Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Still bugging me

Know you all probably don't care, but these new pedals are still bugging the hell out of me. Finally got so I can clip in mostly OK (pretty much immediatly on the first, usually within a block for the second, sometimes immediatly for the second)

Fell on my side for the first time on the way home from work this morning and got laughed at on Nicolette Mall. Sad thing is that I had the other foot clipped out, just fell the wrong way.

They do feel a lot better going through construction zones and over cunks/potholes though. Out here in Minneapolis it seems like all the roads are made of asphalt on top of a slab of concrete. They don't get many deep potholes, but they get these 2 - 4 inch wide strips that run perpendicular to the traffic. Every once in a while they fill them in, and then you have a two inch raised speedbump. Stuff like that often used to make me feel like I was going to lose a pedal, but I don't get that now.

Worst part is I'm having to go a lot slower because I have to think about something instead of just riding. My old Primo pedals had worn a couple of holes in the soles of my boots so they locked in really easily. I was looking at it when I took them off the bike and noticed that I was really lucky with the combination of boot thread and the pins on the pedals, it ended up that the center two pins on each side went exactly on each side of one of the 1/2" deep threads. That's why they always felt so solid untill I hit the bumps.

Does anyone know of a pedal with an SPD style center that is also rectangular with the little pins on top? Or even really tall pins. The work boots are getting kind of worn out, so I wouldn't mind putting the dremel to them and making them clipless. Might mean there's some slightly worn Crank Bros Mallets showing up in the buy/sell forum once I have money for the new pedals...

maybe shimano m324? or m647?

Damn - I'm almost feeling bad about posting that now - just got back from a run to put my rent check in the mail and get a can of drum, and I think I figured out how to get out of the damn things. I was running my toe into the crank and taking too long to kick. No problems once I figured out to kick out once I was almost stopped.

Was a lot better getting in, too - had one time where the first step on the pedals was a satisfying click as soon as my foot was on the pedal :)

I'm not sure of the shimanos for what I've been visualizing as my perfect pedal, though... The pins I was thinking of are on a flat pedal - they have 4 up front, then two along the sides in the middle, then 4 more in the back. Here's some pix (pretty much at the bottom - the tenderizer pedals)

http://www.extremesports.ltd.uk/bmx/primo-bmx-components.htm

I think something a little thinner like that with something like the center of the crank bros mallet (looks like an eggbeater surrounded by metal) would give you the best of everything. Just don't know if anyone makes them. Those pins around the outside work great by wearing little holes in the sole to guide your foot. If they were able to guide your foot straight to the part where you clip in, that would be even better.

They are pretty useless when you leave the bike out in freezing rain, though. I remember a couple times last winter when they had about an 1/8" of ice caked on them and it was basically completly covering the pins. There was nothing at all to keep my foot on the pedal - I had to hook it under the heel of my boot to keep my fot on at all. Once I even fell right over trying to take off from work - one foot on sheet ice from a melting snowbank under the rack, the other sliding off of the pedal as soon as I stepped on....

Anyways...

They are pretty useless when you leave the bike out in freezing rain, though. I remember a couple times last winter when they had about an 1/8" of ice caked on them and it was basically completly covering the pins. There was nothing at all to keep my foot on the pedal - I had to hook it under the heel of my boot to keep my fot on at all. Once I even fell right over trying to take off from work - one foot on sheet ice from a melting snowbank under the rack, the other sliding off of the pedal as soon as I stepped on....

Anyways...

I had the same problem about four years ago. I realize this may not be the cheapest or most practical solution, but here's what I did...

I left Minnesota.

Of course, now I run into strange topographical anomalies that don't exist in Minny. I think the locals call them "hills."

so you are having trouble unclipping from the mallets? if you rotate your cleat on your shoe 180° it will allow for less float, letting you clip out sooner. have you tried clipping and unclipping your shoes while they are off of your feet? since the mallets are so big, perhaps the soles of your shoes are getting in the way of you getting in and out. i ride with eggbeaters myself. if i am going to unclip at a stop, i always do both feet just so i don't accidentally lean to the clipped in foot. i did that a few times before i decided to just unclip both...

I remember learning to ride clipless and fixed more or less at the same time--not recommended. About a week or two in, I was coming to a stoplight, in traffic. I slowed down, trying to orchestrate too many unpracticed actions all at once. I unclipped a foot, then unwittlingly clipped back in as I came to a dead stop. There was a bobbling moment as brain and body tried to grasp the situation, then I just dropped like a felled tree. Two guys in a moving van in the lane next to me about fell out of their cab with laughter as I lay between two stopped cars trying to unclip my feet and pick up my pride.

You might want to look at the Shimano M424s or the cheap n dirty Nashbar Rodeos--clipless on one side toothed cage on the other.

get a can of drum

When I left college about 4 years ago you couldn't get drum anywhere in the states, some rumors about the importer or something. The last time I was around a steady supply was when I was going to school in canada in 99 or so. Good god I'm old. Anyway, I quit about 2 years ago so I haven't even looked in a while, but it's good to know you can get it agian, it was so nice and smooth and easy to roll.
Sorry for the off topic, I can't unclip worth a **** either.

I would avoid the Shimano PDM324's. They lock in too tight and take out their crankiness on your knees.

I had the same problem about four years ago. I realize this may not be the cheapest or most practical solution, but here's what I did...

I left Minnesota.

Of course, now I run into strange topographical anomalies that don't exist in Minny. I think the locals call them "hills."

Yeah - if I left Minnesota it would probably be back to Montana. I think they call them mountains out there. Probably have to get myself a singlespeed mountain bike. Don't like the idea of fixed on some of the downhills I remember. And I'd still have problems with the snow and ice.

Anyways - I'll try rotating the cleats, I think. It feels like I have to turn my heel out almost 90 degrees - enough so the toe of the shoe hits the crank if I'm not at the top of the stroke. Probably move the position of the cleats further forward, too (even though that's not where I like my foot to be).

Thanks for the help!