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Quick Tip: Practice Your Pedal Stroke by Using Easy Gears on Downhills

Pedal your bicycle in low gears down hills.

Off-season rides are ideal for working on technique — like turning a choppy, bouncy pedal stroke into a smooth, round one.

Practice on descents by staying in your small chainring as you gain speed. Spin your legs faster and faster. Think circles! The more you can relax your legs, the quicker you can turn them.

Don’t shift to higher gears until you’re bouncing on the saddle. After just a few descents like this, your pedaling rpm will be noticeably faster before your strokes get ragged. You’ll feel the extra smoothness whenever you’re spinning at 90-plus rpm.

This is a nice drill in cold weather because pedaling fast helps you stay warm. It limits your descending speed and the resulting wind chill. But it also works the rest of the year, whenever you feel like working on improving your pedaling technique.

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Comments

  1. paulie says

    August 29, 2019 at 8:43 pm

    A jerky/choppy pedal stroke could mean the saddle position isn’t ideal. (Most likely too high and/or far forward.)

    Reply

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