[Clayton]

My wife and I ride a road tandem and are looking for some advise regarding pedals. We have been riding on SPD type pedals using road shoes with reasonable success although both of us have wished for a little larger platform.

However, things have changed. My wife's ongoing battle with a brain tumor has left her functionally blind following her last surgery in December. As a result of the visual deficit she is having difficulty placing her feet in the right position to click into her SPD pedal. We're looking for a pedal that would be easier to click into; possibly one that would guide her foot into the correct position.

We've had suggestions for speedplay and for Look type pedals. I can't afford to spend a lot and then find out that what we have chosen works no better than the SPD's.

If any of you have experience with a visually handicapped stoker I would appreciate your suggestions. Of course, I'd appreciate your suggestions regardless of experience. Thanks.

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[gregm]

Entry of Speedplay Frogs is by a forward-moving motion. You can do pretty well by touching the tip of your shoe to the pedal, and then simply sliding forward in a single motion until you're clipped in. The cleat is kind of V-shaped to catch the pedal mount as you slide forward.

-Greg

[JanMM]

There probably is a clipless solution to your situation. If not, one alternative would be to go back in time and try toe clips and straps. That's what my wife/stoker uses.

[zonatandem]

Toeclips and straps should be considered.
If she cannot flip her foot into the toeclip, you can always coast, she can reach down and feel strap and put foot in. Then repeat with the other foot. Keep straps sort of loose for easy entry.
Have ridden with blind stokers and one did actually do just as described above.
Your wife/stoker sounds like a really tough and gutsy lady!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

[ElRey]

Regular Speedplays are about teh easiest to get in and out of. Spedplays are also double sided. Looks have a very large contact patch but some folks think they're hard to get in-out of; I don't personally. Are you sure regular platforms aren't the way? They give the largest contact area by far and if you buy ruber moulded ones they're not slippery like most clipless designs can be. And no clicking in and out. Straps are harder in many ways than clipless pedals.

[phil.]

I think mtn shoes w/ time atac are VERY easy to get into w/out looking. Take a look at the time atac pedals, there's a guide so your can't catch the lip of the front of the cleat on the rear bar of the pedal, make it over that guide and the front edge of the cleat drops below that front bar of the pedal, step down and you feel and hear the engagement.

BUT, time atac's don't have a variable release tension, you can flip the cleats to vary 13deg versus 17deg but that's about it. My wife never took to the release tension, so I she rides in some spd's I had laying around. I'd suggest mtn style shoes though still, just doesn't seem like a good combo to be blind and use spd style cleats w/ road shoes, just not much traction and crappy walking. Definitely sounds lie you have an awesome wife, my prayers go out to her and you.

edit: hit up the LBS's to see if they can loan you diff pairs of clipless to try. When I bought my tandem it was about a 2hr drive away, he asked our BB to seat height, handle bar drop, and also what pedals we use and was able to have it all setup. I recommend giving the time atac's a try, you can find the old style for about $50 or so online I think.

[dubbelop]

Toeclips and straps should be considered.
If she cannot flip her foot into the toeclip, you can always coast, she can reach down and feel strap and put foot in. Then repeat with the other foot. Keep straps sort of loose for easy entry.
Have ridden with blind stokers and one did actually do just as described above.
Your wife/stoker sounds like a really tough and gutsy lady!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem
There is a simple solution to the 'find the toeclip' problem: couple both pedals with a bungee cord. That way, the toeclip is *always* facing upward. We used to ride like this for five years, until we changed to clipless. It works like a charm!

[zonatandem]

Agree 100% with Marten about bungee cord setup attached to pedals to keep clip-side up.
However, we pedal 90 degrees out-of-phase (OOP).

[Clayton]

Thanks to every one for your suggestions. I'm going to ask my LBS if they have any loaner pedals that we can try out. If we discover that toe clips and straps work best then I have an old pair of campy pedals with milremo clips from the early 70's that might do the trick. Thanks again!!

[ironglen]

After many year of mtn biking and various designs tried, I found the 4 sided eggbeaters the easiest of any design tried out of: atac, time, speedplay, spd, look

Have not tried the candy 2 sided eggbeaters, but heard good things
The time atac is VERY secure and stable, pretty good to get in: I use for single speeding (great retention)
The 4 sided eggs are easy to get in: just push down, doesnt matter from front or rear angle and have easy release (not adj); only other drawback is not good for out of saddle riding

[Northwestrider]

We are in the market for clipless pedals, and were considering eggbeaters. Why do you feel they are not very good for out of pedal riding? Do they unexpectedly unclip? Thanks for the info.


The 4 sided eggs are easy to get in: just push down, doesnt matter from front or rear angle and have easy release (not adj); only other drawback is not good for out of saddle riding[/QUOTE]

[djembob02]

Me and my stokette both use eggbeaters and have not had any problems. They are so easy to get in (I haven't looked down to clip in since the second day). We have both stood many times and have never unclipped accidentally. I have no experience with any other clipless pedals, but these are great for us.

[masiman]

The Time ATAC Z's are a good pedal but my thought is they are not as easy to get into as the eggbeaters based on comments. The Z's are designed for downhillers. They have an excellent large platform and positive holding. My impressions maybe colored by shoes, in that I have only worn 1 pair of shoes on the pedals and they may make engagement harder than other shoes through shoe tread interference. I really don't know the answer to that. The engagement of the Z's is about the same or slightly better than my SPD's. The disengagement is slightly sticky. I have found that in addition to outward rotation that I have to lift my heel slightly to reliably disengage. Without the heel raise, it seems to be about a 60/40 success/failure rate. If I had my druthers I would also have the release angle reduced (yes I have the cleats set up for 13 and not 17 degree release angle). It also is a slightly heavier pedal for gram watchers.

They are small nitpicks, release and weight, for a fine pedal. Remember this is a downhillers pedal and the cons are actually pros for them. The pros are, lateral float, huge stable bombproof platform, solid feel when clipped in. On the float side, I am not experiencing much but again that may be due to my shoes engaging the platform. Since I have not had knee problems I have not taken the time to investigate that interface yet. I can comfortably ride these pedals in street shoes. I would have no problems doing 10 miles in street shoes if I my end destination would have me running around off the bike for few hours. I sometimes stand in street shoes on these pedals.

The non-platform Time's, plain ATAC vs. ATAC Z, are lighter. I did not try them. The float may perform differently if the platform of the Z's is indeed getting in the way. They also may have easier entry for the same reason.

A great pedal but with your requirement of ease of entry I could not recommend it over your SPD's. Toe clips and bungee cord may be the best solution.

[tandemonium]

Eggbeaters are our preferred choice too. My wife was using them comfortably the first day. We never felt the need for a platform. I've been using them for years and never had one come loose when mashing. If you want a commuter friendly version try the Mallet. It has a large platform but will be too heavy if you are into racing. With the Mallet anybody can hop on and go.

[CBBaron]

only other drawback is not good for out of saddle riding
Why do you say this? I have been riding daily with Eggbeater Candys without a problem. They are used on my fixed gear commuter and single speed MTB. Both bikes require alot of out of saddle ridding.
For road riding with walkable shoes I did perfer Bebop pedals but they are no longer available. The Eggbeaters are serving me well. The only real difference between Eggbeaters and Candys is the Candys have an extra plastc bumper around the pedal. The extra plastic allows you to use the pedals without cleats in an emergency, but doesn't appear to do much.
Craig