Clipless pedals question(s)

also eggbeaters fall apart and are garbage

these are 4 u gbx:
http://www.treefortbikes.com/187_333222352391__SPD-Sandal.html

None of my (three sets of) eggbeaters have fallen apart. And special shoes are cool.

"why not stay with cages/clips? i don't imagine there's an enormous benefit of clipless for commuting in urban areas."

Is the benefit of clipless really that great in any area? Cages/toeclips accomplish most of the benefits as clipless with locking your legs into a rigid repetitive position.

Yes, but you can get your feet out of clipless really easily instead of having to reach down and loosen the strap.

Why would you be tightening the strap so much that you can get out except by loosening it?

Why would you have a strap if you're not going to tighten it?

Uh to hold your feet in place? It doesn't have to be that loose to get your feet in and out.

steve shasta, u scamp

the two sets of eggbeaters i've owned were the lowest end of their line, tbh, but both failed in exactly the same way: the pedal body pulled right off the spindle

most of riding at the time was on salty city roads, but still. i've got ATACs now, and they r00l

tbh you can look at the low level eggbeaters - anything below sl's- and tell they are crap. the cages are like, stamped soft steel. uright tho obv that does not make it ok.

(i do have three pairs of sl's, one pair that raced 3 seasons of cx ~18 races?. still sweet.)

for street use, its def ATACs imo.

yeah, the second pair i got was out of necessity: shit happened at work, and i was a block from a bike shop, so i just spent the $65 or whatever and went about my business

spent twice as much on the ATACs, so yah, i'm sure the decent eggbeaters are totally fine (i still think there's too much float, tho!)

for me their advantage is weight. for mrs hunter, it's ease of release (she tried atacs, ate shit a few times).

in terms of entry/exit i prefer atacs- they always feel the same. firm, very consistent, easy to find. they do hit obstacles alot tho.

time pedals are the best, for sure.

yeah, the "difficulty" of release on ATACs is why i prefer them now: they just feel so ~solid. and really easy to find! not as easy as EBs, but holy crap so much better than the SPDs i borrowed for about a week.

for me their advantage is weight

lol never took u for a weenie, hunt3r

RACIN IS REAL BRO :)

eh, its situational. dont know about the latest times, but until a few years ago, the comparably priced sl's/atacs were like 130 g difference. that's enough to move me at the same price.

i raced an mtb hillclimb on my road speedplays to save weight <<<---- realest

dang

http://www.rbaction.net/contentimages/Crumpton6.jpg

^^^ hunt3r's favorite pedals, i heard

this crazy nut in pasadena was making these bizarre pedals that look like little discs for a while. i don't know if he's still in business, but he kept trying to sell them in the shop i worked at, and the owner refused.

i love crank brothers pedals- i have mallets on my commuting bike and acids on my mountain bike. i've ridden time pedals, but i find it easier to clip into crank bros, which to me is more important than the ease of clipping out. kinda intrigued by look's new mtb pedals, to be honest. might be worth checking out.

4-way entry is SOOOOO convenient that whatever the disadvantages of eggbeaters, this one plus makes it the perfect city pedal.

4-way + bi-directional (forwards & backwards). love it.

Thanks for all the advice, didn't get a chance to post when there was all the discussion happening. Decided to ignore everyone and bought some Shimano PD-M520s, because they were cheap. After a trying session trying to fit them (managed to shear the cleat from the Lidl shoe and get the cleat stuck in the pedal without the shoe), I finally rode in on them today. Two moments of having to grab a parked car/bollard, and one moment of 'oh shit I'm actually going over oh wait my foot's there', and I'm starting to think I should've listened to whoever questioned whether it's actually worth it on a 3 mile commute. Maybe I'll get used to it but at the moment I'm actually fearing the ride home. Tonight I'll either adjust the tension on the springs and look for some better shoes or swap the pedals back.

Ah you'll get used to it. Didn't you feel the POWER increase?

Not particularly, although I took it a lot easier than usual, and noticed I hardly got out of the saddle at all when riding, and it took no longer to get here, so there probably is something happening there. Maybe just really tightening up the cleats on the shoes would make me feel more confident that it's not going to stay in place again when I turn my ankle to release it.

Oh it's totally worth it. It becomes 2nd nature, it's way more comfy* and predictable.

*assuming you have the cleats in the right position, which can involve trial and error. Look up cleat positioning on google if you want advice.

Thanks for that. Getting home was fine, no wobbly moments at least. Haven't quite worked out how to come to an elegant stop yet, or how to go about scooting. Also I have a feeling that these Lidl shoes are actually crap. Messed about with the cleat positioning now, and will take allen keys with me tomorrow to allow further fiddling.

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2009/10/how-to-set-up-cleat-positioning/#comments

"Check to make sure the toes are even (thus making sure the cleats are positioned equally)."

You would think this would be sensible but I definitely feel better with my left cleat a few mills behind the right.

Yeah, unless your feet are exactly the same size, shape and angle why would the cleats be?

On the subject of pedals, I just need to brag for a second. Last night I did some PROPER fettling. I took apart my new MKS Sylvan track pedals (which, brand new, felt a bit grindy - as others did in the shop when I checked them yesterday), greased the bearings, and sealed, as best I could, the unsealed area with grease. It took FOUR spanners/wrenches, and some tricky and tough effort, but I managed it and now both pedals are much smoother and hopefully less open to the elements!

WHY ARE THEY CALLED CLIPLESS WHEN YOU ARE CLIPPED IN I AM SO CONFUSED

still need to get a pair of these, might go w/the ones j.o.n.a. plumped for as well

Because clips = toe clips.

- the main mechanism of which is A STRAP. not A CLIP. it's madness.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2009/oct/19/shimano-clipless-pedals
Noticed this yesterday while I was explaining to my girlfriend that nearly falling off 3 times isn't that dangerous really, then spent ages looking at the pedal museum pages. Cycling this morning I thought about the Cinelli ones mentioned in that post with levers, and decided I was actually doing alright. Loosening the tension on the pedal helped a lot this morning. It'd be so much easier if you could adjust the cleat position while your actually on the pedal though.

coz, they're less than £20 at SJS Cycles at the moment.

the clip is what the strap goes into, man

some people used to ride with clips, no straps

Even that's hardly a clip, in the sense of "a device that grips and holds tightly." It's more of a housing. A socket. A sheath. Well anyway "clipless" is still fucking stupid GOD IT MAKES ME ANGRY

are you still confused?

i was never confused. JUST ANGRY.

considering clips+straps for the lolpollo. hold off on clipless until get proper road bike, i reckon.

Fwiw, clipless is a lot easier to use than toeclips/straps, if that's a concern.

^ Yep. The only benefit to using toeclips and 'traditional' pedals is that you can still ride the bike without wearing cycling shoes.

I am going to dissent and say that they're both about equally easy to use, I'm not particularly troubled by either. I don't know why folks are insinuating that toeclips are that difficult?

the only thing fussy about clips and straps is actually cinching the strap once you're underway. actually flipping the pedal over is muscle memory thing that takes zero time to master

imo

btw has anyone used feetbelt style nu school straps that all those pesky hipster children are using? seem like a cheap alternative to GTX clipless boots in the winter

i never cinch the strap fwiw, it's kinda like shoes with laces that you just slip on/off.

be patient with the technical stuff on spds

xpost

http://prollyisnotprobably.com/2009/07/hold_fast.php

http://prollyisnotprobably.com/3679826489_dbe8f778ee_b.jpg

is that a partial bashguard for trials type stuff?

i think it's for grinding rails and stuff, actually! it's partial, i assume, because fixie grinds are always gonna have their crank arms in the same position

i want lake winter boots so bad :(

I'm w shasta, never cinch the straps on my clips unless my shoes are a lot larger/smaller than the ones I wore last time. Set them once per ride, leave them alone.

^kind of how i'm imaging it - this is more so i don't have to don bike shoes just to go up the shops or to the pub or whatever! i have no problem with clipless for impending purchase of serious bike, tho.

yeah this^^^

for city/leisurely biking = clips
for RIDING = clipless

Lidl shoes mentioned upthread have finally given up, culminating in a frantic 'I'm turning my ankle, why aren't I unclipping oh shi-' moment. I have to cycle home later, and I won't have a chance to buy new shoes. Bike has these pedals http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=3759
Do I:
wear my work shoes and try not to slip off the pedals
take the cleats out of my SPD shoes, and try not to slip off the pedals/get the pedal stuck in the cleat-recess area
pretend what happened this morning didn't really happen
?

a). I had to ride home with normal shoes on my fixie with eggbeaters recently. One worrying moment at the beginning where my feet flew off the pedals at speed, but after i slowed down a bit it was easy enough.

Yeah, I'm not even riding fixed anymore, so it shouldn't be that much of a problem. I overthink things.