Foot location on pedal

[Punkawallah]

I was a teeny weeny bit surprised (but who am I to doubt) as rather few go sub 29!! (Super shoes make a difference nowadays). I never made it under 31 but did win the British Vets (ie over 40) 10k one year in 31mid. Cleats well back.

Fun fact. Shoes in running apparently make a difference. While practicing for triathlon, my time for the run was 5% faster with running shoes than it was with squash shoes.

 

[Dogtrousers]

My apologies. I am incorrect with my time, it was actually 32:45 in 1988. I misremembered, perhaps I hankered after that time. Sorry, I did`nt mean to mislead. It was at the Southend 10k which is a pretty flat course. Do they still do that run ?

I ran my half marathon PB at Southend (The Jim Peters Half Marathon ) Yes it was flat. 1999 I think. I can't remember what my time was. Nothing very interesting or impressive (other than to me at the time)

 

[Ajax Bay]

Shoes in running apparently make a difference. While practicing for triathlon, my time for the run was 5% faster with running shoes

Massively OT! They do indeed. Our whole family is racing the Warwick half marathon on Sunday, well I'm supporting but BH and all four children are racing. Apparently the G 'world record' for 4 siblings of mixed sex is aggregate 5:47. We'll see: at least two can go mid teens and the other two mid twenties. They have friends with the same 2M2W sibling mix, though, that have the potential to obliterate that: the two men are sub 65s and one of the women has a sub 33 10km and the other can go close to 1:20.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Fun fact. Shoes in running apparently make a difference. While practicing for triathlon, my time for the run was 5% faster with running shoes than it was with squash shoes.

Continuing off topicness, the fact that running shoes and Jim Peters have cropped up I thought it worth throwing in what Peters was wearing in the '50s while breaking marathon records.

he did all his running in cheap department-store sneakers. “D’you know, I used to swap feet after a few months, put the left shoe on my right foot, so they wouldn’t wear down in the same place.”. https://www.racingpast.ca/john_contents.php?id=137

 

[Hover Fly]

Back on topic, I’ve “always”* had my ball slightly forward of the received wisdom position, ball just behind the front plate of a quill pedal, seems to make hills slightly easier. Father’s recommendation, it was apparently popular in the 30s and 40s.

*tried the more usual position at odd times, always gone back.

 

[Shearwater Missile]

I ran my half marathon PB at Southend (The Jim Peters Half Marathon ) Yes it was flat. 1999 I think. I can't remember what my time was. Nothing very interesting or impressive (other than to me at the time)

You are right about times. All that was important was the time to me and having a good run. It is the same with any sport, some days you have good days and some bad. Going back to the OP, how you feel on your bike is all down to you. How many times do you see people with saddles obviously too low and look as if they are grinding the gears ? Who am I to tell them but if they feel comfortable then so be it.

 

[Jameshow]

If your used to riding mid foot changing to ball is going to cause discomfort.
Small and gradually is the way to go.
Likewise if you ride with knees in your face rasing your saddle the "proper" height in one go might well cause injury...

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

If your used to riding mid foot changing to ball is going to cause discomfort.
Small and gradually is the way to go.
Likewise if you ride with knees in your face rasing your saddle the "proper" height in one go might well cause injury...

I was thinking that

I presume your muscles develop to cater for how you ride
so changing it will mean that some muscles are now not being used as much and other used more
and it will take a while for your body to sort itself out

which would also require you to keep it up in the new position consistently

 

[Dogtrousers]

I'm a bit sceptical of roolz for the right way of doing things. Often the difference is minimal and if it ain't broke don't fix it. If you like riding with your feet in position X then do so.

Mind you, that's not always true. Years ago I got a bike fit as a present. It was largely uninteresting tweaks but he did suggest wider bars to match my shoulders. That made an immediate (positive) difference in comfort. It just happened to work really well for me.

So it pays to keep an open mind, while remaining suitably sceptical.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

I'm a bit sceptical of roolz for the right way of doing things. Often the difference is minimal and if it ain't broke don't fix it. If you like riding with your feet in position X then do so.

Mind you, that's not always true. Years ago I got a bike fit as a present. It was largely uninteresting tweaks but he did suggest wider bars to match my shoulders. That made an immediate (positive) difference in comfort. It just happened to work really well for me.

So it pays to keep an open mind, while remaining suitably sceptical.

Also important to note, our bodies are very good at compensating for bad positioning. Somethings may not result in any obvious pain or discomfort short term, but repetitive motion/movement with a poor position can result in injury that manifests long term.

 

[pjd57]

i saw these recommended on here a good few years ago and gave them a go.

Still use them.
Less than a fiver

 

[Punkawallah]

Also important to note, our bodies are very good at compensating for bad positioning. Somethings may not result in any obvious pain or discomfort short term, but repetitive motion/movement with a poor position can result in injury that manifests long term.

I spoke to a nice cycling-physio-man at his lecture while at York Cycle Rally a couple of years ago. Apparently your body will indeed ‘cope’ with moving ‘wrong’, but in the long term you pay for it. (Paraphrasing, obviously).
Also was of the opinion that an ‘bike fit’ was not essential if you ride for less than an hour, and that ‘near enough would be good enough’ under those circumstances.
I hope he’s right, otherwise riding that folder from the train station to my hotel in March will be purgatory. :-)

 

[Drago]

I'm a bit sceptical of roolz for the right way of doing things. Often the difference is minimal and if it ain't broke don't fix it. If you like riding with your feet in position X then do so.

Mind you, that's not always true. Years ago I got a bike fit as a present. It was largely uninteresting tweaks but he did suggest wider bars to match my shoulders. That made an immediate (positive) difference in comfort. It just happened to work really well for me.

So it pays to keep an open mind, while remaining suitably sceptical.

Comfort is more important than any other consideration. It doesnt matter how biomechanically efficient a set-up may be, if its uncomfortable after a spell then its not going to make you any quicker. Many bike fit practitioners would do well to remember this.

 

[YellowV2]

If it’s not comfortable i would have thought it unlikely to be biomechanically correct either. A good bike fitter shouldn’t have you in a position that is uncomfortable regardless of any other considerations, that is the point of having a bike fit, as well as efficiency.

 

[Drago]

If it’s not comfortable i would have thought it unlikely to be biomechanically correct either. A good bike fitter shouldn’t have you in a position that is uncomfortable regardless of any other considerations, that is the point of having a bike fit, as well as efficiency.

You say that, but that's what they did to me, and it's not like I didn't tell them that an arm full of screws and plates resricts my movement and will make it uncomfortable...

In any case, the major fit systems are somewhat contradictory in their methods and claimed effects on biomechanical efficiency - they can't all be correct at the same time. Tales of top level competitive riders waiting until they're round the corner and jacking the seat up another half inch, etc, abound.