This is what it is called on the Sheldon Brown site.
What is this prong for?

Mostly it is there to impale wide-footed riders.

It's to keep your shoe centered on the pedal, but since American feet tended to be wider than European or Asian feet, it often became a source of problems here.

It is there to be bent outward and downward to increase the support and comfort level of the pedal.

...one more thing to be broken when you buy a used bike.

i've decided track pedals are better for me and the kind of riding i do wearing sneakers. road pedals are nearly the same, just slightly heavier.

They were called "quill" style pedals.

Europeans in general had narrow feet from wearing shoes that were too small... No, I can't prove it but just look at the skinny, pointy toed Italian shoes that were the hot item in the 50s and 60s!



Those "prongs" on the pedals were a homage to Torquemada (the first Spanish Grand Inquisitor) - guaranteed to inflict maximum discomfort and "hot foot" even through thick leather soles on riding shoes.



Bending the prongs over usually caused at least one to break off on a pair of pedals. Then they looked bad!

I wear size 10 1/2 EEE shoes so back in the 70s I used Lyotard 460D pedals, even on all Campy bikes. They were about 3/4" wider than most other pedals back then.



In the 90s I discovered SR Low Fat MTB pedals and never went back to pain!

Verktyg

Chas.

FWIW- the prong is on the pedals on the Wright Bicycle at the Smithsonian!

Then you just trim off the excess and turn them into track pedals:

Almost. Way back I used Pista pedals as that is what Eddy used. On the Superleggro set, I found the force of my pulling up on the pedals with a cleated shoe started to bend the aft plate forward a bit.
I traded them off for a steel set.
I had a good initial kick and could out accelerate a large number, in a matched sprint I was the guy who would pin you to the outside rail for as long a possible. If you could track stand, you had a small chance depending on where my cranks were orientated when you stopped.

European foot width varies. When I worked at a bike shop, we typically steered folks with narrow feet to Italian shoes, and those with wider feet to Belgian shoes. This seemed to work out pretty well.

I cannot say that the tips on quill pedals have done anything either for me or to me.

"Bending the prongs over usually caused at least one to break off on a pair of pedals. Then they looked bad!"

Have flattened the 'prong' on several sets of old Campy and similar cages on other pedals without cracking or breaking any of them off. They look good.

I found out the hard way that Lyotard pedal cages were very brittle, at least the alloy ones as fitted to the PX10.

Wide feet is one good reason why I never use anything but clipless pedals anymore. Finding shoes that work with clip/strap pedals on my wide feet became more than burdensome, plus the clipless system seems vastly superior.

On many an old (even really old) bike that I want to do serious riding on, the pedals and chain are the only items that consistently need replacement to allow for an excellent overall ride.

Of course sometimes also tires, tape, cables, freewheel, brake pads, hoods, saddle, etc., but often not.

They cause me fits as well and I either grind them off or bend them over unless I care about the pedals. One would have to have some pretty narrow feet for them to fit between the "prong" and crank arm.

I've had a few sets from/on PX10's and those are especially narrow!

Didn't the older cycle shoes have thicker soles that had a narrower area that fit between the quill and the crank, such that your foot was held in place, but not punctured by the quill?

If you don't have those shoes, the quilled pedals would seem rather narrow!

Good call, I even have a pair of said shoes.

I *thought* I was not imagining that!

Someone needs to make new shoes like that so we can all use these old pedals!

The leather soles weren't very thick. My Deodora soles were maybe 1/4-3/8" or so. but you had to nail on a cleat that was on a thin support plate. For me, the outside edge of my sole was against the quill. But then I have sleek narrow B width feet designed for speed*, not those clodhoppers many of you are sporting.



*B width feet actually measure .0057 watts faster in wind tunnel tests.

I'd love to see those test results

Yurpean here: I've got almost 2 cm left to the quill on my nice campy pedals. You know what they say abou guys with narrow feet...

in all seriousness, I think it has to do with imagined fears of sliding sideways of the pedals and pedal strikes, hence the upward curve.

They prefer slide rules?

My feet fit quill pedals without problems, but I wear a size 41 shoe. Bigger feet also tend to be wider.

Yup. Still do:

I never figured out what the quill was for. Who slides his feet off the side of the pedal? The quill is torturous for me. It juts my foot almost in the middle.