Farewell, toe clips & straps
 

After a week of fooling around on old Campy road pedals, I'm back on eggbeaters. I just cannot override my 'SPD reflex'. Just what are the pro's for riding clips & straps anyway? Besides the fact that Adidas superstars look good :)

Shoes and skidding. Shoes makes perfect sense of course. As far as skidding, and accelerating for that matter, it's possible (so I hear) to put enough upward pull on the pedals and release them. That's why you see track riders in clips and straps.

That's true, I know I've pulled my feet out of look pedals before. I tend to find though that I can easily fall out of straps too. I have them loose enough to make it easy enough to get feet in and out quickly, but then if you're not careful they can come out accidentally.

I think the reason though that most people ride clips and straps are because they ride in the city and want to be able to walk about in normal shoes too when they've got wherever they're going on their bikes. I know you can get shoes with recessed cleats (although certainly for me you can't, try getting them in a size 49/50) but mainly they're too stiff or just don't look cool.

haha, walking around law school in the sidi MTB shoes with the jeans rolled up and the kryptonite belt has gotten me a few looks (especially in OH), but screw them. Most of the professors walking the halls seem to think i'm a messenger or something, which is good. Keeps them from calling on me in class. I don't think MTB shoes are all that uncomfortable, but obviously i wouldn't wear them someplace i'd be walking for miles.

Just slide a pair of reef flip flops in your bag, switch into those when you arrive. the ultimate in comfort

shouldn't the chain be on your bike--not on your waist--when you aren't on your bike?

AHH you're a quick one. The only time its around my waist is when i'm walking my bike through the hall to lock it in one of the offices at school. That's right, locked inside a building in a locked office with a NY chain. I don't leave the baby to chance.

I wear these to work on most days. They look more like Sambas than cycling shoes. And on the carpet, people can't hear the cleats clicking. Unfortunately, I don't think Adidas makes them anymore.

Hey Schiek, what's the model name on those adidas? I'm in the market for New Shoes, and am just about going to have to drill my Gazelles for SPD (not really).

..I know they have platforms that clip into spd's...but do they have platforms with toe clips that click into spd's? or do you think i could buy the platforms and add toe clips? I really hate changing my pedals out to the crappy platforms with toe clips I got at target when I want to ride to the bars :(

Heh, well, you can send'em over here, I don't like clipless and much prefer to clips & straps system. I don't like wearing special shoes and just couldn't fully get into the clipless thing - I tried normal SPD's but there seemed to be this "give" in them on the upstroke that was just really annoying and I tried frogs but the pedal was so small I got horrible hot spot pains on the bottom of my foot. I like a BIG pedal... and the clips and straps give me a good sized pedal but still allow some up-pull and proper placement... cozy.

I just went to clips/straps recently because I didn't like my Speedplays for short rides that I do around Chicago, i.e. the coffee shop, pub, book store, etc.

I like both, don't get me wrong. But I have been finding clips more comfortble because I can wear comfortable shoes, i.e. Addidas Sambas or other gym shoes.

I ended up getting a 2nd fixie just for "about-town" rides in normal shoes because I got tired of swapping pedals out all the time, then I just use my eggbeaters on my first fixie for longer rides.

I like my toe clips and straps because there isn't a large investment if anything is stolen, not that i can make the initial investment anyway, but whatever. I think my frankenset from my LBS was 6 bucks, then the time it took me to put them on my existing Wellgo MTB pedals. I think that my application, as well as for many others, is better suited by toe clips and straps; i.e, in and out of class, to and from work, and around campus to meetings, all stop and go. I need a comfy walking shoe just as much as a cycling shoe.

I think they were called Synclines. The operative word being "were." I haven't been able to find them around in the past two or three years. I grabbed the photo from an on-line store in Budapest...so the next time you are in Hungary, grab me an extra pair. Maybe we should pitch Puma with the idea for some Old Skool Gazelles that are SPD compatible.

Well, the shoes I'v got are Shimano DX's, which pretty much look like your average skate shoe, but allow spd cleat and have slightly stiffer shoe. Perfect for those manic sprints up the staircases to nth floor when the elevators are out of order / permanently occupied etc.

Anybody know what the pricetag on these puppies is? I think I really need a set, but before I go through all extremely painful trouble of talking to the LBS it would be cool to know about how much they'll set me back.

You can find them for around US$20 to US$25... maybe a little less if you look online.