I've been riding SPDs since the mid 1990s when they finally became affordable. On my tandem/triplet we had one crash caused my the too long for my kid toe strap getting caught in the timing ring. After that I got SPD click'r pedals for my kids and they've been riding clipless SPDs since. (The hard part was getting SPD shoes small enough for them --- I ended up buying the first few pairs used from other cycling families)
I went to flat pedals for about a year on the MTB --- this was a period when I had to get off my bike every so often, run down to the kids and push them up the mountain. After a while they got strong enough that a tow rope hitched to my bike could drag them up the mountains, so I switched back to SPDs and it felt so good. One thing about SPD is that I never got technically good enough at bunny hopping that I could do it without SPDs, but with SPDs I can do it all day any time, which is probably a silly reason to like SPDs. And no, my kids and I aren't good enough to bunny hop the tandem. On Tuesday, December 26, 2023 at 6:06:06 AM UTC-8 ascpgh wrote: > 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. 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