Postion of feet

[superlightr]

Hi

feet on peddles do you have the ball of your foot, or the centre on the peddle?

Having been MTB and normal peddles I have had the centre of my foot as the main push point. Having a road bike with a cadge its now the ball of the foot and feels strange.

Where should my foot be?

[Floor Tom]

JDMFanYo said:

I'm SPD (Clip In) and my feet have no choice by to be on the ball of the foot

You get quite a bit of adjustment in an SPD, probably abut 40mm or so. I run SPDs too but because I race downhill and have dodgy ankles I run the cleats as far back in the shoes as I can get them. This means I am used to that possition and so use it on the trail bike too. However if I was only riding XC I would move the cleats forward a bit as you can get better power delivery.

[pdV6]

Usual advice is to position the ball over the pedal's axle.

Do whatever works for you, though.

[Nick_F]

Very little fore/aft adjustment on SPD/SL road shoes - ball of foot on axle.

[superlightr]

Thx for all the replies. Feels like how I used to sprint in a running race - weird but found I can adjust the force from time to time by relaxing the ankle and heal down to get more of the push in to centre of the foot.

another question please:

With the leg extention, at the longest point ie down should your knee be bent a tiny bit, not at all, or a little bit or a bit more than that?

[ewenm]

For XC, saddle should be high enough that your leg is straight with your HEEL on the pedal - that will give a slight bend when the ball of your foot is on the pedal.

[Rich_W]

ewenm said:

For XC, saddle should be high enough that your leg is straight with your HEEL on the pedal - that will give a slight bend when the ball of your foot is on the pedal.

This. But be aware if you think your hips are rocking. And adjust accordingly. Normally a smidge lower.

[Uriel]

Is there something wrong with me in that my natural state is to sort of ride with my toes pointing toward the floor? My seat is adjusted exactly as described here and I'm dead comfy on it.

I've made more of an effort to keep my feet level now and that's how I'm riding at the moment, but every now and again I slip into this weird tippy toe style.

Riding clipless, but did it with cages too.

[Rich_W]

Uriel said:

Is there something wrong with me in that my natural state is to sort of ride with my toes pointing toward the floor? My seat is adjusted exactly as described here and I'm dead comfy on it.

I've made more of an effort to keep my feet level now and that's how I'm riding at the moment, but every now and again I slip into this weird tippy toe style.

Riding clipless, but did it with cages too.

I have no medical training. But have you ever damaged your Achilles? Or perhaps it's something else around that area (calf maybe>) that is much shorter. I can't remember the term, but there's a common-ish problem that's the opposite. Where the heel drops too much. Try a Google for it.

Other thing that I'd consider is riding position. Too far forward maybe?

[BliarOut]

Is there a guide to the correct setup for seat to bars to pedal ratio?

[BermyAndy]

Only cycle with your feet on the centre of the pedal if you have stolen it, and cycling in the lowest gear possible down the middle of the road with sainsburies bags hanging off your handlebard

[Nick_F]

BliarOut said:

Is there a guide to the correct setup for seat to bars to pedal ratio?

There are a few rules of thumb, one which springs to mind being nose of saddle to centreline of bars should be equal to point of elbow to tip of longest finger, but they're all just start points for fine-tuning.