October Winner and Getting Used to a New Foot Position
I can’t believe that October is almost over and Halloween is almost here. That means that Pedaling Innovations has officially been in business for a little over a year and while it seems like yesterday that I started taking pre-orders for the Catalyst Pedal, I can also look back and see that a lot of riders have benefitted from them over the last 12+ months.
The reason I know this is because we get a lot of great feedback every day about how the Catalyst Pedals have helped someone improve their riding and/ or ride with less pain. We also get to see a lot of amazing pictures on social media, including this month’s winner of the Catalyst Pedal Social Media Picture contest tphallett1.
Remember that we take a look at all of the pictures that riders posted to social media of their Catalyst Pedals and tagged us in using #pedalinginnovations or #catalystpedal and picke one of them to win a free pair of Catalyst Pedals. You can enter as many times as you like and we love to see your pictures!
I also wanted to share an answer to a question I got from a rider using the Catalyst Pedals about getting used to the new foot position…
Q: I'm one of those rare beasts who A) has never ridden clipless; and B) who has been riding with a mid-foot position already.
So I think for me this issue (relocating his feet after dabbing in a technical section) is a little different. I'm guessing it's just taking me longer to quickly find the feel of the arch of my foot centered on the pedal since it's so much longer. In other words, the pedal doesn't press as noticeably into my arch because my foot is better supported.
A: I too am one of those rare beasts and it still took me a while to find and get used to the position I now use. What I found was that because your foot can not achieve a balanced position it will seek at least one point of stability and so even "mid-foot" on a normal pair of pedals is still cheated forward a little bit. And you’re right, this does change how it “feels” under the foot and so takes a little getting use to the new reference points under the foot.
With that said, something else I noticed I started to do was use me heel as my initial contact point with the pedal and set my foot heel-toe instead of the toe-heel most riders use. This makes sense, though, because that is how you would set your foot for a deadlift, which is that same foot position.
I guess my point is that it took me a few rides to get used to them as well and that I found my feet doing stuff differently over time because of the new, improved platform. Since your foot couldn’t achieve the same level of stability with any other pedal your feet develop some habits to keep them in place but it will naturally get better since it is the better way for the foot to work...at least IMO.
My point is that it is natural to have the break in period but again, your feet want to work this way and so it will work itself out over a month or so of riding. But I know I’m biased so take it for what it’s worth.
Until next time…
Ride Strong,
James Wilson
Pedaling Innovations
The reason I know this is because we get a lot of great feedback every day about how the Catalyst Pedals have helped someone improve their riding and/ or ride with less pain. We also get to see a lot of amazing pictures on social media, including this month’s winner of the Catalyst Pedal Social Media Picture contest tphallett1.
Remember that we take a look at all of the pictures that riders posted to social media of their Catalyst Pedals and tagged us in using #pedalinginnovations or #catalystpedal and picke one of them to win a free pair of Catalyst Pedals. You can enter as many times as you like and we love to see your pictures!
I also wanted to share an answer to a question I got from a rider using the Catalyst Pedals about getting used to the new foot position…
Q: I'm one of those rare beasts who A) has never ridden clipless; and B) who has been riding with a mid-foot position already.
So I think for me this issue (relocating his feet after dabbing in a technical section) is a little different. I'm guessing it's just taking me longer to quickly find the feel of the arch of my foot centered on the pedal since it's so much longer. In other words, the pedal doesn't press as noticeably into my arch because my foot is better supported.
A: I too am one of those rare beasts and it still took me a while to find and get used to the position I now use. What I found was that because your foot can not achieve a balanced position it will seek at least one point of stability and so even "mid-foot" on a normal pair of pedals is still cheated forward a little bit. And you’re right, this does change how it “feels” under the foot and so takes a little getting use to the new reference points under the foot.
With that said, something else I noticed I started to do was use me heel as my initial contact point with the pedal and set my foot heel-toe instead of the toe-heel most riders use. This makes sense, though, because that is how you would set your foot for a deadlift, which is that same foot position.
I guess my point is that it took me a few rides to get used to them as well and that I found my feet doing stuff differently over time because of the new, improved platform. Since your foot couldn’t achieve the same level of stability with any other pedal your feet develop some habits to keep them in place but it will naturally get better since it is the better way for the foot to work...at least IMO.
My point is that it is natural to have the break in period but again, your feet want to work this way and so it will work itself out over a month or so of riding. But I know I’m biased so take it for what it’s worth.
Until next time…
Ride Strong,
James Wilson
Pedaling Innovations