Clipless Pedals: Do You Really Pull Up? What the Research Says

By Thomas Corvazier

September 30, 2026

Clip-in pedals look like a pulling machine (they are called clipless because they replaced the old toe clips and straps; today you clip in with a cleat under the shoe): you are locked to the pedal, so you can pull up as well as push down. The research says something more modest. This page is the long version of the video — what the force on the pedal really is, what happens when you pull up on purpose, what clipless pedals did and did not change in the lab, and how sure anyone can be.

The short answer: the power still comes from the push. Pulling up on the rising pedal makes that stroke look more effective on paper but costs energy. And in steady riding, the one lab comparison we found saw no significant difference between clipless and flat pedals. The clip does not add force — it gives you control, and the option to pull.

What the video shows

• The shoe and the cleat. The cleat is bolted under a stiff sole and clicks into the pedal. Foot and pedal then move as one.
• The force through one pedal stroke. An arrow on the pedal shows, in relative size only, where the foot pushes: forward over the top, down through the power phase, back across the bottom. On the rising side there is no arrow, only the label neutral.
• The pull-up contrast. Clipped in, the pedal follows the shoe when you pull up. On a flat pedal the foot leaves it.

The arrows are an illustration of a typical stroke. They are not measured forces, they carry no numbers, and the model has no force engine behind them. The hip flexors that lift the leg are not shown.

Why the rising pedal is labelled “neutral”

It is tempting to read the rising side as “the rider pulls, or the rider fails to pull”. Neither is what a pedal force trace says. A 1993 analysis showed that the force on the pedal is the sum of two parts: a muscular part, from the forces the leg muscles produce, and a non-muscular part, from the weight and motion of the leg itself.¹ The non-muscular part grows with cadence and was already substantial at 70 rpm.

So some of what a sensor reads on a rising pedal is simply a leg resting on it. Drawing that as an arrow would suggest a decision by the rider that is not there, which is why the video shows none.

What happens if you pull up on purpose

Two laboratory studies asked riders to do exactly that.

• Korff et al., 2007. Eight male cyclists pedalled at 90 rpm and 200 W in four ways: their preferred technique, pedalling circles, an upstroke-pulling emphasis and a downstroke-pushing emphasis. Told to pull up, they scored higher on mechanical effectiveness (index 62.4 ± 9.8 %) but had lower gross efficiency (19.0 ± 0.7 %). The authors concluded that mechanical effectiveness is not a good indicator of how efficiently you ride.²
• Mornieux et al., 2008. Eight elite cyclists and seven non-cyclists pedalled at 90 rpm and 60 % of their maximal aerobic power. With a feedback display asking them to pull up on the upstroke, effectiveness on the upstroke rose by 86 % in the cyclists and 57 % in the non-cyclists, with more biceps femoris and tibialis anterior activity. But net mechanical efficiency fell — by 9 % in the cyclists and 3.3 % in the non-cyclists.³

Both point the same way: pulling up makes the upstroke do more of the work, and riding gets less efficient, not more.

Clipless versus flat pedals

The same Mornieux study compared the shoe–pedal interface itself. With ordinary pedals versus clipless pedals, it found no significant difference in pedalling effectiveness, net mechanical efficiency or muscle activity. Its conclusion was that the interface did not significantly change cycling technique during submaximal exercise.³

That is why the video and this page do not claim that clipless pedals make you more powerful. They did not, in that test.

So what is the clip for?

The studies above do not answer this directly, so treat the list below as reasonable options, not research findings:

• Your foot stays on the pedal through the whole circle, including rough road and hard efforts.
• You can pull — back across the bottom, or up on the rising side, in a sprint or on a steep climb — if you choose to. Flat pedals cannot give you that.
• You can ease off the rising pedal instead of resting the leg’s weight on it.
• Your foot sits in the same place every stroke, which is what a bike fit is set around.

How sure is any of this?

Not very, and here is why.

• Small studies. 8 male cyclists in one, 8 cyclists and 7 non-cyclists in the other, and one analysis of a single example subject.
• Steady, moderate effort. The clipless-versus-flat comparison was made at 60 % of maximal aerobic power. Sprints and steep climbs, where pulling may matter most, were not what those tests measured.
• One lab condition each. One cadence, one power, one set of instructions.
• Effectiveness is not efficiency. A technique can look better on a force graph and cost more energy, which is what both pull-up studies found.

The honest summary: nothing we found shows that clipless pedals make steady riding more powerful or more efficient. What they change is what you are able to do with your foot.

See it move

The video shows the shoe and the cleat, the force on the pedal through one stroke, and the pull-up contrast between a clipped-in foot and a flat pedal.

References

This article is general information about cycling technique, not medical or coaching advice.