Long subject line, sorry about that, couldn’t decide…anyway.
So yesterday I decided to video myself riding after my trainer session. The results were pretty interesting (for me anyway). Normally I take stationary photos and evaluate my position after I make changes. I’ve settled into a seat height which results in a knee angle around the 148-150deg mark with a slightly raised heel (12deg). I’ve always ridden with a slightly raised heel and find it hard to get my heel flat at the bottom of the stroke (cleat position maybe?) - it just feels strange, even though I still have a few degrees of extension before the seat height becomes uncomfortable.
I recently figured out how to take screen shots from a movie file and import them into a cad program which I can then use to measure angles etc… The results show that at a cadence around 92 my knee angle decreases to 145-146deg and my ankle angle increases to 19deg. Low cadences see an increase back up to 148deg and 14deg ankle angle. So both are different to the stationary photo - I thought this was interesting although I guess it was expected.
The next question is, should I do something about this? would a change in cleat position keep my ankle down? or should I just let it do whatever it wants to do?
Looking at the recent photos from IMH I notice that quite a few of the pro ride with a slightly raised heel - hardly anybody rides with a heel parallel to the ground - does this just ‘happen’ at higher cadences. Some pros are also riding with a knee angle around 145deg. Has anyone else noticed this?
Don’t even go there. Pedal style is more controvercial than" check my position". Cadence has a lot to do with ankle movement. At 160rpms you have to be on your toes with little ankle movement, at 40 rpms in a huge gear the ankles go way down to transmit power. All of the inbetween are different styles or adjustments of the two.
If you sit in the “fast forward” position I would guess you saddle height would have you more on your toes, and if you sat back at 72 ish degrees your ankles would probably be lower. Hope that helps
I’m starting to believe in dropping my heel when my foot is in the 12’oclock position so I will start my power stroke there instead of at the 1’oclock position (slightly past 12’oclock). It’s been difficult to do at 100rpm but no problem at 95 and below.
I still lift my foot on the upstroke at high cadences probably because I’ve been doing it for years and not knowing it, but since I’ve got my knee angle down to 145 deg it’s been flattening out.
I would look at your watts and heart rate for each ankle position while pedaling at the cadence you plan on using for racing and choose the most efficient.
This is a picture of Armstrong in the final 2005 TdF TT, with his pedal at DBC. Look how far his ankle is above the pedal. Ankling has been, as someone else pointed out, debunked.
My point was more or less what you are showing with that picture of Armstrong - that most people (it seems) at high cadences start to lift the heel slightly. I’ve read on this forum numerous times that “your heel should be flat” but don’t see any real world examples. My other question was whether or not I should try and have a similar heel lift for both cadences as this effects the leg angle.
Just really throwing it out the for discussion but I guess nobody is interested…
Quote: "I’ve read on this forum numerous times that “your heel should be flat”
callidus,
According to who?
Your ankle angle is a lot about your own personal biomechanics. You really shouldn’t screw around and try to “fix” something that isn’t broken.
What you will do is spend countless hours of time, effort, practice, practice and practice trying to modify this. If you are successful, and you probably will not be, your power output will be the same. You will not be a better cyclist or a faster cyclist. If anything, you will be a tired cyclist having invested so much time and effort and accomplishing nothing measurable in terms of improved bike performance.
What you are more likely to do is cause yourself pain and injury. Think of it this way. Your cleats on your shoes are positioned in a particular way. If someone said all cyclists should have zero float because float permitted infinitesimal power losses, would you eliminate the float in your pedal system? Wouldn’t doing so cause you knee pain?
So let’s say you have zero float already. Would you convert to 12 degrees of float if someone else said that was the way to go and all cyclists should ride like that?
Trying to change your ankling style/technique is lunacy! Give it up. Invest your effort in training and improving your engine. Leave your ankles and ankle position alone. They aren’t broken and don’t need to be fixed!