@ a.funks
I didn't look at any riders in particular, I just did a google image search for DH mtb riders and scrolled through the pictures. I wouldn't stake any claims of the results being definitive as a picture only captures a small moment in time and we can't say why a particular rider's foot is in a particular position at that time. We also have to consider that their foot position may change at other points in race due to course/trail conditions.
So like you mention your pedals will move more than 10-15° above/below the horizontal position but how does that compare to the overall time spent on the bike? Re a trail ride, what's the avg length of time spent on a descent without interruption for most riders out for their ride; 15-20 minutes tops maybe? We might be out for hours, but the forces at play aren't the same for the full time.
I ride both flats and clips, full squish, hard tail and road. I've also studied exercise science and worked as a trainer for 25 years so I bring along a good body of knowledge and experience when it comes to how the human body works from an athletic perspective.
One of the really important things to consider here is my response to your question at the bottom; we can't look at foot position in isolation, it needs to be considered amongst all the other factors that affect bike fit and performance. We also can't focus too much on one particular rider or there level of success as they may be an outlier compared to the general population.
**What we can do is take a known understanding of how the human body works and what generally works best in terms of increasing athletic performance and then apply that to a given situation while taking into consideration the known variables to come up with a suggestion that should return a higher level of performance for most people. This can be applied to pedal position, saddle position, bar width/height/sweep, grip position and ad nauseum.**
There's enough material here to put together a 12-15 page research paper that would take a few months to complete in order to gather enough data to be able to draw a strong conclusion as to what the better way to go. I doubt we'll ever see it as I can't see anybody putting up the money to fund it, but it would be interesting as hell to do it. In the absence of that people can rely on what we know about human performance and what seems to work for them at any given point in time.
Sept. 3, 2022, 12:53 p.m. - Mark
@ a.funks I didn't look at any riders in particular, I just did a google image search for DH mtb riders and scrolled through the pictures. I wouldn't stake any claims of the results being definitive as a picture only captures a small moment in time and we can't say why a particular rider's foot is in a particular position at that time. We also have to consider that their foot position may change at other points in race due to course/trail conditions. So like you mention your pedals will move more than 10-15° above/below the horizontal position but how does that compare to the overall time spent on the bike? Re a trail ride, what's the avg length of time spent on a descent without interruption for most riders out for their ride; 15-20 minutes tops maybe? We might be out for hours, but the forces at play aren't the same for the full time. I ride both flats and clips, full squish, hard tail and road. I've also studied exercise science and worked as a trainer for 25 years so I bring along a good body of knowledge and experience when it comes to how the human body works from an athletic perspective. One of the really important things to consider here is my response to your question at the bottom; we can't look at foot position in isolation, it needs to be considered amongst all the other factors that affect bike fit and performance. We also can't focus too much on one particular rider or there level of success as they may be an outlier compared to the general population. **What we can do is take a known understanding of how the human body works and what generally works best in terms of increasing athletic performance and then apply that to a given situation while taking into consideration the known variables to come up with a suggestion that should return a higher level of performance for most people. This can be applied to pedal position, saddle position, bar width/height/sweep, grip position and ad nauseum.** There's enough material here to put together a 12-15 page research paper that would take a few months to complete in order to gather enough data to be able to draw a strong conclusion as to what the better way to go. I doubt we'll ever see it as I can't see anybody putting up the money to fund it, but it would be interesting as hell to do it. In the absence of that people can rely on what we know about human performance and what seems to work for them at any given point in time.