Pedaling mechanics

Bikeridindude said:

So I've been told that I have a weird pedaling style by people that ride behind me.

Tonight I tried to look closely at it to see what they were talking about and i noticed it, but must look far worse from behind.

What happens is: when my right leg is on the upstroke it kind of swerves over toward my top tube a little bit, and then when it hits the peak of the stroke, it sways noticably away from the top tube.

Every time the same. I can make a conscious effort to keep it straight, but it still does it. Left leg seems to be fine, or at least not nearly as bad. Fast cadence, slow cadence, still does it. When I drop below about 150 watts it seems to go away, but then I'm basically just letting my leg fall.

Any ideas? Is there something wrong with my hip? It doesn't hurt at all. I did over 100 miles on Saturday and it didn't get sore or anything. Thanks.

I used to do that years ago before I switched to Time pedals - the early ones had lots of float. When I used the original "fixed" Look pedals and to a lesser extent toeclips I had lots of side to side movement partly because of bad cleat positioning. I noticed when I changed last year to Dura Ace pedals and didn't get the positioning of the cleat quite right, such that I was constantly against one side of the "float area" my knee would move in and out. When I adjusted it such that my foot position was correct and there was side to side float then it got better. What got rid of all of the side to side movement was a combination of the Specialized Body Geometry shoes and inserts and PowerCranks.

swampy1970 said:

I used to do that years ago before I switched to Time pedals - the early ones had lots of float. When I used the original "fixed" Look pedals and to a lesser extent toeclips I had lots of side to side movement partly because of bad cleat positioning. I noticed when I changed last year to Dura Ace pedals and didn't get the positioning of the cleat quite right, such that I was constantly against one side of the "float area" my knee would move in and out. When I adjusted it such that my foot position was correct and there was side to side float then it got better. What got rid of all of the side to side movement was a combination of the Specialized Body Geometry shoes and inserts and PowerCranks.

Yeah, don't forget the PowerCranks. 😄 Tyson

I think the Specialized shoes have a wedge or something in them that corrects for that, though if what you're doing is fairly extreme it may not be the whole answer to the problem.

If Powercranks are the cure then you're better off with the disease.🙂

swampy1970 said:

I used to do that years ago before I switched to Time pedals - the early ones had lots of float. When I used the original "fixed" Look pedals and to a lesser extent toeclips I had lots of side to side movement partly because of bad cleat positioning. I noticed when I changed last year to Dura Ace pedals and didn't get the positioning of the cleat quite right, such that I was constantly against one side of the "float area" my knee would move in and out. When I adjusted it such that my foot position was correct and there was side to side float then it got better. What got rid of all of the side to side movement was a combination of the Specialized Body Geometry shoes and inserts and PowerCranks.

I usee Look pedals with 5 degrees of float, maybe I need to get an official bike fit to remedy the problem. I was always taught to "Just say NO!" to powercranks. 🙂

Sillyoldtwit said:

Yeah, don't forget the PowerCranks. 😄 Tyson

When I get my powermeter I'll race you to 350w FTP based on a training "diet" of Powercranks, 1 hour sessions from hell on the trainer and carbo loading with beer. 😉