I like the two hands opening a jar lid analogy. Is power output really limited by the rider's body weight when using platform pedals, though? It seems that by pulling hard on the handlebars in rhythm with the pedal stroke, some of that force of can be added to the downward leg thrust. The arms pulling the bars would be analogous to the hand holding the jar while the lid is twisted off.
I do feel a big boost powering up hills when I pull with my biceps. While it doesn't feel as smooth as pulling with the leg during the pedal upstroke, I don't see how it would be less efficient. I seem to get up most hills about as well either way, steep ones excepted. Brian Hefferan Lansing, Michigan On Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 2:07:49 PM UTC-4, Jan Heine wrote: > > I am sorry that there was a misperception that we did a detailed study of > pedal retention. We tested a few pedals, both with and without retention, > and the results were interesting. Whether a more rigorous study is needed > when the results are so clear is another matter. To cite an even more > extreme case: Do we also need a rigorous study to prove that a bike with > flat tires rolls slower? > > I think it's pretty clear that during "normal" riding, retention makes > little difference. Grant P. is right when he says that you don't pull up > much, if at all. However, during short efforts on rolling terrain, it's > obvious that you can pull up, and I did realize how much I do pull up when > that ability was taken away. On the same bike and the same course, I > suddenly needed to shift on the smallest hills, whereas usually, I just > roll over them. And getting out of the saddle had no benefit, since I > couldn't lever the bike with my lower foot as a fixed point. Suddenly, my > power output was limited by my body weight... > > In the article, I compared it to opening the lid of a jar. If you hold the > jar with one hand and the lid with the other, you can apply way more force > than if you have your friend hold the jar while you turn the lid. > > Considering this, I am not sure I want to put our limited resources into a > more sophisticated study. > > Jan Heine > Editor > Bicycle Quarterly > Seattle WA USA > www.bikequarterly.com > > Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ > > On Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 9:28:39 AM UTC-7, Jayme Frye wrote: >> >> Received my summer issue of BQ. I am disappointed with the published >> "test". Not that the test does not support my position but that it was a >> seat-of-the-pants test. I was expecting/hoping for power outputs, VO2 >> charts, lactate threshold kinds of data. This is what I would expect from >> the BQ crew given all the rigor applied to tire testing. >> >> Jayme >> >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
