Thoughts and opinions?? I just read through a section in Cyclingnews about pushing your cleats at the midfoot section you can get 10% to 15% pedaling efficiency. Most shoes can't have the cleats pushed that far back.
BlueJersey said:Thoughts and opinions?? I just read through a section in Cyclingnews about pushing your cleats at the midfoot section you can get 10% to 15% pedaling efficiency.
Not to dispute what you're saying - you've obviously done research by reading articles or may have experimented yourself.acoggan said:This concept has been tested and found wanting in both theoretical and experimental scientific studies. IOW, I think that fitters and coaches who push this idea are barking up the wrong tree.
EDIT: I went and read Steve Hogg's replies to various questions on the topic. From the sounds of it, the reason that he's convinced that this approach works is because he doesn't understand how to properly define cycling efficiency.
nrhorwitz said:If a cyclist has reported a significant increase in power (i.e. 20 minute Field Test) after making a change just to experiment with it, why should that cyclist ignore the data and go back to the original pedal set up?
acoggan said:This concept has been tested and found wanting in both theoretical and experimental scientific studies.
I'd love to see the torque curve graph. I'm actually wondering how much (percentage-wise) there was a drop off for peak and an increase over the whole interval.decrono said:I know Steve quite well and are involved in trying to help him put so numbers to all this conjecture. Yesterday we tested a former world masters champion to see whether the mid position provided any advantage over a conventional position. What we found through analysis of the two torque curves was that peak torque was higher in the conventional position. Whilst in a mid foot position the torque peak was not as high but the spread of torque was wider across the pedal stroke. The consistent variables in both tests were speed and cadence. So perhaps when Steve writes about efficiency improvements he is referring to the reduction of top end torque required with the mid foot position compared to the conventional position at the same speed.
As soon as possible I try to get the torque curve for your viewing.
Cheers peter
FWIW. I also recommend AGAINST doing this as it is counter-intuitive to me ...BlueJersey said:Thoughts and opinions?? I just read through a section in Cyclingnews about pushing your cleats at the midfoot section you can get 10% to 15% pedaling efficiency. Most shoes can't have the cleats pushed that far back.
BlueJersey said:Thoughts and opinions?? I just read through a section in Cyclingnews about pushing your cleats at the midfoot section you can get 10% to 15% pedaling efficiency. Most shoes can't have the cleats pushed that far back.
BlueJersey said:Thoughts and opinions?? I just read through a section in Cyclingnews about pushing your cleats at the midfoot section you can get 10% to 15% pedaling efficiency. Most shoes can't have the cleats pushed that far back.
decrono said:Andy from my limited perspective I understand that there is ONE scientific study that suggests that the mid foot position does not work. But as for being "found wanting" I rather see more studies. This stuff potentially upsets a long held paradigm so it is contentious.
decrono said:I know Steve quite well and are involved in trying to help him put so numbers to all this conjecture. Yesterday we tested a former world masters champion to see whether the mid position provided any advantage over a conventional position. What we found through analysis of the two torque curves was that peak torque was higher in the conventional position. Whilst in a mid foot position the torque peak was not as high but the spread of torque was wider across the pedal stroke. The consistent variables in both tests were speed and cadence. So perhaps when Steve writes about efficiency improvements he is referring to the reduction of top end torque required with the mid foot position compared to the conventional position at the same speed.
Andy, I recently read the articles in cyclingnews.com and as I will often compulsively read up and study any idea that I think will give me a little advantage (the natural way), I think you just saved me a lot time that I can put towards training instead.acoggan said:There are in fact numerous studies supporting the conclusion that the position of the cleat makes very little, if any, difference - I just cited those two because they are most directly relevant. Be that as it may, the point is that there are absolutely no scientific evdience to support the idea, but there is scientific evidence against it. IOW, this is not an area where the literature is split, or even an area that hasn't been studied.
padawan said:I will often compulsively read up and study any idea that I think will give me a little advantage (the natural way)
JungleBiker said:Joe Friel is also trying these cleats for himself and his athletes (see: http://www2.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2007/01/cleat-position.html )
and he says he has seen an increase in his power-heart rate ratio of 9%. I am not sure what that means in the real world, so what do you make of that Andy?
Hi Andy could you please point me in the direction of these studies as I'm sure Steve would like to read themacoggan said:several studies have shown that higher peak torques tend to be associated with higher efficiency).
decrono said:Hi Andy could you please point me in the direction of these studies as I'm sure Steve would like to read them
cheers peter
If we all waited for the data to arrive before acting I suspect our species wouldn't have existed for long.Animator said:I'm all for innovations if they're proven to work, but Hogg basically admitted today that he doesn't have all the data yet to back up his claims. Seems like it's premature to be pushing the idea...
Quote from Hogg on today's cyclingnews:
"I have only five or six weeks of experience with midfoot cleat position in the sense of being able to use torque analysis software to confirm the effect of positional changes with hard data. So far, and I accept that it is early days yet, every single rider who has gone this route has a minimum efficiency improvement of 5 - 10 %. "
Entire article at http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=2007/letters05-15#1
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