djembob02

My 4 year old girl is my primary stoker and I would love to put her in some clipless pedals. I wondered if anyone out there might have some size 33 or smaller shoes that no longer fit. Thanks a ton

Bobby

ElRey

A 4 year old in clipless pedals? Why?

zonatandem

Toeclips without the straps, or 'half' clips, should do fine for a 4-year old! Clipless? Bit of a challenge for most young 'uns!

Eurastus

The smallest SPD-compatable shoes I have found are size 34--older Specialized Ground Control Sport shoes from the early '90s. These fit my 9-year old. They show up now and again on eBay; I think I bought mine for less than $20. Here's a photo of a size 36.

Michel Gagnon

You may get some... at a price. But especially on a tandem, toe clips would work fine too because she can take her time clipping in.

Apart from shoes, another issue is being able to clip in. My then 9-year-old daughter got her first clipless shoes last year (size 36), and even at the lowest tension, it took her some time to be able to click in. The spring is very powerful for such little legs.

djembob02

Despite everyone's advice, I am going ahead with clipless. I've ordered some 04 Posi Trac shoes for $20 from Specialized. They are size 33, which I think will be too big for her feet. She might not be able to wear them for a while. In response to it being hard to clip in and out, this is really OK. I anticipated having to help push her feet in as well as twist out. She can't currently strap in her own feet, so it will actually same me time. It is quite a pain to get the straps and heel straps (I had to sew additional straps to the system in order to keep her feet from sliding out) all sinched up and then undone everytime we stop.

For those who care, I will answer the question of why do this with a four year old (do keep in mind that I am fairly new to tandeming I don't know these things from experience):

1. Convenience: it will easier and faster to clip her in and out than it is to strap her in and out. Plus she will eventually be able to do this by herself. She would someday be using clipless anyway, so why not start now?
2. Efficiency: of course I don't get a lot of power from this little one, but there is certainly no harm in efficiently using all the power output possible.
3. Fun! (this is really the main reason). She wants to have pedals like her Daddy, and I'm more than happy to oblige.

ElRey

You wreck and she stays attached to the bike the whole way down. **********? You asked....

djembob02

Your right, maybe it would be better for her to fly off the bike during an accident and end up under somebody's wheel. I would argue that staying attached is far safer.

ElRey

This is the sort of story I usually hear during a hospital visit to a recalcitrant employee.

prairie*boy

To all:

I started with my young stokers (6 & 12 at the time) with double sided pedals (one side platform and one side spd) so the could ride in runners. We very quickly learned that they could not keep their feet on the pedals and getting struck by the pedals once your feet had dropped off was very painful.

So we went to clip ins. This solved the problem on keeping feet attached - There are problems in that I have to clip the feet in for my younger son even at lowest tension but the safety advantage of having his feet attached is worth it. My daughters (3 & 14 now) like the 'fashion' statement that riding in clipped in cycling shoes makes.

And what's the difference in a wreck between the child being clipped in and with the bike and stuck to the bike with toe clips and heel straps (and personally, being with the bike makes for a larger obstruction which a car is more likely to avoid).

Eurastus

All of my children have used clipless pedals on our tandem from the outset. We used the small size 34 shoes mentioned above at first; the middle child now fits 35s and the oldest has since graduated to size 36. There she might stay, as her mother takes size 36 as well; they share the same pair of shoes now.

As we ride a da Vinci with their unique Independent Coasting System, we don't have to worry about the stoker cranks spinning around and slapping unsuspecting young legs, but I feel having them as fixed to the bike as possible is the safer route. For the first few rides with each child, I needed to clip them in by hand even though the tension on the pedals was a low as possible. They all quickly learned the knack and can clip in alone now.

Even my wife, who will not ride clipless pedals on her single sings their praises on the tandem.

DinoShepherd

To the OP -

I am with you 100%. Child stokers should be clipped on to the bike for safety. Even traditional clips/straps are problematic in this regard. Feet can come loose and get whacked or caught in moving bike parts. This is the more likely injury rather than fretting about being attached to the bike in a fall.

-Z

mrfish

The cheap new RXE, RXS Time pedals have the lowest spring tension on any pedals I've used. Fitting 3-bolt cleats to a child's shoe could be a challenge though - maybe you could take the sole from an old cycling shoe and glue on it onto a pair of standard child's shoes?