(another) Clipless Thread

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07-15-10 | 09:10 PM

#26

JohnDThompson

Old fart

Joined: Nov 2004

Posts: 26,324

Likes: 5,233

From: Appleton WI

Bikes: Several, mostly not name brands.

Quote:

Originally Posted by frymaster

fully agreed when it comes to pedalling, but i submit there's a dramatic difference in ease of getting into and out of a cleated system. back in ye olde days i took at least a teeter-over fall a month because i couldn't pop the strap fast enough. ugh.

Hasn't been a problem here. Practice makes perfect, I guess.

Quote:

plus, if you're a vegetarian (which i assume mr. thompson is, given his avatar) finding non-leather cleat shoes is probably impossible.

Vegetarian =/ vegan. I have no moral objection to leather. And if you do have a problem with leather, Yellow Jersey sells slotted cleats for use with modern plastic shoes:

More power to ya, but I doubt that plastic is any more environmentally benign than leather.

Last edited by JohnDThompson; 07-15-10 at 09:14 PM.

07-20-10 | 12:17 AM

#27

oneeyedhobbit

Thread Starter

Senior Member

Joined: Jul 2009

Posts: 206

Likes: 0

As an unsolicited bump/update, I just picked up https://freewheelbike.com/product/shi...es-43659-1.htm and https://freewheelbike.com/product/shi...ls-43689-1.htm. Suffice to say I'm in love. The efficiency increase is amazing. When I rode clips/straps I felt like after some play I could generate power on the upstroke and obviously the down/forward stroke of my pedal rotation. Now I feel like I finally understand what people say about generating power on the whole rotation. This is cool for commuting, but I like to do some longer rides on my fixed gear (40-60 mi) for fitness on days off because I simply can't afford a road bike, and I think it will be a huge upgrade as far as fitness/speed go in that avenue.

As an aside I can't say enough good about the bike shop I picked them up at. Not only was the dude who helped me super friendly and happy to chat about his bikes/experience, but he steered me right on the pedals with 0 upsale and gave me a sweet deal on those shoes since they were unboxed (a return item that had been fitted with cleats but never used). He also took the time to take me out to the parking lot to show me how to clip in/out and explained how to adjust the cleats/tension to my liking when I'm more comfortable with clipping in and out on the fly.

Plus when I rode off all smiles only to find myself thinking, "Huh, the right pedal feels really loose, maybe I'll reclip" and then promptly pulled the pedal body off the spindle he was super happy to say, "Let's warranty those for you and give that another go."

I definitely recommend clipless to those looking to gain a huge efficiency upgrade whether for speed or fitness, and if you're in the Twin Cities area pay Freewheel a visit and ask for Ben and you can't go wrong =).