Foot position on pedals

[ShipHill]

I've seen a few instances lately, in real life and on some youtube clips, of people positioning their foot with the arch rather than the ball of the foot (which is the optimum position as far as I'm aware) over the pedal spindle. The people I have seen are just regular people on regular bikes pootling to work or whatever. It looks "wrong" to me, but I was wondering what are the advantages (if any) and disadvantages (if any) of this method?

 

[Doyleyburger]

No advantages

 

[MontyVeda]

ball over spindle here... but sometimes I'll look down and think "What's my foot doing there!?"

the oddest foot on pedal position i've spotted is a big guy with his feet at angles, pushing on the outside edge of his pedals rather than on the pedal.

but i have big respect for the lady commuters I spotted in Copenhagen who wedge the pedal into the arch of their work shoes, between heel and sole

 

[HLaB]

Some people argue that further back delivers more endurance and better climbing power, whereas other folk argue further forward delivers more sprinting power :-/

 

[slowmotion]

When a novice on SPD pedals, I found it really handy to put my arch on the pedal when I un-clipped....it stopped me clipping back in by mistake, something I did a few times. I still pedal on my arches when un-clipped and anticipating some sudden manoeuvre.

 

[totallyfixed]

Should this have been in very very very beginners?

 

[vickster]

Presumably flat pedals not clipless. To be honest, I can find myself doing that on flats too, and although not efficient, it's not necessarily uncomfortable

 

[Kookas]

I did that on flats too, it's just the most intuitive place to put your foot.

 

[ShipHill]

I should have made it clear that I was referring to normal flat pedals.

I tried it myself this morning when I pootled up the village shop and it felt "ok" but I lacked power.

 

[ShipHill]

When a novice on SPD pedals, I found it really handy to put my arch on the pedal when I un-clipped....it stopped me clipping back in by mistake, something I did a few times. I still pedal on my arches when un-clipped and anticipating some sudden manoeuvre.

I do that on my SPDs when I first pull off until I get into my stride, then I clip in.

 

[Brandane]

I lived in Jamaica in my youth. The style there was barefoot, heels on pedals, with feet set about 45 degrees from the bike! Have tried it, and it's not easy.

 

[sickboyblue]

[QUOTE 2955044, member: 45"]Balls.[/quote]
No need for that, op was only asking a question..

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Some people argue that further back delivers more endurance and better climbing power, whereas other folk argue further forward delivers more sprinting power :-/

I've been experimenting with this on my fixed, a couple weeks ago I swapped my large toeclips for extra large, the large put the ball of the foot under the pedal spindle and the XL puts the spindle under the back of the ball of the foot, its to early yet to say for certain, it feels strange, but it seems to slightly help climbing but restricts top end a little. The reason for the experiment was to see if a change in foot position would help ease my right calf's tendency to cramp up at high cadence in very cold weather, since I swapped the clips it hasn't been cold enough for the problem to arise so the jury's out on that one. I suspect that the change in foot position uses the muscles slightly differently so it might be a little while before we see what effect it has.