in message <
[email protected]>, Tony
('
[email protected]') wrote:
> On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 20:58:45 +0100, Peewiglet <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>I've now got toe clips on my pedals, and they seem to make riding
>>quite a lot easier. Are there real advantages to cycling shoes,
>>though? At the moment I'm just using trainers.
>>
>>Also, do shoes with cleats work more effectively than toe clips?
>
> I prefer using toe clips (40 years experience of them - too old to
> learn new tricks !). Tried Look & SPD - find it difficult to remember
> to twist foot sideways to unlock, so spent a lot of time
> unsuccessfully trying to fly ! Worst time was outside a pig farm ....
This is absolute nonsense. Peter B has already answered it from the
off-road point of view, and I agree with everything he says. But I used
toeclips with straps on the road for thirty years, and so can say with
experience that 'clipless' systems are infinitely better and safer.
If your straps on a 'clips and straps' system are tight enough, then to
get a foot out you have to lean down and release the strap first. If the
strap is so loose that you can get your foot out without doing this,
then you're losing significant power. In the 'clips and straps' days I
had to track stand at traffic lights (or hang onto the gutters of
adjacent cars - unpopular!) because the business of unstrapping my feet
was just too much hassle - and that obviously involves a serious risk of
a fall in a bad place. Yes, you can pratfall with clipless systems too,
but you'll only do it once, and either
* you'll have significantly more power for the same effort or
* you'll be /a lot/ less likely to fall.
Also, of course, a cycle shoe with a near rigid sole supports the foot a
lot better than a trainer with a flexible sole.
--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke)
http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
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