Originally Posted by
USAZorro
I never understood the perceived purpose of cleats. Just seems like an annoyance to possibly improve your chances of injury. Vintage style shoes and cages seem more than adequate.
As an ex racer back in the day, we raced with metal cleats and toe clips and straps. I can't imagine racing without cleats. Ours, being metal didn't deform like the modern plastic ones, which close up and fill with grit and mud if you walk on them. Most of our racing was closed course, no stops and starts, never raced or rode on dirt till Eroica
. Even on training rides, I dont recall ever falling or having a problem with them. That was 50 years ago, maybe my memory isn't so good.