how do you feel about powergrips?
 

well, i made my own with a nylon belt, bolted onto some platform pedals (not that I do not wish to support the company that makes powergrips, but you just cant get them in Mexico, I am buying their performance pedalset next month when i visit the USA). i find them to be very confortable, tight, and easy to get in and out of. so, why do people spend hundreds on SPDs or toeclips and straps? why havent powergrips made it onto the velodrome/racing scene? to me they seem the best way to keep the feet snugly attached to the pedals, and especially for fixedgear riding, they allow me to completeley control my speed, even on steep descents.....

im a fan of mine. took some getting use to but i like them alot.

Because they are not. You've obviously never tried any real clipless pedals, look/SPD-SL's. Nothing more than clips & straps without the clips and with the other added benefit of doing a halfassed job in keeping your feet glued to the pedals.

Good if you're running a lot of errands with bulky shoes/boots. Crappy for any real riding.

i rode clipless back in my mountain biking days, it made my feet hurt after long rides. my homemade grips seem to give me a similar power transfer, im serious, they are tight! and they are bolted directly to the pedals, with no bits sticking out the side... havent tried the OG Powergrips, though. i am thinking that this is a technology that could be greatly improved with a little r & d.
simplicity is beautifull, although not always as lucrative...

Yeah, cause using a bike as a form of practical transportation isn't real riding. It's just joke riding.

I like them.

meh, clipless still gives you the edge on 6-to-9 o-clock pedaling that you can't really get with anything where your foot isn't secured directly into the pedals (so old school track cleats make another example of this). even toshi double straps aren't as good as a good clipless, IMO.

I have a set on the Karate Monkey for winter. So far so good.

how could they be better than clips and straps?
easier to get your feet out?

props for the DIY. i glossed over the part about using a nylon belt earlier.

easier to get in and out, especially good for bailing out, no need to tighten straps, they get plenty tight, you can push your foot in a little bit farther to get extra tightness when you need it (extreme braking or sprinting, for example), virtually unbreakable, inexpensive (you can make a pair at home for 3 bucks), you can adjust them to "float" as much as you want, or not at all easily.... the list goes on

I ride clipless now (in fact for the last decade) nothing comes close.

But if you don't get on with space shoes powergrips™ are great, I rode them for a couple of years, much prefer them to clips and straps, they really do hold on tight to your foot, I loved them prior to discovering Bebop pedals and Sidi dominators.

Chiapas, make us a how-to.


Also, fill me in on the secrets to an authentic Mexican quesadilla :)

they sound like a good solution for the OPs situation--
no access to a bike shop around the corner with
MKS what have you, Time ATACs etc.

like
but takes some adjusting if you have diff size shoes. Not as easy to adjust on the fly frequently as straps since you need to use an allan key.

clipless is great if you have 100$ lying around i guess.

im also interested on a how-to. I was gonna buy powergrips but if i can make em myself all the better.

That pretty much sums it up and is the answer to the question about velodrome racing.
I saw a stack of em for 5 bucks a set the other day. I still passed.

i just bought a pair with pedals, i like them better than the stock kilo pedals, but im not so sure about how they compare to real pedals..

i have big feet, and wear thin shoes (pumas) so i have them on the 2nd to smallest adjustment so i dont get toe overlap and they fit snug

here's where I learned to make 'em, except i did no tuse the hardware like they did, just got a wide pedal and screwed the strap on diagonally. this site is in japanese, but its fairly self explanatory, do an automatic translation for a good laugh...
http://www.geocities.jp/good4u/power_grips.html

i've never tried clipless but i like wearing sneakers so i'm not sure i'd want to ... i know that's a crap reason...

i loved powergrips before i overtightened one of mine and it eventually failed on me, at a really bad moment too... i still miss them

one thing i dont miss though is having to adjust them with a hex every time i want to wear a different pair of shoes.. bah!

Clipless pedals were a thumbs down from me. I went faster and had better balance, but I didn't like the feeling.

ot: what are you doing in chiapas or are you chiapaneco?

i am born chiapaneco, parents emigrated here from califonria in 1969.
i run an organic restauraunt and a martial arts/dance space in San Cristobal de Las Casas, and advocate the use of bikes and alternative technologies localy.

eres verdadero zapatista.
next time i pass through there you will have to show me around.

sure thing garcia, we can ride around. look for me in La Casa del Pan