Classic & Vintage - Rip van Winkle hasn't quite woken up, yet

I'm always amused to say that my return to cycling was not unlike the awakening of Rip van Winkle - believe me, when I dropped out of the sport, I dropped out completely. Didn't bother walking into a bicycle shop for 28 years, didn't follow anything about what was happening to the industry, etc.

Got it driven home today that I've still got a bit of adjusting to do.

Since I rebuilt that Raleigh Seneca as a local errand runner/commuter bike/and improved-path-only off-roader, I decided that this was the bike that was going to finally start me messing with clipless pedals. I picked up a set of SPD heavy mtb pedals, bought the cleats, and, to get used to them, put the cleats on a pair of road shoes. Having heard all those stories about the inevitable falls, I limited my initial use of the setup to evenings when I had the Raleigh hooked up into my trainer.

I had real mixed feelings about the setup. They worked, but weren't the easiest jobs to get in and out. Just the same, I finally started going out on the road once I was feeling relatively comfortable with them. Mixed results - the day the dog surprised me, I went down hard, retwisting the healing broken wrist and re-bloodying the torn knee. I soldiered on.

For Christmas, my in-laws got me a set of Shimano mtb shoes. Tonight I finally decided to move the cleats to the new shoes, and opened up the Shimano instruction sheet.

I discovered I had the cleats mounted backwards!

Properly installed and adjusted, of course they work fine. I pulled the heavy mtb pedals and installed a spare light pair I'd had sitting in the spares box. Ditto. They're now mounted on the Rossin, the heavies are back on the Raleigh, and I'll drop by the re-cycle shop Saturday to find a nice used set for the Fuji.

Slowly, I learn. Bloody modern technology . . . . . . .

Going thru the same stuff myself!!

Man, I won't touch those clipless pedals, no way. I have enough to do to get in and out of my Campy toeclips on the Offmega Masters!

Man, I won't touch those clipless pedals, no way. I have enough to do to get in and out of my Campy toeclips on the Offmega Masters!

The jury's still out on my end, too. Now that I've got the cleats set up properly I'm going to give it an honest try. I promised myself that 2007 would be the year where I finally try clipless pedals, and build up a set of 700c clincher wheels. By no stretch of the imagination are either going to be a shoe-in from the old tried and true.

Admittedly, the SPD's have a fairly good chance of making it on my mountain bike, as clips and straps with hiking boots are a bit clunky. But on road bikes . . . . . .

I could certianly see where having the cleats reversed on a pair of SPDs could make for some difficult use! Beyond that, I like my SPDs on my mtb shoes a whole lot more than I did on my road shoes. The rubber sole and recessed cleat makes for a lot fewer missed clip-ins, and clipping out is just as easy. Plus I don't worry about the small metal SPD cleat loosing traction on the ground and sending my leg out from under me and the bike.

Man, I won't touch those clipless pedals, no way. I have enough to do to get in and out of my Campy toeclips on the Offmega Masters!
I am in the same camp and have no near-term plans to lose the toeclips on any of my bikes. I figure if I convert one, I have to convert them all, because there is no way I am going to remember whether I am on a "twist and lift" versus a "pull up and back" bike.

I have fairly wide feet (made even more so by running a lot in the last year), and pedal/toe clip systems have just never worked well for me. I've tried Power Grips, which were marginally better, but SPD systems have always worked best in terms of comfort. My favorite pedal is the Shimano PD M324, which is an MTB pedal with SPD on one side and a wide grippy surface on the other. I am going to try some half clips on some Campy quill pedals to see how comfortable that might be, but I don't have high hopes.

Neal

You're gonna love clipless pedals!. Toe clips and straps will feel like a distant memory. This is a paradigm shift of the quality kind! Welcome to 2007 Mr. Van Winkle! I say this with utmost respect since I'm about as "old school" as you can get. A while back I posted on the road forum about how how alien it felt to have a 9 speed cluster and no down tube shift levers ... and somebody replied mockingly: "welcome to the 1990's". Heck I thought I made a quantum leap into the contemporary and I'm still 1.5 decades behind the times. :)

You're gonna love clipless pedals!. Toe clips and straps will feel like a distant memory. This is a paradigm shift of the quality kind! Welcome to 2007 Mr. Van Winkle! I say this with utmost respect since I'm about as "old school" as you can get. A while back I posted on the road forum about how how alien it felt to have a 9 speed cluster and no down tube shift levers ... and somebody replied mockingly: "welcome to the 1990's". Heck I thought I made a quantum leap into the contemporary and I'm still 1.5 decades behind the times. :)
90's:eek: I am still stuck in the 70's....at least I think that is where I am:D I actually upgraded one of my bikes to brifters this year...and it was a ***** trying to find those for a 7 speed triple...;) BTW still don't have clipless.

Aaron:)

Have ya ever been taking a break, with your left foot on the ground, not realized you clipped back in with your right foot, having a chat and leaned to the right, realizing too late that you can't put get your right foot off the pedal. Well I have, my girlfriend laughed and laughed! I like my toeclips just fine thank you.

Being clipped in makes a pretty big difference if you're riding big miles, and doing any climbing.

I'll never go back to clipped, or platform for that matter.... with the exception of my hunting bike. Hunting boots need big platforms........:D

Being clipped in makes a pretty big difference if you're riding big miles, and doing any climbing.

I'll never go back to clipped, or platform for that matter.... with the exception of my hunting bike. Hunting boots need big platforms........:D

I agree on the clips. Unfortunately, I now have three different systems, depending on what I'm doing and what I have scavengend.

I'm curious about the hunting bike though. what is it? What do you use it for? I always thought a bike would be a good way to hunt grouse in northern minnesota, up along the logging roads and snowmobile trails.

I agree on the clips. Unfortunately, I now have three different systems, depending on what I'm doing and what I have scavenged.

I'm curious about the hunting bike though. what is it? What do you use it for? I always thought a bike would be a good way to hunt grouse in northern Minnesota, up along the logging roads and snowmobile trails.

Everything I have is SPD equipped, except the bike(s) I use for hunting - they get Welgo platforms. I am thinking of moving the road bike to Look pedals/cleats as the SPD's tend to give me hotspots on the longer rides (I just got a nice set of Looks off of a road bike I just flipped and I have two pairs of shoes - one for road and one for mtb's/spin class.)

I use the hunting bike primarily to get into areas that have fire roads but are closed to vehicular traffic. So, they're set up to transport me, a shotgun, and a small ice chest. I carry assorted gear in a day pack. Mostly I go after rabbits and birds (quail/chukkar), so it

I've gone through a few bikes, as I'm always finding "new" ones and flipping the old ones. Here are the two latest - the Gary Fisher Mamba (hardtail) has already been sold to a friend, and has been replaced with a Giant Yukon. The full suspension bike I still have, but a hardtail really works best - preferably one with rack mounts.

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/6179/rabbits065croppedbt1.jpg

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/9229/rabbits070105croppedlr7.jpg

I have fairly wide feet (made even more so by running a lot in the last year), and pedal/toe clip systems have just never worked well for me. I've tried Power Grips, which were marginally better, but SPD systems have always worked best in terms of comfort. My favorite pedal is the Shimano PD M324, which is an MTB pedal with SPD on one side and a wide grippy surface on the other. I am going to try some half clips on some Campy quill pedals to see how comfortable that might be, but I don't have high hopes.

Neal
Neal,

Thanks for the opinion on those pedals - assuming the SPD's work out on the Raleigh, I'm definitely looking at a pair of those for the permanent pedals - plus a second set on the road/mtb I'm going to build to keep at work for lunch hour running around.

The nearby lbs has attachments that bolt to the center shaft of a regular mtb pedal that makes it into a cheap copy of the M324 - I may try them on the work bike, but I've got plans for the Raleigh on the Chesapeake Canal trail this coming summer and don't like to fudge on things like pedals.

You're gonna love clipless pedals!. Toe clips and straps will feel like a distant memory. This is a paradigm shift of the quality kind! Welcome to 2007 Mr. Van Winkle! I say this with utmost respect since I'm about as "old school" as you can get. A while back I posted on the road forum about how how alien it felt to have a 9 speed cluster and no down tube shift levers ... and somebody replied mockingly: "welcome to the 1990's". Heck I thought I made a quantum leap into the contemporary and I'm still 1.5 decades behind the times. :)

Saturday will be interesting. It's promising to be the only good weather day for the weekend in my area. Tomorrow morning, I take the Raleigh out for a run into town (eight miles round trip), just to see how the new shoe/cleat combination works. Then in the afternoon the Rossin comes out. I picked up a second set of cleats over lunch hour today, will get them mounted on my road shoes tonight, test out the alignment on the trainer. The Rossin is my mad bike, the frame is so close to perfect for me that I really don't feel the need to have a custom frame made - ever. This should be interesting.

Tomorrow evening, the Triumph Trident comes out - I promised myself I'd do the last miles to pass the 92K mark on it before the year is over.

You can take away my click-shifting, and I'd be okay with it. If frames were all made out of lugged or fillet-brazed steel, I'd cheer. I still haven't figured out what the deal is with threadless headsets and the sort-of-stem-like-things that go with 'em. But don't even *think* about taking away my SPD's. Ever.

I use the hunting bike primarily to get into areas that have fire roads but are closed to vehicular traffic. So, they're set up to transport me, a shotgun, and a small ice chest. I carry assorted gear in a day pack...but a hardtail really works best - preferably one with rack mounts.

That's a nice set up, bigbossman. I remember a thread from around the first time I found BF in which hunting bikes were being discussed (in the Living Car Free Forum, if I remember correctly). However, no one provided any photos. This very nicely illustrates the possibilities of getting even more use out of one's rides (even if it's not a vintage MTB :) ).

Back OT: I can't imagine wearing hunting boots which could even remotely get clipped in on your rig, so I think I would stick with the platform pedals also.


East Hill

I prefer LOOK pedals for the same reason. I do have SPDs for all bikes this winter because the MTB shoes are warmer.


I am thinking of moving the road bike to Look pedals/cleats as the SPD's tend to give me hotspots on the longer rides (I just got a nice set of Looks off of a road bike I just flipped and I have two pairs of shoes - one for road and one for mtb's/spin class.)

After all the posts about cagers passing too close I have to wonder... How would your setup work if the shotgun was pointing to the right and upright?

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/6179/rabbits065croppedbt1.jpg

^^^^

:beer:

That's a very interesting question!

East Hill

Being clipped in makes a pretty big difference if you're riding big miles, and doing any climbing.

A big +1 on that.........Here's what I've got on my Schwinn le tour luxe: http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/12895-240_WELM83-3-Parts-399-Pedals/Road/Wellgo-MG-8-Road-Pedals.htm They're completely compatible with the cleats on my mountain bike shoes, the Wellgo 98A cleat is completely interchangeable with the Shimano 51 SPD cleat. I really like these "road" Wellgos, they're inexpensive and have proven themselves to be very durable. And with the SPD cleats and mtb shoes, I can walk around fairly comfortably when I'm out and about on the bike. I've been riding clipless for about ten years, and when I get on a bike these days that's equipped with plain platform pedals, toe clips, or Power Grips, I have to admit thinking: man, how did I ever get by without clipless pedals!

bigbossman,
What happened to Dean? You got to bring him back....

bigbossman,
What happened to Dean? You got to bring him back....

Took me a minute to figure out what you meant! Deano's resting for the holidays.....'sides, I was getting tired of looking at him. Maybe another celebrity from yesteryear will make an appearance soon....



After all the posts about cagers passing too close I have to wonder... How would your setup work if the shotgun was pointing to the right and upright?


Ya know, it's never come up...... :D

Seriously, that is a consideration when I go in with someone else. As anyone schooled in firearms safety can tell you, a gun is always considered loaded and must never be pointed at anything your not willing to destroy. Even though I know the gun is empty and the action is open, I obviously take care to ride on the appropriate site of my partner so that the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction. I used to sling it under the top tube in a rifle case, but it got in the way of pedaling, moved around a bit no matter how I secured it, and generally got in the way. Up on the bars is WAY better.... especially if I happen to spy something of interest up ahead......... ;)

bigbossman,
What happened to Dean? You got to bring him back....

<-------- How's that? Better? Guess who it is.......

<-------- How's that? Better? Guess who it is.......


Really small picture. I'm guessing Ann-Margret?

http://home.pacbell.net/hrwhite3/ColorAnnMargret.jpg

Really small picture. I'm guessing Ann-Margret?

Close, pretty close indeed. Try HERE (http://members.tripod.com/~bewitchvic/xlizpage.jpg) for the answer.

Elizabeth Montgomery, one of my favorites!

Very nice, bigbossman. Not cheesy, but classy and elegant, not to mention understated but WOW!

And in RED .

;)

East Hill

Wow, a BF thread hijacked by Ann-Margret and Elizabeth Montgomery. That's a new height of something . . . I just don't know what.

It would have been better had Miss Montgomery been holding a sack of goodies with a bicycle peeking out of one corner, but I do believe that the rest of the C & V forumers will agree that both Miss Montgomery and Ann-Margret are classics. So, we're not quite off topic as it would first appear.

East Hill

It would have been better had Miss Montgomery been holding a sack of goodies with a bicycle peeking out of one corner, but I do believe that the rest of the C & V forumers will agree that both Miss Montgomery and Ann-Margret are classics. So, we're not quite off topic as it would first appear.

East Hill

+1
They are both classics in my book:D

Aaron:)

Now all we need is Grace Kelly and/or Cyd Charisse.:D

Back on the subject: Got both the Raleigh and Rossin out today with the clipless pedals, and everything worked just fine. Yeah, I can see where the comments are coming from - they really made a difference on the Rossin. Once I got back in, I headed down to Richmond Re-cycle and picked up two more pairs of the pedals. The new set (Shimanos, cost me a whole $25.00) are already mounted up on the Fuji. The second set is off to the side, for possible use on the vintage bikes when I want to do a long haul.

Maybe I'll start looking at the 21st century, yet.