Strapless toe-clips

Fred Hall

"Badger_South" <Badger@South.net> wrote in message
news:gsd4f0pcvli8lg2h89ua0mgn9ngmtplunc@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 22:50:08 -0700, Bernie <bmcilvan@mouse-
> potato.com> wrote:
>
> >My mtn bike is like that too, steel frame , no
> >suspension, 26 inch wheels. A great utility bike. I
> >lament their passing from the scene. I ride mine with
> >plastic or maybe rubber? toe clips less the straps. I use
> >the straps as previously mentioned, as parking brakes. My
> >guess is he will get into toe clips without straps with a
> >short learning curve. I don't know about sizing these
> >things, but for the small layout, they are worth the try.
>
> Thx BM, to get the toe clips w/ or w/o straps, as you know
> requires a pedal retrofit, which is not expensive,
> typically around $15 for the pedals and the same for the
> toeclips (I've seen $10), IIRC. I presume the toe cups fit
> a standard MTB pedal with some accomp. hardware?
>
> I've wondered about riding the toe clips w/o straps, but
> isn't that a bit flimsy, since there's little supporting
> the 'C' of the clips, but thinking about it, I'm riding
> mine with the straps loose, and (duh) that's really the
> same as no straps. Since I'm riding a different kind of
> terrain for a few weeks on vacation, I've tightened up the
> toe clips just a little (more street, flat, straightaway,
> low/no traffic).
>
> He isn't convinced how different the pedalling is with
> just the clips (over a regular pedal). He's mashing mostly
> now, with a bit of the "scrape off mud" emphasis that
> Lemond touted, but I reminded him that being 'attached' to
> the pedal gave the 'motor' a lot more efficiency, less
> slippage, and a well-defined placement of the foot. For me
> it was like the difference between night&day to pedal with
> clips vs mashing a plain pedal in tennis shoes. I tried to
> explain the solidarity of the platform and how the next
> step would be cyclng shoes with rigid foot support, then
> clips and cleats, each a step up in efficiency and soforth
> (the big one being no clips to clips), but he's skeptical.
>
> I said, well you can either ride my bike around the block,
> or go withme to the LBS and test ride a couple bikes that
> are fitted to you that use toe clips, and when you've
> experienced it you'll be kicking yourself for not doing it
> sooner. It added a big boost to my riding and speed
> immediately. going to rigid sole shoes, and clips and
> cleats is another significant step up, but not as huge a
> difference from straight pedal mashing.
>
> Tried to explain it in terms of rigidity and slippage
> reduction and regularity of pedal stroke etc, but some
> have to experience it to realize, heh. Best, -B

As Bernie said in answer to your previous question, they
just kind of line up the ball of your foot over the
pedal...at least for my size 11's it's a pretty good fit. If
you had size 14 or size 7 feet, not sure how good it would
be. As far as mounting to the pedals, the platform pedals on
my hybrid had screw holes where reflectors were mounted on
both sides of the pedals, so I removed the reflector on one
side and put the toe clips in its place (had to buy some
longer screws at the hardware store than were provided with
the clips though. The clips also include a metal plate you
can use to add some offset and rigidity, depending on your
pedal structure I guess (there were no instructions with the
clip kit, so I'm guessing what the metal plates were for).