CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

The Shoes Ruse

(42 posts)
  • Started 10 years ago by crowriver
  • Latest reply from Instography
  • poll: Special Shoes And Clipless Pedals For Cycling? Yes Or No?
    Flats all the way, dude. : (7 votes)
    14 %
    More of a cage rider myself. : (1 votes)
    2 %
    Toe clips are de rigeur. : (3 votes)
    6 %
    SPDs rock. : (19 votes)
    38 %
    Racing kit is the only way. : (3 votes)
    6 %
    It depends: Diff'r'nt strokes for diff'r'nt folks. : (17 votes)
    34 %

  1. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    I can't be alone in occasionally cycling one-legged when I'm clipped in just to see how far I can get?

    Posted 10 years ago #
  2. steveo
    Member

    led to an oppositional, factionalising stance.

    What about those of us on "Racing" bikes with carbon and drops, rocking carradice and leather saddles? Oh and clippy pedals.

    I'm having a very similar conversation on a camera forum about why "we" use old mechanical film cameras in a digital era. It was triggered by a very similarly written article, retrogrouch or what ever, but its the partisan dogma on either side which turns off the majority in the middle.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  3. fimm
    Member

    There was a chap with one leg who did Ironman France when boyfriend did it. This man had had his leg taken off at the hip. IM France is held in Nice and the bike leg is a single loop up into the foothills of the Alps. It is seriously hilly. We were well impressed. Chap did the marathon in a wheelchair.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  4. le_soigneur
    Member

    My Wellgo pedal spindle fractured in Kirkcaldy, I made it to Inverkeithing/S.WallaceCycles on one leg. Yoof that I was!

    ON the RSI thing, that is the reason LOOK/Shimano/Speedplays/Timee/etc now have versions that allow "float" - the generation that adopted clipless are now middle-aged and with decreasing suppleness, some are prone to knee problems in the clipless versions that a few mm of prevent foot rotation. There is a significant market for float - MAMILs like me :)

    Posted 10 years ago #
  5. PS
    Member

    [I'm not doctor, but...] If you want to engage different muscles (within reason, obvs) while clipped in, you can do this by shifting your position in the saddle. I'd have thought this is a far preferable thing to do, mechanically, than changing the position of your foot on the pedal (assuming your saddle is at the right height). Insole pedallers look all wrong on a bike - even just the way they move about in the saddle suggests they're not being efficient and may indeed be causing themselves problems.[/I'm not doctor, but...]

    Posted 10 years ago #
  6. sallyhinch
    Member

    Clipsplaining

    (Edited to add: that wasn't in reference to anyone on here, I just remembered that post and wanted to share it)

    Posted 10 years ago #
  7. gembo
    Member

    This pedal thing is not a deal breaker, not like the helmet thing. No wait we survived that. Ok this Indy ref thing (heck we might even have survived that)

    Posted 10 years ago #
  8. ARobComp
    Member

    I need stiff shoes or my knees get sore due to the downforce I create. Yet to find strong commutin' shoes that are not more CX/MTB/Road style that are stiff enough and that have enough grip that I'd be comfortable wearing them with flats.

    So there is always another reason :)

    I also have the scars on my shins from slipping off the pedals...

    Posted 10 years ago #
  9. Uberuce
    Member

    The real issue is that if you're riding a bike where flat pedals are a viable option then you're not riding fixed, and as any sane and moderate person knows, there are two types of cyclist:

    1) Those riding fixed gear.
    2) Traitors.
    3) Scum.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  10. LaidBack
    Member

    Uberuce - three types surely. Unless Scum is subset of Traitor ;-)

    I got a pair of 5Ten shoes from EBC before summer and have found them to be pretty good. They are pricey but worth it in my view. Sole is stiff and amazingly grippy with special sticky rubber. Also more breathable than some.
    Combine with BMX pedals and you have a good urban multi-purpose solution. On longer rides I still use SPDs - easier on recliners as you can see your feet in front of you. The 5Tens though are preference on the reclined tandem as you need good grip pedalling and also starting and stopping in traffic.
    Fact that Danny MacAskill uses them is pure coincidence!

    Posted 10 years ago #
  11. crowriver
    Member

    Just taken delivery of Grant Petersen's book 'Just Ride' (2012) which includes the above polemic as one section. Must say I'm enjoying it, but he definitely seems to see racing cycling as "the enemy" a bit - despite having raced himself when younger (including across the US in 1976 "when everyone else was doing it").

    Nifty format too: a lovely print object. Which is nice.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  12. Instography
    Member

    What you need is a variety of bikes - one for each pair of shoes. Simple. That's my philosophy.

    Posted 10 years ago #

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