Look road pedals/shoes on mountain bike?

[Brad Hubbard]

Probably a stupid question but that never stopped me before

Is there any reason why I can't put my Look pedals on my crappy old mountain
bike and ride in my (old) Sidi shoes?

I know the answer is probably "try it and see" but I thought someone might
come up with a "You shouldn't do that because...."

Cheers,
Brad

 

[hippy]

"Brad Hubbard" <[email protected]> wrote
> Probably a stupid question but that never stopped me before
>
> Is there any reason why I can't put my Look pedals on my crappy old
mountain
> bike and ride in my (old) Sidi shoes?
>
> I know the answer is probably "try it and see" but I thought someone might
> come up with a "You shouldn't do that because...."

You shouldn't do that because other mtb'ers will
shun you when you hint at a roadie background..

You shouldn't do that because your bike will reject
the foreign 'road' tissue and eject the pedals onto the trail..

You shouldn't do that because the colours don't match..

You shouldn't do that because we all know old = no good
and you simply must use the latest equipment to enjoy a ride..

hippy
"try it and see"

 

[Brad Hubbard]

hippy wrote:

> You shouldn't do that because other mtb'ers will
> shun you when you hint at a roadie background..
>
> You shouldn't do that because your bike will reject
> the foreign 'road' tissue and eject the pedals onto the trail..
>
> You shouldn't do that because the colours don't match..
>
> You shouldn't do that because we all know old = no good
> and you simply must use the latest equipment to enjoy a ride..
>
> hippy
> "try it and see"

LOL. I guess I deserved that.

Thanks Hippy

 

[hippy]

"Brad Hubbard" <[email protected]> wrote
> hippy wrote:
> > "try it and see"
>
> LOL. I guess I deserved that.



I use flat pedals (DMR V8's) on my mtb. It's
okay though because I'd still be slow with SPD's.. ;-)

Just make sure you can clip out easily, i.e. wind
the release tension down.

hippy

 

[Brad Hubbard]

hippy wrote:

> I use flat pedals (DMR V8's) on my mtb. It's
> okay though because I'd still be slow with SPD's.. ;-)
>
> Just make sure you can clip out easily, i.e. wind
> the release tension down.
>
> hippy

My Looks don't seem to have an adjustment. I've read about adjusting the
tension before but I can't seem to find anywhere to adjust them. There
don't seem to be any small hex screws anywhere on them. I've ridden in them
on the road quite a lot (got the 2nd hand Canondale they came with earlier
on this year) so I'm reasonably confident about getting my feet out. I had
a look for a model number on them 2day but it appears to have been painted
on the black plastic and is now unreadable.

Where should I look to prove conclusively that they have no adjustment
capabilities?

Cheers,
Brad

 

[PiledHigher]

hippy wrote:

> I use flat pedals (DMR V8's) on my mtb. It's
> okay though because I'd still be slow with SPD's.. ;-)
>
> Just make sure you can clip out easily, i.e. wind
> the release tension down.
>
> hippy

My Looks don't seem to have an adjustment. I've read about adjusting the
tension before but I can't seem to find anywhere to adjust them. There
don't seem to be any small hex screws anywhere on them. I've ridden in them
on the road quite a lot (got the 2nd hand Canondale they came with earlier
on this year) so I'm reasonably confident about getting my feet out. I had
a look for a model number on them 2day but it appears to have been painted
on the black plastic and is now unreadable.

Where should I look to prove conclusively that they have no adjustment
capabilities?

Cheers,
Brad

Most looks have the tension as hex screw (as mentioned) on the footbed of the pedal, there are some cheap ones with no adjustability and some that have it on the back of the pedal where others have float adjustment.

 

[hippy]

"Brad Hubbard" <[email protected]> wrote
> My Looks don't seem to have an adjustment. I've read about adjusting the
> tension before but I can't seem to find anywhere to adjust them. There
> don't seem to be any small hex screws anywhere on them. I've ridden in
them
> on the road quite a lot (got the 2nd hand Canondale they came with earlier
> on this year) so I'm reasonably confident about getting my feet out. I had
> a look for a model number on them 2day but it appears to have been painted
> on the black plastic and is now unreadable.
>
> Where should I look to prove conclusively that they have no adjustment
> capabilities?

Do you know what model they are?

If they are the ones at the top here:
http://www.bikepro.com/arch_products/pedals/alook_pedal.html
then you are out of luck. Most other models have a tension screw.

http://www.lookcyclesusa.com/pedals.htm reckons they are all
adjustable for tension but I guess after looking at the other link
this is ****.

BTW: MTB is a bit different to road - you might be on a funky
angle or dodging a tree, bouncing over roots, etc... so unclipping
is trickier than on tarmac.. just bear that in mind.

hippy

 

[Peter Signorini]

"hippy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> BTW: MTB is a bit different to road - you might be on a funky
> angle or dodging a tree, bouncing over roots, etc... so unclipping
> is trickier than on tarmac.. just bear that in mind.

Yes, and sometimes your unclipping may involve you walking 50 metres or more
over said roots. Not so easy with Look's block of plastic under your sole.

Road clipless were around for many years before the MTB developers (ie
Shimano) developed SPD. Until then MTBers did not take up the Look system,
for good reason.

Cheers
Peter

 

[Parbs]

"hippy" wrote in message ...

> BTW: MTB is a bit different to road - you might be on a funky
> angle or dodging a tree, bouncing over roots, etc... so unclipping
> is trickier than on tarmac.. just bear that in mind.
>
> hippy
>
>
I presume they are single side too, so it might be a problem making sure they are right way up to clip in when you're on the afore
mentioned funky angle (includes upside down), dodging a tree, bouncing over roots, etc.

Parbs

 

[Brad Hubbard]

Peter Signorini wrote:

> Road clipless were around for many years before the MTB developers (ie
> Shimano) developed SPD. Until then MTBers did not take up the Look system,
> for good reason.

Mesage received and understood thanks guys.

With apologies to our MTB bretheren I am primarily interested in enhancing
my long course triathlon training with a bit of work on the dirt
roads/tracks that proliferate around Hervey Bay. These represent a change,
an opportunity to explore some more of the area, a safe haven from cane
trucks during cane season (these things scare the hell out of me, primarily
because one recently ran me out of road and I crashed). With these things
in mind I don't anticipate doing a lot of stump jumping, mud wrestling,
rock climbing, tree felling, etc. but one never knows. My intention is to
get as close to riding on the road as I can get whilst not riding on black
top.

In the event these pedals prove to be unweildy in an emergency stop scenario
I will seek solice in the words of Mel Gibson in Air America "I crash
better than anyone I know"

In regards to the pedals hippy (and other interested parties) I suspect they
pre-date the ones on the page you posted. I took some photos this morning
and will try to put them somewhere visible later today.

Cheers all,
Brad