Quote Originally Posted by aicabsolut View Post
Why are you trying not to ankle? Some people will have a little more heel drop near the bottom of the stroke than others (more ankle movement), but in order to spin smoothly through the circle, your ankle has to move to keep constant force on the pedal. The only time I lock my ankles is in a sprint or anytime I want to try to eke out a few more rpms. When I'm already well over 100rpms, locking the ankles can get you to spin a little faster because it eliminates a little bit of wasted energy and wobble in the ankle....but I don't do it for long. I'm still far from using my legs like pistons at that point.
I hear you! I think I'm almost never not ankling just a little. I probably exaggerated it a bit more when I was learning and when I need to drill it a little (I get a little mashy sometimes on the MTB) but the rest of the time it's just a gentle ankling through the circle. Sometimes a little heel down on the entry to the bottom of the stroke to get just a little more pull through if I'm going up a hill too!

I have heard about shifting the cleats a little further back on the shoe and riding a little more "heels down" if you have serious problems with calf cramps. One of the guys I ride with has done this with some succes. But I don't think it would be really comfortable to stay in one locked position all the time if all else is well?