Clip in Bicycle pedals kick ASS

[vtwin]

Originally Posted by Gummee!

I remember when those were the new, hot thing.

Wanted some Grafton Speed traps, but couldn't afford em.

M

+2. Remember the lollipop ones? Never tried them myself, but heard it felt like riding on ice.

[nomiles]

Originally Posted by vtwin

+2. Remember the lollipop ones? Never tried them myself, but heard it felt like riding on ice.

I like them.

[gatling]

I use the Speedplay pedals, too, and I like them a lot. They do give you a sensation of being a little slippery because of the radial movement they allow, but I got used to that pretty quickly. I just think they look ultra cool.

[gatling]

And, speaking of clips....a few weeks ago I bought this awesome classic Bianchi with Look clips...



You can see the pedals in this photo. The guy I bought it from threw in the shoes, too. I don't use Look pedals, the shoes are not my size (I think they are 8.5 and they are pretty deterioriated), and I have no use for the shoes, the cleats, or the pedals. If anybody wants them for, shoot me the bucks for USPS priority postage and they're yours. Contact me via PM if you're interested.

[DriveShaft]

Originally Posted by gatling

And, speaking of clips....a few weeks ago I bought this awesome classic Bianchi with Look clips...

[IMG]

You can see the pedals in this photo. The guy I bought it from threw in the shoes, too. I don't use Look pedals, the shoes are not my size (I think they are 8.5 and they are pretty deterioriated), and I have no use for the shoes, the cleats, or the pedals. If anybody wants them for, shoot me the bucks for USPS priority postage and they're yours. Contact me via PM if you're interested.

that is one fully dressed bike! Nice!

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by vtwin

+2. Remember the lollipop ones? Never tried them myself, but heard it felt like riding on ice.

They felt like you were riding on ball bearings for about a week, then your feet found their natural spot and you stopped noticing it.

Raced em at the track till I tried clips and double straps. The difference between clips and straps on the track and X2s was a little much, so I changed em out to D/A SPD-Rs. Rode those for a few years, then went to SPD-SLs. Rode THOSE for a few years, now I'm riding Look Keos.

Thinking about going back to SPD-SLs but I need at least 2 pair to make it work. 3 pair would be better.

edited to add: I still have a pair of my Speedplay Magnum mtn bike pedals out in the garage. Same axle as the road pedals. All ya gotta do is get a kit from Speedplay to make em X2s.

[Mambo Dave]

Originally Posted by BHW

I use the Shimano like this: Offers best of both worlds for me. I can feel secure in riding unclipped in I want/need to, or just clip in and go.

This style, and Wellgo's copy of it (Wellgo used to be the in-house Bike Nashbar brand I believe... might be wrong?) are the best style for newcomers to clipless to get used to them on IMHO. Not only does it give a platform area that allows a rider to just mash the pedals to get going on the trails, instead of strying to find the sweet-spot to clip-in when they aren't used to it, but the design (at least the older ones) somehow actually centered the cleat while unclipped and mashing... and it would then lock in anyway. (Edit - I just looked, and don't see the copy pedal being sold by Nashbar nor Wellgo anymore - it was certainly a great entry-level pedal for its friendliness and cost)

For people who aren't used to clipless yet, or for general non-race riding, certainly a great design. Actually. I've been part of some extremely muddy racing where these could have helped a few of the people racing as well.

[BHW]

I've used a few different SPD designs over the years, and the DXs pictured above are my favorites. One thing I hated about smaller pedals, was if I ever wanted to hop on the bike and ride around the house/neighborhood, I was trying to pedal on something about 1" square!

[squish]

I tried the DX platform SPD pedels back in the day but they did not stand up to any kind of pedal abuse.

but for putzing around town they worked out pretty well.

For the OP since he's new to Clipless here's a couple of tips

Watch the angle, after I started riding with them I found that the cleat angle was super important.
Loctight the cleat, nothing makes getting out of the pedals harder then a loose cleat.

[vtwin]

When they start to feel "sticky" clean with a toothbrush and spray silicone spray on them. Works a treat!

[Andrew]

I'm now riding unclipped platform pedals on my fixed-gear Rivendell. It was strange at first, not having toe clips, but now I'm quite liking it. I can position my feet on the pedals with greater flexibility, and I can back-pedal to slow down just as capably as when I was in toe clips.

The pedals are "VP" from taiwan, very thin. So thin, in fact I had to lower my seat to compensate for the longer distance to the pedal. $60 from Rivendell:

http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/pe4.htm

http://urbanvelo.org/vp-001-pedals/