scrape nor pull up while in steady state.
i never knew what pulling up would do except make the whole movement feel weird. i prefer to power through the strongest spot to keep better momentum in the dead spot in combination of a 95rpm cadence. works hella good with TT. 85-90 rpm for MTB and normal spirited riding
Yeah. Of course if you are seeing the results real time you're going to try to be as uniform as possible. This is like testing "can pros hold 300W on instinct???" and then showing them their power output during the test..
You should have let chocolate voice do this as well, in order to find out whether his pedalling technique is just as smooth as his voice.
Being a former pro Si you should know why pros pedal they way they do. However you touched on it right at the end. I believe the US team 7-11 did a study regarding pedalling back in the 80s. In basic terms they found that pedalling for more of the up stroke that they gained more power however this did not improve their performance as it affected their efficiency. Pros pedal in the way they do because it is most efficient. Allowing the leg to relax and rest for a moment on the up stroke is a good thing. People teaching cyclists to pedal through the up stroke while riding normally on flat terrain (not under sprinting load) is quite an ignorant thing to do.
Very interesting, would love to see more science on this, would be cool to test some track riders, plus elliptical chainrings etc.
Nice edit, digging the music
For sure lately my most favorite sessions on the trainer are those with variable cadence. Gradually or abruptly changing, I don’t care, just bring’em on!
Thanks for more "science". I have seen your comparisons of cadence efficiencies in the saddle. I notice a more narrow range of cadence rates in prolonged (not sprint short duration) standing pedalling cadence, I'd like to see you compare standing cadence efficiencies for 2-3 min intervals; if you can do it! Does that sound like a challenge? I think so! Cheers
Hey guys,
great video. You mentioned a few research papers; could you please provide the sources?
Thanks a lot
As Si says, more science needed. I appreciate Si's willingness to try flat pedals. To do flat pedals correctly, need good mtn bike flat pedals and good stiff shoes. Most important is to move the pedal to mid-sole to take the calf muscle out of the stroke. (Ankles and small calf muscles prevent all power from large glut muscles from reaching the pedals. For example, would you prefer to be on your toes or flat footed when you attempt a vertical high jump?)
Fascinating stuff! Love this channel. I wonder what a track cyclist's stroke would look like.
Afaik mountain bikers have the smoothest pedaling technique, because they ride at very low speeds and low gears.
Oh simon, so desperately clinging on to "you get power pulling up" Tbf the results are pretty logical, irregular downstrokes being the result, with increase of power only on the downstroke, because that is the most (only) efficient way to pedal. Power on the pedals = accelerating momentum.
Eeek, what does the sponsor think to those results? sounds to me like you don't need to track the technique. cracking video as always Si.
Maybe we are lucky and sponsors just sponsor, but don't influence the "science" ? That's how it should work in real life scientific studies - but doesn't always happen.
I wonder if you had everyone ride at relative ftp percentages if you would see a different trend then with the absolute wattages. I would guess the more fit people can just hammer it while the less fit have to give their best, smoothest performance.
As much as you can, continue to get pros involved in the content...it’s great. 👌
What about one footed training where you remove one foot from the cleats, and trying to keep the freehub from clanking while spinning at a relatively high cadence? I've heard this cam be used to good effect not in my in increasing smoothness, but also increasing your ability to pull up on the pedals with more power.
Nice Work GCN
Thanks, Si, such a fascinating topic, how we apply power to the pedals. And I recall Eddie B advocating, in a seminar in '83, that racers should rest a leg after every so many pedal strokes and then do the same with other leg. Do pros do this sort of thing these days? And for me, a sport commuter on a mountain bike, my pedal strokes are all over the road and happily so. I run a triple and I have options and I use 'em--spinning and standing and mashing and coasting and smoking.
Pls make a video/guide about tandem bikes :)
Please plot the smoothness on the x- and choosen cadance on the y-axis in a 2d-scatter-plot.
Would be very interesting too!
Pleas make the tedt with a oval front gear.
I would be interrested if it makes you less smooth and if it brings a power boost or not
Some scientific studies have been made, at least on Osymetric, and i don't know about smoothness, but on power they can't say yes or no because it never reaches the point where it's considered statistically significant. So in short we still don't know.
The problem with making a GCN test on oval rings is you have either to use people who are already using them, or doing the test for a long time because there is a time of adaptation, the pedale stroke is quite different, and some love it, some hate it.
Any chance we could see the difference in smoothness between round chainrings and ellipses like the Osymetrics or Rotor Q-Rings?
Looks like everyone wants to see oval rings tested, GCN.
Why? we already know the answer. They are oval...how could they ever ever ever produce a round pedal stroke? Oval rings are designed to produce a power down easy up pedal stroke.
totally agree. I personally switched to oval(not osymmetric) about half a year ago on my roadbike and 1 yr on my XC hardtail. whnever i switch to round rings it feels less pronounced and less smooth(at least a bit). My powermeter says that too that my pedal smoothness is slightly better with ovals(same cadence, wattage)
oval rings are the opposite of what they should be; they bump you on the top of your stroke instead of eliminating the dead part of the bottom of your stroke. FROOME rides this oval ring; obviously explaining his many losses :)!
t42 Press lets say, they feel smoother. Locigally they arent of course as ya mentioned because of the bump in power in the downstroke. But in the 3 o'clock position is the hardest part. The so called dead spot is slightly easier at the 6 o'clock position.
If you were talking about shimanos biopace chainrings, forget them. They are making things 100% worse. Whereas oval ones don't make it any worse and potentially easier. I personally believe in osymmetric chainrings. They seem to work for me pretty well
Hey I just got some Garmin speed and cadence sensors this Christmas. Any suggested training plans with them for relative noobies?
So working on varied cadence is benefical? Sounds like fixie on a hilly/windy ride.
I just wonder if there's much difference when you spin 160rpm because you want (with a freewheel) or because you have to (the fixie crank is turning your legs and you eighter go with it or you get catapulted out of the bike). For me, up to some 140rpm there doesn't seem to be any difference fixie or geared.
I think I'll just keep working on my ftp.
Watched this video then and now, I am as lost then as I am now, should I be more relaxed / loose with my legs, should I practice to pedal at higher cadence on a easy gear without bouncing.
You should look up Control Entropy. It theorizes that elite runners have a les even stride because of their ability to adapt to differences in stride because of their huge amount of experience/amount of miles. In less experienced runners they see a much more even stride because they have less adaptability. When a person hits the wall, lets say after running a marathon and their body shuts down, they saw that the stride, even in elite runners, becomes very uniform, because the body has to preserve all energy it can, and thus doesn't have the energy to provide a big amount of adaptation. So elite cyclists could have a less uniform pedalstroke, just because they don't actually need one. Should be interesting to do some EMG-testing after complete exhaustion.
I can't figure out how to interpret that 'pedal peanut'. How are you suppose to read that graph?
Just call Planters and ask for Mr. Peanut.
Explained here: support.wattbike.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001848609-A-Beginner-s-Guide-To-Perfect-Pedalling
Robb Chastain I’ll get right on that
Mr B thanks 👍
May i know which program that you guy use in video to collect degree of pedal
I know this is an advertisement for the trainer intended to give useful information, but it just doesn't. These tests should have been done outdoors over a period of several rides with several pro and amateur riders. And definitely shouldn't have been done staring at the graph.
Mitchell Steindler its a test they build around a product they want to showcase. Buy this trainer to improve your pedaling lol
Si Richardson's videos are my favourite!!!
I change my stroke often during a ride to rest muscle groups. For instance I'll alternate between 3 distinct styles: stomping, scraping, and kicking or use combinations of the three. That said, fit and comfort on the bike is more important to me than performance.
Would this have been different if you used a crankset based power meter like Rotor’s 2Inpower? Might Rotor’s analysis have told you what was going on in the up stroke?
I wonder if the variety in pedal efficiency could be due to training with power. If you train with power you might change the way you pedal in order to show the same power numbers but with a decreased effort, for example finding the place in the pedal stroke where your power meter best picks up power and using micro-efforts in each pedal stroke to display and record these higher number, which over time could cause an increased inequality in muscle strength etc. , hence explaining why pros have an increased inefficiency pros as they regularly train to power. This might not necessarily be done consciously, but may be subconsciously as a way of ‘increasing power readings’ for the same perceived effort levels when mid effort and when looking at power numbers. Just a thought.
#askgcn Would you plan checking the smoothness on oval rings?
was about to ask the same thing! i'd be very curious to see those results!
Well, since smoothness is apparently a pretty irrelevant measure, it would be waaaay more interesting to measure efficiency* with round vs oval rings ;-)
And what about ankle angle during the pedal stroke. Should we go heals down, heals up or just try to have a constant angle? #torqueback
senseye1977 I think it's different for everyone. I try to keep just off parallel and with the toes down. I use flat pedals though.
Anyone know some pedalling dynamics software (Windows) that could read/analyse data via Ant+ (e.g. from Vectors) while on trainer ?
Can the Tacx Neo show pedal smoothness as well with that new beta software?
What about the influence of non circular chainrings on the smoothness of the pedal stroke?
wouldn't 2 x pedal power meter measure power up and power down and the bottom heel scrape force? with out all these metrics i do not see much point in this.
I think Simon has controversially confirmed, the only thing to do with peanuts is, eat them.
Could it be better to have a less uniform stroke, as the muscles aren't under such near constant load? If you put proportionally more power into the down stroke, the muscles get a recovery on the rest of the rotation. Perhaps that could reduce fatigue and stave off lactic acid build up?
Wouldn’t using power meter pedals allow you to see if a rider is pulling up on the back half of the pedal circle?
Now what about track riders? they don't have freewheels so there is no slop in the pedal stroke as long as they are moving at a constant speed, so would that be a better test?
Also, what if the un-smooth pedal stroke actually helped carry momentum through the bike, almost like pumping your arms while running? Ive witnessed this in such athletes like a large track sprinter (Fosterman, Ceci, Boss, Staff, Northstine), what if the inertia of their leg, hips, and mid-line actually helped propel the bike forward thus not adding more "power" to the pedals but effectively adding more energy into the bike to accelerate it more quickly.
Also would it matter if you were peddling smooth in a 125" gear (53,11) as long as you are adding force through the stroke you would be maintaining or accelerating?
It's good you did this test, and from your results it proves really nothing is important about the smoothness of your technique. Whatever gets you down the road works!
Pushing through the dead spots may not add to efficiency, but it will allow you to use a higher cadence easier and more effectively. It will also allow you to put out more power on the up-stroke.
I desperately want to see real science on GCN given the presumed income generated by the channel (or maybe I'm far off course). I really do appreciate the cycling content and the amount of work it takes to produce, so thank you.
Interesting, however can you put censors on the muscle groups to find out which muscles are engaged? especially the hip flexor👍
Please do this test with oval chainrings. Rotor, Osymetrics,etc.
Is your metric for smoothness really the best? Should we be considering others? Possibly direction of force (pioneer does this). Do pro cyclists (or better cyclists) improve the downstroke more than the others (kick, drag, pull) hence skewing your metric for smoothness? I absolutely love this topic but know very little about it.
The entire theory behind oval rings suggest that smoothness does not matter when it comes to producing power. Rather, it’s more important to quickly move through the dead spot getting back to the downstroke. Also, diminishing returns suggest it would cost too much energy to pedal smoothly for the relatively low amounts of watts produced by the hamstrings through the bottom and over the top of the pedal stroke. No one is putting out 500 watts on the upstroke, but you can hurt your knees/hips/hamstrings if you try to. #PushdownRestup. Great video 👌
why not use garmin vectors which can properly distinguish between left and right power ?
I too would like to see this. The conclusion I came to is that pedal analysis can only be reliably done with a power meter at the pedal, not in the rear wheel.
Be curious how top level track riders would fit into the spectrum, (other fixed gear riders like Redhook Crit racers)
The body knows. What's right for one isn't right for another but our bodies find an efficient way for us over time, don't overthink it...maybe...always worth a bit of experimentation to see if the unthinking instinct might've missed a trick.
You forgot to ask one very important question and that is what muscle groups are they using to produce the power during the pedal stroke. I have a theory pros have a gastroc dominant pedal stroke while amateurs have a more quadriceps dominant pedal stroke.
You should test some track cyclists and try oval chain rings as well.
Track cyclists somehow believe they are superior because they are fixed. I was berated by an experienced track racer while learning track coming from road. He challenged me to two sprint laps, both of us on 88 inch gear which forced us to max out cadence. I won both races against him back to back. He’s been quiet ever since and has now shifted his criticism on me to ‘track craft’.
My point is that most seasoned cyclists will have a pedal stroke that’s right for them. Being trained is much more important than pedalling smooth and trying to force a pedalling style that you’ve not grown into. Teaching a child to pedal smoothly is perhaps a good idea but not 30-odd year old blokes who’ve rode and raced bikes most of their lives.
It would be interesting to see if there is a diffrences between endursnce track cyclist v road cyclist v sprint track and weather someone that uses fixed gears pedles smother then those who dont
Will there be another gcn on Zwift ride?
Be interesting to compare this to a track rider. Logically, Riding fixed would lead to greater smoothness as the wheels are helping turn the cranks over through the dead spot
And of course by this metric 'uniformity' the value goes down with higher power outputs because the deadspot power remains 0 lets say, but the peak power increases spreading the gap between Av and peak. This should not be a surprise but highlights why this isn't a reliable metric.
Why did you use fixed wattage points in this test rather than W/kg?
Do the pro's keep there hips and upper body still to compensate for the uneven pedal stroke?
As said below, this is only the Positive side of the stroke 0-180 degrees. There are negative and positive forces at work from 181-360 degrees as well. So this really is meaningless. I did a webinar on pedaling analytics on the TrainingPeaks>WKO4 channel. Explains it more completely.
there was a training tool that was introduced maybe 20 years ago or so that allowed each arm to rotate independently, I forget what they were called now. But you could actually remain clipped in and do single leg drills at the same time. I think they were supposed to help smooth out your pedal stroke. I'm guessing they didn't catch on...
Called Powercranks... Cadel Evans used them throughout his career as well as a lot of other pro's. They are still around btw
Hi I think you should have given out the Cadence of the people who did the tests and whether they were smooth or not what was there actual Cadence that they were running at were there they were smooth or not I would have been helpful
An interesting GCN Does Science may be testing the accuracy of heart rate monitors- chest strap and wrist watch.
That beautiful Colnago C60 tho......
I demand more info on this
I'd like to see the results using a fixed wheel bike on the turbo, as I know track riders are suppose to have greater souplesse
I would include the smooth pedaling technique in the same class with Bermuda triangle, Big Foot and UFOs.
In my opinion the best pedaling technique is the one that fits best your body geometry and body parameters. In my case I discovered that the left foot is more powerful and the right foot is more technical and this is why at higher cadence the right foot does 54-56% of the work while at low cadence the left foot takes over and does most of the work. And if I am to go even deeper in analysis I discovered that my right foot start pushing closer from 12 o'clock pedal arm position while my left foot pushes starting at a more forward point. This is why when higher power is required my right foot struggle while my left foot seem to be better. I would say my smoother leg is not good at outputting high power Another curious finding is the fact that I hold better cadences of 87 and 92 rpm but I have trouble holding 90 rpm. This might be resulting from the fact that only certain cadences are optimal for my body. Should I try and get better at holding the 90 rpm or instead I should be pro enough and use what works best for my body?
Can you really conclude much about the specifics of how force is applied during a pedalstroke if you have no data other than the average smoothness?
Seems to me that a reverse powermeter would give a complete picture. Something setup to measure pedal pull.
How would oval chainrings affect this test? Get froomey in there for a test.
Not nearly pro anymore, but I can confirm that we do pull up. My most enjoyable days were when my upstroke was strong.
Wasn't there a competition about the red Drivo in the background?
Letting the riders see the screen could invalidate the results.
What about left/right balance?
Cadence is a tricky one. I come from a swimming background, and while swimming it really comes down to feel.
Elite cyclists naturally perform micro high-intensity intervals within each stroke and follow a Fibonacci pattern
John Bicycle umm what?
i want a Fibonacci ring sooooo bad.
cant help but notice the gcn red trainer in the background
check this with a oval chainring....
Ruben Geminis an***
I started with clipless pedals thinking you should pull up as well as push down. Next I hear that creates negative torque and you should just relax on the up stroke. Now the test contradicts that and the pros technique isn't smooth after all and they may even pull up. The only thing I can be sure of is that clipless pedals require special shoes.
Si was that the unique red trainer in the background?
I really want to do a test run on my bent.
Rocking side to side? Its called peddeling in squares, plus raise your seatpost-greg lemond ref. Power can be smooth-except a, guess?- sprint! My thought.
Interesting, having been instructed from two ex pros was also instructed to pedal at 11'0clock and pushthe stroke until 6 'o'clock.
I could see this as a potentially good tool to watch for up coming injuries.
This is cool
Just like you said on the "Top 5 Training myths" video, it is impossible to move in a perfect circle.
Is it possible that the larger difference between max power and min power comes down to the pros just putting out more torque at the max point?
I think that is what this study has shown precisely: pros put down more power max at say 3 O clock, compared to the average power for the entire stroke. max:avg is greater for a pro than a non pro. or otherwise said pros are not smooth.
Absolutely. The higher the overall power output, the more pronounced the "dead spot" will appear on these kind of graphs.
My understanding of smoothness is different than this... Even power around the pedal stroke? Put everybody on rollers and calculate the range of motion in their tires and percentage of time within the smallest range. Losing power to movement elsewhere on the bike has to be part of the equation when it comes to the perceived smoothness we experience riding behind pros and amateurs respectively.
I'm still a believer that the best cadence is your natural cadence, will always be the most efficient for you, (you can work on it and change it with practice - but overall it's your natural cadence that is most efficient for your body)