jeneralist 

I had posted before, asking for advice from the assembled experts about Nashbar's Soho pedals. They have an SPD cleat on one side, and a flat platform on the other -- so that you can ride clipless or platform, depending on which shoes you feel like wearing that day.

NS-SOHO-NCL-SIDE..jpg

Got my new pedals on Friday and put them on the bike over the weekend. Then proceeded to have a great weekend visiting family -- except that I completely skipped riding. So on Monday, when the time came to ride the 5 miles to work, I hadn't had a chance to practice using the un-clips! The good news is, you get to hear about what it's like to ride 10 miles on the platform side of the Soho pedals.

Platform side: comfortable to use. My 215 lb weight was spread out over a big enough surface that I didn't feel pressure points under my feet. Before these pedals, I had been using toe clips and had gotten used to flipping the pedal over to get to the side I wanted. The Soho landed platform-side-up unpredictably, so I needed to look at my feet once in a while to get to the platform side. I did wind up putting my sneaker on top on the cleat once in a while -- I wouldn't want to ride any distance like that, but it didn't hurt to do for a few rotations while trying to flip the thing over. I expect that as the bearings break in and loosen up, I'll have an easier time getting the side of the pedal I want.

Then after I got home from work, I put on my fancy new shoes (actually Keen's Commuter Sandals) and went out to the towpath to practice using the un-clips. This was my first-ever time in clipless, so I can't separate out what is the pedal, what's the shoe, and what's just the whole clipless system. Overall, the experience was WOW! My toes weren't getting mashed into toe clips! There was no pressure on the top of my foot! The bottom of my foot wasn't getting any pressure points, either.

Clipping in was a little tricky, because of the aforementioned "which side is up?" problem. Once the cleat got to the top side, I didn't really need to point my toe into the cleat. I could just hit the cleat-side of my pedal with my midfoot and push down -- snap! my foot would slide in. (Got a little concerned when I clipped one foot in without meaning to an my way to the towpath, while I was still in traffic.)

Clipping out worked pretty much like I expected it to: just point the ankle all the way in and pop!

Had a fun five miles on the towpath, clipping in and out merrily, smiling a big dumb grin, and wondering why I ever had been nervous about going clipless. Then I went up the short, steep rise between the path and a heavily trafficked street, slowed WAAY down, and didn't have enough momentum left to get un-attached without falling over. Object lesson #1: there's only so much rotational momentum. If you're about to stall out anyway, you can't stop pedalling and unclip. Instead, you stop pedalling and fall over.

So right now, they're the best thing since sliced toast -- like sliced bread, but you might get burned.

c_m_shooter

Was there a crowd around to point and laugh when you fell? If not, you still need to fall some more.

Neil_B

She's a chick. No one, even in Philly, should laugh at a woman when she falls down.

Jeneralist, was this on the Manayunk towpath? Was it the climb near the brewery?

jeneralist 

I did have a few folks come over and check on me. The first one one the scene was a woman wearing road shoes. I just explained that this was my first day with SPDs and she smiled.

Manayunk towpath, yes; near brewery, no. I was on the other side of Green Lane, going up a short rise to the sidewalk. If I had kept moving forward, I would have wound up in the middle of Main Street during the evening rush. With that as one option, moving sideways and down doesn't seem so bad!

BTW, nice new picture!

Jamesw2

When I was a kid I rollerskated got accustomed (good) at falling down. But not as good as the kid that went (checked) through the door, during a roller hocky game, and had to fall down before he got to the street.

I've had that same learning curve. It's scarry thought to realize you aren't going to get your feet to the ground in time. Unlike Jeneralist i wound up along the side of the road when i got into some sand along the berm.

I am going to look into the peddle system . thanks

CPFITNESS

how do these look on the bike? was thinking about getting them because i've been doing a lot of pleasure riding on my bike and would love to go with proper shoes but I also use it to commute to clients and need to be able to wear regular shoes quite a bit. The pics of them look so hideous, but they are 1/2 the price of the basic double sided shimano pedals

jeneralist 

They look like this:

Peter_C

+1 on the bike - now, where can you get a 12 (really) wide shoe for them??

Neil_B

How wide is "really wide", Grasshopper?

late

Sidi has wide shoes which they call Mega. You'd prob want the Dominator Megas (what I have).
Great shoe, not cheap.

Lake also has wide shoes, they're American, call them if you don't have a local dealer.

Peter_C

Well, am not sure if I am really at a point to even consider 'clip-less'... but at 3AM I was doing some reading...

I wear (normally) a NB926 in a 12EEEE.

I really like the look of the SOHO pedals, and the choice to go either way, plus, the Great Sheldon Himself likes Sandals, right? So, Since am not willing at thipoint to invest that kind of green (Sidi, Lake, etc) how bout These?

Neil_B

Grasshopper, I suggest you get some miles under your belt, err, butt, before you start exploring clipless.

But when you do, you shouldn't find it hard to get cycling shoes in your size. Note what I'm wearing in the photo below - Sette MTB shoes from Price Point, size 47 (US 13):



A previous pair, same maker and retailer, same size. The drawback that has these living in the closet is that they don't slide on and off easily, but again, they fit well my wide feet and they are cheap - 35 dollars on sale.

Peter_C

Yup - my thoughts too - miles first, then toys... I have all I need to do miles but time...