kcblair

It's a snowy day here in Ma. and I was looking through my bike tool stuff, drawer. I came across my old cleats. That got me looking for my old shoes, and I found them , Yah !!!! Dug out my peddles and toe clips, replaced and greased the bearings. Nice and smooth. Dug into another bag and got out the toe straps. Man, I'm going back in time. Attached the cleats to one of the shoes, lost 2 bolts to the other cleat, but will good to hardware store later.

Now, what to do, does anyone still use this vintage setup ? I have a Bridgestone 500 in FEDEX coming soon. I might just go full vintage for a while. KB

EDIT: Sure wish we could have an Eroica event on the East coast, now .

dweenk

I use toe clips and straps on shoes without cleats. I used to own a pair of shoes with cleats, but they disappeared in a move decades ago.

Salamandrine 

I haven't ridden slot cleats in 25 years. They did the job BITD. I've ridden a gazillion miles in them. When I switched to clipless I didn't look back. Clipless is way better. That said I'd like to get some slot cleats so I can take out my Masi and PX10 for a proper ride on occasion. Smooth bottom shoes even with stiffening shanks only give you ~1/3 the benefit of being fully strapped in with cleats, IMHO. If you don't have a lot of hills to deal with the difference between cleats or not is probably minimal.

There are slot cleats available for 3 hole modern shoes, but my shoes are two hole SPD type. Vintage shoes are hard to come by in adult sizes. Duegi used to be my favorite.

crank_addict

Suggest to use a drop of blue Loctite on the cleat screws.

Nylon cleats for ally caged pedals.
For steel pedals, use nylon or optional aluminum.

Happy pedaling-

steelbikeguy

Best wishes for getting up and running with the slotted cleats, etc!

I've got a few pairs of old shoes with slotted cleats... mostly Duegi, for some reason. At risk of looking like a total nerd, I'm not trying to be retro, I just never stopped using them. They do provide the right aesthetic touch for the vintage bike, though.

One of my projects is a set of shoes that take nail-on cleats. I've got the T.A. Anquetil cleats in hand, but need/want to get some more miles on the shoes w/o cleats in order to mark the eventual position of the cleats better.


Steve in Peoria

ptempel

You just jogged my memory. I almost forgot having the Duegi shoes below.



I remember my first pair of cycling shoes having a leather sole that didn't last (got too flexable). Detto Pietro? Then at one point I tried a shoe with a wooden sole. It killed my feet. Those were the days...

thumpism 

Put aside years ago, probably size 45. For the amount of walking I do on my rides these days, these are unsuitable. I rode these for a couple of summers; one of them a lot and the next very little.

In addition, when an NC shop closed down years ago (Tumbleweed in Chapel Hill) I bought a bag of metal nail-on cleats, all that he had. You can imagine how useful that purchase has proved over the years.
Duegi1.JPG

Duegi2.JPG

markwesti

I'm confused here are we talking cages and straps or are we talking about cleats ? Or mybe I'm missing something cleats with cages ? Thanks

steelbikeguy

now that's something I haven't seen before.... a nail-on fitting for a bolt-on cleat!

The cleat looks identical to what I've got on one pair of Duegi's, so I'm guessing this is how it came from the factory? It must have been before they figured out how to build shoes with the nylon soles, eh?

very interesting!


Steve in Peoria
(edit: shoot... I was hoping the "quote" tool would copy the photo)

thumpism 

Factory, wooden soles routed out to clear the nut on the backside of the cleat. These are from '83.

steelbikeguy

wooden soles with a leather outer sole? That's new to me too! (I don't get out much....)
Even more interesting!



Steve in Peoria

Warren128

The last time I rode slot cleats was in the early 90s. The first pair that I wore were in the late 70s, on a pair of Detto shoes with wooden soles, leather tops. The metal slot cleats were nailed into the wooden soles. I rode without the cleats for a while so that my pedals can put an imprint on the soles of the shoes. The imprint was used to determine the position of the slot cleats. You have to be very careful to position the cleats correctly, otherwise your knees will complain and/or get messed up, because the cleats were solidly positioned, there was no float like modern pedal systems.

I switched over to modern clipless pedals in the mid-90s, and never looked back.

drlogik 

It's been almost 40 years since I rode with cleats and clips. I never liked them anyway, my knees always hurt after a long ride. There was zero float in that old setup. They were sure effective at keeping a foot in the toe clip though, almost too effective when the strap was snugged up tight!!

If I still had mine would I ride with them? No. Not a chance, for the knee/lack of float reason alone. I ride with SPD pedals and clips now, on all my bikes, and LOVE them.

Salamandrine 

We are talking about using cycling shoes with slotted cleats, in conjunction with clips (cages) and straps.

BITD if you were into cycling enough to have a nice bike and cycling shorts and a jersey, almost certainly you would have used slot cleat shoes as well. For some reason people seem to have forgotten about this today.

Of course a few people were more casual and happy with Bata bikers or Avocet touring shoes.

BTW for 'Eroica' type rides, we would carry some sharp implement for clearing mud out of the cleats in a jersey pocket.

thumpism 

Back in the dark ages of quill pedals (like Campy) or platform pedals (like some Lyotard) or track pedals of whatever brand, most serious riders used toe clips and straps. You could wear any shoes for this but most serious cyclists wore dedicated cycling shoes with cleats attached to the bottoms of the soles. Metal cleats were most common but there were also leather and, later, plastic. These improved the cycling part considerably but were hell to walk on. The arrival of the recessed SPD cleat revolutionized (or ruined, depends on your point of view) the sport, but no one disputes that they are much easier to walk on.

"Slotted cleats," as previously mentioned above, is probably the best term to use in order to reduce confusion, but back then "cleats" only meant one thing, the slotted kind and, by extension, your cycling shoes that had them attached. "I didn't wear my cleats and really regretted it on that last climb."

kcblair

shoe cleat.jpg

This is what I'm talking reminiscing over. My leather shoes are long gone. I think I got these, just before clipless came out. KB

Drillium Dude 

Except for a pair of vintage Sidi touring shoes, all I wear are old-school cleated shoes with clips/straps.

Is there any other way to go?





DD

crank_addict

Regarding slotted cleats and float, there was someone a few years back on Kickstarter offering a free-action cleat.

edit: found it
https://www.corsacleat.com

L134 

I've been riding with clips but no cleats on one bike to get ready for Eroica. Not as bad as I expected but much prefer two sided clipless, particularly in traffic.

repechage

Clips, straps and cleats 90% of the time.
Even got a pair of fur lined winter training shoes, terrific on a cold morning, warm feet are happy feet.

vtchuck

Still using leather cycling shoes with nailed on metal cleats.

A pair of touring style made for me by REW Reynolds back in the early 70's. No holes, slight heel and long
TA steel clips. Kind of large... good with heavy socks for cold weather.

A pair of racing style w/ holes, no logo maybe Detto? short aluminum TA cleat. My everyday shoe. Use them with
covers in cooler weather.

I have a pair of Cannondale with plastic slotted cleats that bolt into the sole. Tried them a couple of times maybe 25 years ago.

Last year I found a cobbler that stitched up and repaired my daily pair. Going to see him tomorrow to replace the zipper on a beloved down coat.

For pedals I like Campy Record with the chromed steel cage and KTT Pro-Ace, which are almost identical.

Also like the Superbe w/ the x-shape alloy body and the Sylvan quills. Buttons on all my straps.

jimmuller 

Hmmph. Been riding with clips and straps for 43, maybe even 44 years. Never used cleats because I like to be able to walk once I get to wherever I'm going. W-a-l-k, as in put one foot in front of the other and move forward without wheels. I highly recommend clips/straps with a flat-sole cyclocross shoe like the 5-10 Freerider.

If you ain't racin', why dress like you are, why suffer like you are?

kcblair

Thanks all, glad to hear, clips and cleats are still being used, I'm amazed. As soon as I can get my BS500 restored and weather warms up, I'm going to take a spin, like in the old days. KB

John E

Similar story here. I started cycling in 1962, at age 12, got toeclips and straps in early 1969, and that is what I have used on all of my bicycles ever since. I have used traditional leather cycling shoes with nail-on cleats, as well as tennies, mountain biking shoes, and BMX shoes, but my all-time favorite cycling shoes are still the old Avocet Touring shoes, which had four cleat-like transverse grooves across the hard rubber soles, as well as internal steel shanks. They were great for riding, and eminently walkable. The closest thing I have been able to find is a Giro shoe from Nashbar, but I still miss the grooves.

T-Mar

Regarding float, 35-40 years ago, Puma had a slotted cleat shoe that was easily modified to float. The original toothed lockwasher for the cleat was simply replaced by a flat lockwasher and the screw was reinstalled, finger tight with some Blue Locktite