Pedal stroke and cleat position.

Unknown Soldier

I noticed yesterday that when my left foot was at the bottom of the stroke that my ankle flicks out a tad, about 5-10mm, I know there is always ankle/foot movement during a full pedal stroke but my right foot seems to be grand. And it is literally a "flick out" right at the bottom.

While trying to wrap my head around the dynamics of it all I think I need to move my cleat to the right in the direction of the crank, thus moving my foot/toes out a tad? So when at the bottom of the stroke my leg&ankle would be more inline with my toes and no flick out?

I did recently replace the cleat on my left shoe and I think I didn't put on the new one exactly the same as the old one. Cleat alignment has never been a strong point with me

Beasty

May be cleat alignment but you may also want to check saddle height. I've been playing about a bit with mine on the Wattbike and was surprised how much difference a few mm made to my pedal stroke (and in particular the position where I was putting out most power)

Dermot Illogical

It's worth getting it right. My knee is crocked right now and I strongly suspect it's down to poor cleat positioning.

Kaisr Sose

Such things can also be just attributable to your own natural biomechanics. Not all world tour pro cyclists have a perfect pedaling style — nor do all good pro golfers have model swings — but they work for them.

If you try and correct such natural "anomolies" too quickly or at all, it can lead to other problems in the knee/hip or back. If in doubt, a biomechanical assessment/bike position assessment is probably worth considering.

learn

Beasty wrote: »

May be cleat alignment but you may also want to check saddle height. I've been playing about a bit with mine on the Wattbike and was surprised how much difference a few mm made to my pedal stroke (and in particular the position where I was putting out most power)

Pedal/cleat float might solve this problem. It's a pity those bars on that Wattbike cannot be changed, then I could show you and verify that with the right technique and equipment the same maximal torque can be applied to the cranks at 12, 1, 2 and 3 o'c while in a seated aerodynamic drops TT position

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/would-you-benefit-from-narrower-handlebars-199446

H.E. Pennypacker

If it only happening since you changed your cleats then you could try moving the left cleat forward slightly which will effectively lengthen your left leg. The loss of control at the bottom of the stroke suggests that you're over-reaching on that side slightly.

If its been happening all along, other possibilities are a functional leg length difference (perhaps one glute is weaker than the other or you're tight/less flexible on one side) or simply, as Beasty says, that your saddle is bit too high.

Unknown Soldier

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I have been tweaking the saddle height to take into account a saddle being broken in and sag. Then there is the cleat change issue.

I've adjusted the cleat and will make some minor tweaks as suggested keeping in mind the whole biomechanics thing. One tweak at a time though.

Thanks again!