Originally Posted by
Jack Tone
"Can using the upstroke increase power output?
From experience riders who actively pull up are often more unstable on the bike and have poor pedalling technique."
Well, that explains the crashes I see in some final sprints. Damn sprinters can't pedal correctly when clipped in.
I don't think edge cases where you might briefly pull up on the pedals (standing start sprint, climbing at very low cadence etc) are really applicable to this general comment. I'm pretty sure this was discussing a regular seated pedal stroke e.g at tempo or FTP at a normal or high cadence. There are plenty of reasons why clipless pedals are a good idea, but producing more power on the regular upstroke is not one of them. But this has been flogged to death many times previously and all the credible sources I've read in the last decade suggest that actively pulling up on the pedals is not a good idea and actually very hard to produce any meaningful torque. It is well documented that pros don't produce power by pulling up on their pedals either. So it's not just us plebs.
I always ride clipless pedals (SPD-SL) on my road bike as I like the locked-in feeling and foot stability. I've gone back and forth on my mountain bike and have a slight preference for pinned flats. But that's mainly for convenience off the bike.