Originally Posted by
peterws
My posting was concerned with the positioning of the foot when it's not restricted or fixed by a securing device. It's only fairly recently that I've had such bikes.
The ball of the foot is the obvious place, but your seat would have to be a definitive height, a little more than I'm happy with, to achieve that properly.. So my foot's gravitated to the central position or even the heel to propel the bike, and trike too.
It seems to work for me now, without the issues I thought I might encounter. So I wondered what folk here thought of this; damage to the instep is a worrying thought and I've had previous problems unrelated to cycling. .
My principal miles on most of my bikes are with cleats - SPD-SL/Look Keo/SPD.
But my commuter/errand bike has flat pedals. And it has very big side (Pannier-style) steel baskets. If I place my foot on the pedal the same way I would with my cleated shoes, i'll rub my achilles tendon against the front of those baskets. No thanks. So I ride that bike with my foot forward, pedal underneath my midfoot It's different, but it works. It sounds like the OP has the same situation.
I also tend to ride quite slowly on my commute or when I'm headed to the market. 10 mph or even less. 12 max. It's just not the time I'm interested in putting out effort or getting sweaty. Most other commuters pass me. I just let ém.
As to the other side-topic here, there are a bunch of you who have some issues, feeling judged by the sport-oriented types. As I've posted here many times before, those of us who are sport-oriented are not judging you. Ride whatever pleases you and works for you. I think I speak for all of the performance-oriented cyclists in the 50+ forum: We're glad that you are out there on a bike. That's all.