My modern cycling (80s onward) has been all with clips and straps then clipless (SPD).
Weeks after buying my first MTB I coincidentally trashed my right knee (not bike related injury) and it sat unused for almost nine months. When I began riding again it was on a Minoura track stand and required clips and straps to keep my errant right foot on the pedal since it tended to float off the pedal. In an ill-advised move, I chose to get off the stand and go outside. First on my parent's half mile dead end road, then farther. My right foot continued to require clips and straps as I regained both leg strength and proprioception. I had to become a left foot stop/prop rider after years of doing that with my right foot. As my strength recovered, I even used Keirin double strap clips before venturing into clipless. I got my cycling mojo back and then some. I rode off road strapped in tightly and had a cat like left hand swat to loosen the buckle of my on/off foot strap. I became discriminating about shoes as the tightened buckles would wear into the uppers quickly. When adopting SPDs I learned how important the show pedal interface was and how critical fit was. I've been SPD since their distribution began, best for me with Sidi Dominators. My love of fine clip and strap pedals waned despite my history and return to cycling because of them. My last pair were an XC Comp-bodied, Superbe Pro track-caged set that came on my MB-0, traded to (and perhaps the ones mentioned by) Patrick. The shoes matter much, they dictate the alignment to the pedals when clipped in so if your foot isn't in them well, the pedals won't . I strongly agree with the BQ "Icons" selection of the Sidi Dominators. They fit me, my foot is in the right place on my SPDs with the right amount of movement for all of my riding. It's just how I roll. Andy Cheatham Pittsburgh On Sunday, December 24, 2023 at 8:44:43 PM UTC-5 Patrick Moore wrote: > First entry in new Blahg. And no, he doesn't; he reports someone's > out-of-context judgment. > > But I'm curious how many on this RBW list like and use retention and how > many don't; and of the former, how many use toe clips and how many use > clipless systems -- and what kind. > > I'll start: I rode fast for years and thousands of miles in Keds with > thick, soft soles and then rubber-soled lace ups of other sorts on > un-clipped rat-trap pedals (and even rubber block pedals) until in about > 1990 I got my first relatively expensive road bike (1989 Falcon, tout 531C > with Sante group) and decided largely because of bike mag content that I'd > better get with the retention program. I started with Bata Bikers and clips > and straps, graduated to clips and straps and slotted cleats, then pretty > quickly switched to the burgeoning varieties of clipless -- Sampson > Stratics, Grafton "Erector Set" road and mtb pedals, Speedplay X1s and > Frogs, Looks of various sorts, and finally SPDs, road and mtb (by "road" I > mean the ones that came out for about 1 season long long ago with the mtb > mechanism). > > A couple of years ago I tried platforms with spikes and no-retention shoes > but after about a month of annoyance always shifting my foot to find the > right position I gave up and went back to SPDs. I've got SPDs on all my > bikes though I've got a very nice set of XC Pros + clips and straps + > almost-as-new wood-soled Duegis with cleats that I'd like to try -- I found > slotted cleats with semi-tight straps easier with a fixed drivetrain than > Look Keos -- except that SPDs are so perfect. > > So, I've round that having gotten used to retention I find it very hard to > give it up. I daresay that this habituation is stronger since so much of my > riding is on fixed drivetrains, but I'd still want at least clips and > loose-ish straps with rubber soles for any freewheel drivetrain. > > But again, SPDs just feel so perfect that I will probably just stay with > them. > > Best wishes to all for the Christmas season. > > Patrick Moore, finishing up a late resume on Xmas eve in ABQ, NM. > > -- > > Patrick Moore > Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other writing > services > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > *When thou didst not, savage, k**now thine own meaning,* > > *But wouldst gabble like a** thing most brutish,* > > *I endowed thy purposes w**ith words that made them known.* > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/6867c0dc-bc8c-471a-94b9-0a5eaddf7ae9n%40googlegroups.com.
