I read some articles years ago and trained myself to drop my heel on the down stroke and lift it on the up stroke.
That sounds like extra work but it's really just relaxing the ankle and letting it do what it wants to.
This technique also allows the muscles that drive the pedals to stay in their most powerful range through a larger portion of the circle. The larger the circle (to the extent it matches your range of motion and inseam) the more power.
Little rolling hills were my specialty with this technique.
I rode with plenty of guys that could out-ride me but that technique closed the gap for me on a lot of riders
So if you make the circle smaller then you reduce the value of the technique.
I'm already at a huge disadvantage because in our town where we usually had 15 to 30 riders on a Saturday ride, all of the ones who couldn't stay on the back of the draft switched over to mtb years ago.
Now I'm moving into their world with no skills against their 10-20 years worth of experience and my power is useless. Just frustrated and venting I guess.
@Abusfullofnuns I'll take your advice and ride it awhile before I make any changes.
