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@Vesalius
A bit of an academic point, but I imagine the forces would be different here.
Taking the quads as an example
Pushing the pedal down = Concentric contraction - muscle shortens as it contracts to create extension at the knee joint
Pushing down as it's coming back up = eccentric contraction - the quads muscles lengthen as they contract, as the knee joint is flexing on the whole but you're trying much harder than normal to create extension. Not a movement the body is used to.
Also, the movement of the patella over the femur would be in different directions. Up for concentric, down for eccentric, and misaligned traction of the patella over the femur I understand is the root cause of many peoples knee problems, this could lead to an abnormal traction?
This may not be a problem, but in theory I don't believe it would be the same.
^Don't take my speculation as any sort of authority on this.