I came from BMX and even though I've been on MTBs for 19yr some habits stuck around for way too long. One of those was riding on the ball on my foot. The rear edge of the pedal would wear a line in the shoe footbed, at the front of my arch, and cause pain. I just chalked it up to wearing out shoes. But after switching to a PNW composite pedal and moving my foot forwards on the pedal my feet and calves feel so much better on long rough descents. I kind of do a conscious dance of foot position changes, but our rides in SW WA and NW OR are mostly long climbs and long descents. So ball of foot for climbing, front part of arch for descending. So far it seems to be working.
Sept. 14, 2022, 8:40 a.m. - Pnwpedal
I came from BMX and even though I've been on MTBs for 19yr some habits stuck around for way too long. One of those was riding on the ball on my foot. The rear edge of the pedal would wear a line in the shoe footbed, at the front of my arch, and cause pain. I just chalked it up to wearing out shoes. But after switching to a PNW composite pedal and moving my foot forwards on the pedal my feet and calves feel so much better on long rough descents. I kind of do a conscious dance of foot position changes, but our rides in SW WA and NW OR are mostly long climbs and long descents. So ball of foot for climbing, front part of arch for descending. So far it seems to be working.