One Bad Pedaling Habit You MUST Avoid

For me, pedalling circles has never been about forcefully pulling on the upstroke, but more about being as smooth as possible without bouncing all over the saddle.

40 years ago, a friend and I came up with the idea of ​​riding 400 km on a racing bike in one day. After about 3 or 4 years, we repeated the tour, and in the meantime I had specifically practiced pedaling in a 360° circle (after reading a racing bike book). After this second tour, my tendons, muscles and joints were much less painful than the first time when I used a "natural" pedaling technique. I stuck with the rounded pedal stroke, but use a little more force when pedaling downwards. Especially uphill I consciously pedal in a rounded circle. I am now over 70 years old and I cycle 10,000 km a year. No back problems!

Years ago, pros such as Greg LeMond said to treat the back stroke like you were scraping mud off of the bottom of your shoes. That pro cyclist advice seems to have worked for many for quite a while.

Yeah, 40 years of lighting up on back stroke has never hurt me.. that’s not pulling up… it kinda remove your legs weight off the pedal… in fact to train this you do actual pulling up on back stroke.. as part of you spinning warm up. Now on the ride, and over many months, the lightening up of pedal becomes natural.. Again, I am not pulling up on back stroke.

It may be anecdotal, but last week I changed from flats pedals to clipless for the first time after 17 years of biking (enduro, XC mainly) for my cardio circuits. My style of pedaling is a strong pushing downward pattern. I go to the gym 4/5 times a week, so my lower back is well trained. I was eager to accentuate this technique of 'swiping' back the leg that I heard everywhere. And for the first time in 17 years, since last week I feel my lower back during my rides. So you may be into something ... But let's not forget that scientific studies only present a model with the last knowledge, not an absolute truth. Some persons can be outsiders and actually have a better performance with this technique without problems.

After 50 yrs. of road riding I've found the ultimate solution for efficient, fast and effortless pedaling. It's a Bosch 350 Watt motor....lol

Wait! We are NOT using all four pedal strokes simultaneously, that is very inefficient. But I am using one or two, and alternating between them all, though never using a top stroke at lower cadence below 95. Pushing across the top at 100RPM is a very efficient spin stroke, very easy and relaxed. Pulling through the bottom is also a good alternative when the power stroke (pushing down) is very overused and tired. Using the power stroke and pulling up the back is also a great stroke for releasing tired power stroke muscles, or when the grade is so steep you can't keep a smooth stroke or higher cadence. These strokes will engage other muscles like the hamstrings to their max effort. There is a major benefit to using the hamstrings intensely.....MUSCLE BALANCE. Cyclists tend to have inbalance between quads and hamstrings and the cause of knee problems. Runners have the opposite, stronger hamstrings and weak quads. Spent most life in the weight room in off season racing balancing these muscles. But no more with the use of all four strokes in alternatives to the power stroke. I have had balanced muscles and little knee problems since employing all four strokes. My knees have always been weak because of an injury. To make this all work you will need to have a cadence of 80 to 110 without any body movement, super smooth strokes. Ankling also ingages the calf muscles, and especially out of saddle climbing and acellerating. My calfs are almost the size of my quads. Been working on pedal technique and a smooth range of cadece for over 56 years now, raced professionally and today at 66yo am a full time cyclists, no cars or motors.

Most bad pedaling habits arise from biting off way more gear than you can chew. Most riders cannot push a 52t or bigger chainring for long distances unless they're cross chained and causing significant wear to their driveline components.

As a disabled person riding an ebike with flat pedals, here's what I call my Cruise Control technique that I use once I'm up to speed and on flat or gently rolling terrain. But, this works on long climbs, too. I lift the back leg (not pull up) and let the weight of my front leg, not muscle force, fall down on the pedal, driving the crank naturally. This saves a lot of muscle strength for when you do need to stomp down to make it up steep inclines. Also, I try to control my breathing with 4 strokes in through the nose and 4 stokes out through pursed lips to slow does the exiting air. This calms your heart rate and lowers your blood pressure.

I've never been a big fan of this perfect pedal circle technique. Common sense should tell you that the human body is well equipped for pushing and not pulling. But many years ago in my cycling development I was coached into this "perfect circle" mentality. Within a few a short years I began to develop hip flexor discomfort on the bike and low back/hip discomfort off the bike. I just more or less wrote it off to "getting older". But after watching this video it's got me thinking a bit more.

Thanks great advice. My first indoor ride app had a focus on circular cadence, which I followed. As I have gotten older I have become more susceptible to back injuries and specifically the SI joint. I was recommended to change from 172.5mm crank to 165mm crank. I think the smaller crank has made things worse rather than better.

I do this thing where I put my feet on the pedals and then move the pedals in a circle, alternating power from each leg. Works great! All I've ever needed for the last 5 decades. Great video, though.

Watching the pros on the tour, stage 12 in particular, those guys are rockin' toward the finish line!

Found a more circular and smooth pressure is best for mountain biking, especially on a loose surface. Slam those pedals, and the tire will lose traction and spin. On the road you have more options.

Learned to pull the pedal up on the upstroke only for sprinting or steep climbing. The other important thing was angling, meaning to lower the heel to overcome the upper deadspot (12 o' clock position) and lower the toes on the bottom deadspot (6 o' clock position). Since I use Zen cleats, which have a larger angle towards the front than regular Look or SPD-SL cleats, I learned to just push down and pull straight up again as they are built to do the angling job for you, so your foot can stay in its natural position.

Thanks for debunking the idea of "pedaling in circles"

I injured myself on my first long term bike tour after only a week. I was pushing the pedals down only. Augmenting cadence was helpful, but didn't solve it all. I had to continue so, after a couple of rest days, I started trying to be mindful of the fact my feet were going in circle, and not pushing down. I'm not "walking" on the pedals, I'm making them turn. Thinking about my knees going up was also helpful. After a little recovery phase, and with my new technique, I went 2 months with no issue at all in my joints, even with 120km riding days on hilly terrain and 40kg of bike + gear. So yeah, circles.

I find a benefit to using a different muscle group to produce power while the dominant muscles flush the lactic acid. I view pedaling in circles more of an exercise in not hindering the downstroke with the weight of your opposite leg than creating an equalized power band.

I have been looking to improve my pedaling I have been riding for 40 plus years and have watched lots of videos this technique is by far the best one I’ve tried I was able to get my L 43%/R 57% that’s the closest I’ve ever had I think I will be able to get it almost to a balanced 50/50 using this method

Pulling up on the pedals is huge benefit on climbs, dunno what this guy is talking about