Hello, I am new to this forum and pleased to be here. My interest are lightweight Schwinn's, particularly post war Paramounts. I have two projects in the works. My question is what would have been period correct toe straps for 40's era Paramount track bicycles? Binda straps, while beautiful, seemed to come along in the 70's and used primarily on European racing bikes.

Alfredo Binda straps, especially the laminated ones (Extra), were considered the hot ticket for toe clip straps, all the way into the mid 80's, when clipless pedals took over the racing scene......
I remember going through the cheaper straps (Christophe, AFA) pretty much a set/a season, while the Binda straps lasted me easily over two.

AB's are fine straps. If they were available in the 40's, they would be perfect for my Wastyn project. I recall AB's may have emerged later than that. I could be wrong.

Let's see if rhm see's this thread.

He has some fine older bikes and I believe he uses toe clips so he would know...

I have seen the regular, non laminated AB's go for much less than the laminated ones (60 - 70 bucks), but even at those prices I think they are just way overpriced for what they are.... The laminated ones usually go for just under a hundred bucks minimum. Unfortunately Bindas are the "Campagnolo" of C&V toe straps, so they are now priced accordingly

This project if looking to be period has to pass on the Binda's.
AFA, Balilla, and a French Brand that starts with P that I cannot recall the spelling of.
I am pretty sure they will need to be European.

I have a neighbor that might recall, he raced long long ago on the track.

Thank you. That is what I am looking for.

Dad's pre-war Paramount. I believe they are Plessier, or something close to that. I can provide a better photo and correct spelling if that will help.

Paturaud was the toe strap brand.
They won't be cheap!
Rene Herse and Singer used them.

The 1939 Holdsworth Aids catalogue had listed "Speedster", "Ashby" and "Boa" and "Camusso" an Italian made toe strap, imported by Holdsworth.
The next catalogue, 1949, had "Olympic", "Cyclo" and Strata"
The Brown Bros 1939 catalogue had listed "Baycliff", Lapize", "Constrictor Boa", "Constrictor" "Pelissier", "Cornez", "B.B.L.", "Princip", Binda", "Brooks", "Champion Superieur"
By 1952, Brown Bros listed "Ashby", Superbus", "Brooks", "Challenge", "Strata", "Mistral", "Constrictor", "Lapize" and "Cyclo 'Oppy' "
some featured the Pelissier fastener

Hilary Stone has Paturad straps. I don't know what vintage they are, but he has several colors to choose from. Listed under Classic Corner, accessories.

..and, at just over a hundred bucks a pair, pretty good deal. Comparatively. Almost never see those NOS anywhere.

Thank you all! Extremely helpful. And at the risk of prolonging this thread, what about toe clips from this era?

Paging [MENTION=73614]rhm[/MENTION].

Most of the old bikes I've encountered had Christope toe clips that date to the 60's or maybe the very late 50's.

I found one that was built up in the 30's (crank date 1934, a couple components dating to the late 30's were probably modifications).

Pedals: Lyotard Marcel Berthet, the earlier version.
Toe clips: Cyclo "Oppy"
Toe staps: Lapize, probably from the 70's or 80's.



The "Oppy" toe clip is a funky old design. Take a look at the 1939 Cyclo Catalog, page 45, which also shows the "Cam-Serfor" toe strap. Note that the pair of straps cost more than the pair of clips.

If you're going to ride your bike, my advice would be to forget about period correct toe straps. If they're 50+ years old they won't last very long at all. Find a pair of buckles you like and put them on a pair of leather straps that will age appropriately with use, and forget about it.

I agree with your advice to install what works best for riding. Because of that, I plan to use two sets of pedals, one for riding, one for show. I have a working original set of pedals that are beat up pretty bad that will be used for riding. But I would like to build up a set of Torrington Professional or 4 Stars with period correct toe clips and straps. The Oppy clip is very unusual. I have not seen those before. Thanks.

Dad's Paramount has Christope, and I have no reason to suspect that they are anything but original.

Dawes-man (Hugo) has the 1939 and 1952 Brown Bros catalogues for online access
the 1952 Catalogue has toe clips starting at p226
the 1939 Catalogue toe clips start at p321

I use a set of the non-period correct GB Professional stainless steel toe clips for riding but have recently bought a NIB set of the GB Hiduminium toe clips for show use


There is a useful article on Classic Lightweights on toe clips
and Hugo has provided an excellent database on the components used on the Readers Bikes
using that database reveals scant information on toeclips and straps. It might be a fair assumption that not too many have been able to secure period correct components or have chosen to go with modern toe clips and straps.

Informative article Big Block! Thanks. The article also pictures the Oppy clips RHM showed above. It looks like Christophe will work just fine.

and another useful resource on the topic
Speedplay Toe clip, toe straps and shoe cleat gallery

and you too can have a set of Oppys

Oscar Wastyn Jr. was in town here in Madison for the Heartland Velo show in 2011 with a handful of his bikes. There is a good photo journal of all the bikes here. Fixed Gear Gallery Coverage of 2011 Heartland Velo Show

This one of the pedal on a 40's track bike shows the Christophe with the Lapize strap.

Christophe clips were made foe decades, I think they date back to the late 20's even.
Finding lapize straps with that typography....

I bought a pair with that type lettering on them a while ago, on the auction site. NOS.
When I mentioned a link to them here, as I remember, some folks scoffed at the twenty eight dollar
Price tag. Even with free shipping. I thought it was a pretty good deal.

Since we're on the subject anyway, please save the buckles/clips from your broken toe straps. I want to remake some, and it's hard to find good clips.

If the "correct" toe strap are unobtanium or just too expensive for your present budget, just opt for unbranded straps in the meantime to complete your build. I was trying to find Binda straps last year for one of my projects, but ended up frusttated by the very high asking prices anywhere I looked. In the end, I just went ahead bought nice black unbranded ones from American Cyclery in SF, which was a lot better quality than the Christophes. It even had metal spring type rollers at the buckle, instead of the plastic ones you see on other new straps these days, plus they were even thicker than new Christophes. Sure I could have bought used Bindas close to the same price, but at least the unbranded straps (which I think might be made for SOMA) looks minty fresh for the same price. I think I paid around 17 bucks for them.....