I "braved the cold" (ooh, 60 degrees) and did indeed get out on the PCs for the first time in 2+ weeks. Figured I'd just do an hour at endurace pace as I'm shifting my hard workout up a day to Monday.
The good news - riding the PCs was a snap. It was like I never stopped using them for 2+ weeks. No hip flexor fatigue whatsoever.
The bad news - my left ankle/foot pain flared up about 30 minutes into the ride. I cut the ride short at 45 minutes to avoid the pain.
A bit discouraging. I haven't had ANY pain with my race bike setup of Look pedals/cleats (which just can't be used with these PCs without significantly affecting q-factor) and regular cranks. The PC folks have suggested spacers, but I refuse to do this as it may open myself up to even more injuries. The late Sheldon Brown has an excellent discussion of q-factor and the need to keep it narrow - The hip joint is optimized for walking, and in normal walking the footsteps are pretty much in line, with little or no "tread."
PC time this week - 45 minutes
PC time to date - 189 hours, 15 minutes
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2 comments:
ah too bad James. i think you gave them a very fair evaluation. things sounded promising durin the fall but repeated nagging 'injuries' aren't worth going any further.
Unfortunately, I agree. If James can't figure out this pain issue while riding the PowerCranks then it looks like this little experiment is, and should be, over. I thought his progression was very positive and it was simply going to be a matter of time before he started setting new personal bests.
That having been said, I would like to make a few comments about some of what he said. First, our hips are not optimized for walking and they do not necessarily work better with a narrow Q. Sheldon Brown's discussion he references is simply a rationalization of why a more narrow Q might be better when cycling but there is zero scientific evidence to support such a view.
Why do we walk/run with the foot under the CG? That is easy. It takes less energy/force in the muscles, that have to keep the hip level, if the foot is under the CG instead of off to the side. Plus, there is less side to side motion. So, it is more energy efficient. This is not an issue when one is sitting on a bicycle seat. Few muscles need be activated to keep the pelvis level and there is, essentially, no side to side movement if the foot is not under the CG. Look at the example of the weight lifter who is trying to generate as much force as possible. Where does he put his feet? They are not close together but far apart. So, an argument can actually be made that one could generate power better on a bicycle with a wider Q because a wider Q is more efficient at generating force, but there is no scientific evidence to support that argument either.
It is my opinion that Q hardly makes any difference (especially when we are talking a few millimeters) except as people worry about it and how worrying about it prevents people like James from seeing if they can solve problems as he is experiencing.
Why he would be experiencing pain when riding PowerCranks and not when riding regular cranks is difficult to understand except for the fact he is using different pedals with different float with the different cranks. I would like to understand what is going on a little better if we could find out what is really going on. I hope he continues to try to figure out what is really going and and can figure out how to fix it.
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