If you’ve ever sold bikes for a living, (or even just ridden them), you’ll know that the biggest fear of the newbie, or the moderately experienced cyclist is clipping in. It can strike the Fear of Merckx into the brawniest of men and reduce them to a quivering mess, saying things like “I don’t want to fall over”, “how will I get out if I need to walk up a hill” (hopefully only uttered by mountain bikers) or “I’ll look like a dick if I fall over at the traffic lights.” But as most of you here will attest, it’s happened to the best of us. It’s all part of the learning curve, a curve so shallow and rapidly transient that it’s probably best described as a slightly bent line. The mere act of clipping in quickly becomes second nature, as instinctive as flicking an Ergo, STI or DoubleTap lever to change gear, or reaching down to grab a bottle without taking your gaze from the road ahead.
My own initiation into the world of clipless was in 1991, a year or so after I started mountain biking. Up until then it had been a world of toe clips and straps, which while not exactly easy to get into or out of, was still a better alternative than muddy sneakers slipping off the pedals and gouging six-inch trenches of skin from your shins. Shimano had just released their first attempt at the SPD system (the M737?), and seeing local trend-setter Burgo rocking them with the sweet matching shoes was like witnessing the moon landing; it was right there in front of you, but you didn’t quite know if such a marvel of technology was possible. But it was, and soon a spate of ‘clip-ins’ were appearing from several other brands, including the now long-defunct Onza. Their HO pedal was smaller and lighter than Shimano’s, so it got my vote on those counts alone. It used two elastomer bumpers (similar to those being used in the suspension forks of the day) instead of steel springs for their retention force. You want more retention? Rebuild them with harder durometer bumpers. They were universally considered a pain in the ass to set up, and even more so to get in and out of as I quickly found out.
The Onzas were ditched after maybe a year or less of service, and the only way to go (according to the magazine reviews, and more importantly, advertising) was the Time ATAC. They were lauded as the easiest entry/ release, cleared mud better than Shimano due to their open body design, and were being ridden to victory in just about every World Cup race by the likes of Little Mig Martinez and a young Cuddles. They were a revelation in my clipless experience, and now on my third pair I won’t be changing anytine soon. I still have those original grey ATACs kicking around on my commuter bike, and apart from a tiny amount of bearing slop and some cosmetic gouging from the cleats, are still working flawlessly.
When I bought my first ‘real’ road bike, a steel Gipiemme, the shop set me up with some basic Look pedals, but with Time shoes. Both sucked. It wasn’t long before I’d replaced both, the Looks with a set of alloy-bodied Time Impacts, and the shoes with Sidis. (Still got both, although I’m buggered if I can find the pedals.) A set of RSX Carbons kept the Time-line going, more to reduce weight than for any operational advanatge. The only problem I’ve had has been the left cleat wearing prematurely (from putting the foot down and straddling the top tube Casually Deliberatley at lights) which can make entry a tad frustrating if you don’t get it right the first attempt. And at about $70 a set, replacing them regularly becomes not only a chore but a drain on a poor bike-shop guy’s wallet. Pulling away from a coffee stop on a ride, flailing left foot struggling to engage, slipping off and making a bloodied gouge in my knee warmer was all I needed to convince me to check out Time’s latest system, the iClic.
Now, it seems if you want to make a product sound hip and cool, just take the name of said product and stick an “i” in front of it. So no kudos to Time’s marketing team there, but I guess they took the easy option and one that’s easy to remember because of it’s genericity. All that aside, the promise of piece-of-piss-easy entry was too hard to resist, and when a customer wanted a set ordered, I thought I’d give them a try too. Dan at Sola Sports was singing their praises too, and hooked me up with a set of Carbons at the Velominati Special Deal rate. Cheers Dan!
It took, oh, about ten seconds to declare these the easiest pedals ever to get into. It was like my foot had been magically or magnetically drawn to the exact position for the cleat to engage, the pedal falling at the optimum angle, and the most satisfying ‘clic’ that I’d heard since those very first ATACs converted me for life. If you don’t know how the iClics work, think about ski boots/bindings. (I have never ski’ed, so if it all sounds like bullshit then it probably is.) The secret is in the Carbo-Flex plate under the pedal’s platform, which holds the retention mechanism open when you twist the shoe out. When it’s time to clip back in, the spring is in open position, allowing the cleat to locate with minimum resistance.
And as the Gestapo would tell you, resistance is futile.
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Nice one, Brett!
I had a sharp ascent in my life as a Velominati - rode with clips + straps for only about a year and then went clipless. On my first or second ride I did the 0 kph fall over, felt like a total dick flailing around on the grass between the road and sidewalk on my side, still clipped in. Don't think I've gone down since.
I'd love to try these, or Speedplays, but fuck, if I like them that means I need to change pedals on four bikes, plus cleats, plus play around with cleat position. I'm standing my ground, at this point.
As for those Shimano shoes - I got a pair a few years ago on the bay for $0.99. No joke. Still using them on my commuter with some spds. Sweet as.
Brett, just FYI and in case you didn't already know, Dan is no longer with Sola.
Frank, the Cinelli pedals you are WTFing at were predominately used on the track, where bolting the rider in was much less of an issue than it would be on the road. I'm sure the odd forward thinking rider adapted them for road use, but not many. Having used a pair myself back in the day, pulling the release pin wasn't much harder than reaching down to loosen ones toe straps anyway...
@Marcus
I agree - love Speedplay pedals. I have the Zero, the float is fantastic.
I've had a few tip-overs while clipped in, worst injury was a bloody knee, and a bit of a saddle scuff. Guess I've been lucky, I'd take that type of crash over one at speed! I'm young though, plenty of time yet to mangle myself.
I'll take this as my chance to relate my favorite slow speed fall story. Once upon a time... No, that's not right, starting again.
A few months ago I was riding home from a Saturday club ride along a tree-lined bike bath. As I pedalled along, I started hearing this strange, intermittent staccato whir to my right, like a small RC airplane. And it was tracking me, seemingly just out of sight past the trees. I rode along for a few minutes, becoming more and more disturbed by the sound... Who's following me? Is someone playing a joke, having a laugh at my obviously growing discomfort? It was really starting to piss me off!
Finally I stopped, unclipping my left foot, of course. (Sidebar: do we need a Rule?) As I turned aound, expecting to see someone behind me doubling over with laughter, I heard the sound again! Still on my right, but now on the other side of the path! Awareness slowly dawned... I carefully removed glasses, then helmet, and what did I find? A 7 cm dragonfly, lodged in the vent above my right ear, flapping its wings frantically. (Thank Merckx for a helmet with a bug net liner!)
Now laughing myself, I leaned over to my left, gently tapping my helmet on the pavement to dislodge the hapless creature, who proceeded to fly drunkenly off into the undergrowth. Laughing harder, I stood up, a bit too swiftly, lost my balance to my still clipped in right, and tumbled over into the verge. More laughing, both from me and the family pedalling past on their cruisers.... The End.
PS I like my Speedplays too, but there are lots of great pedals.... Vive la difference!
Good post, Brett.
Oh those Cinelli pedals... are the ones that one of my old friend was using all the time
on his silver Cinelli Supercorsa.
He was a good pistard in the '40s and more important to me, one of my cycling mentors.
Between them he was the one with more class and style, so that was his legacy to me.
Boy, he was really elegant in every aspect of cycling and off, I never even noted how difficult was to use those pedals.
I went these bad boys back in 1994 on my Giant Cadex mtb (full Suntour groupset - didn't that cause huge problems later when they went bust?).
First ride clipped in was on my university campus at night. Fun times with stairs and ramps and stuff.
So I see a girl from a class, Petra, who was every guy's not-so-secret crush. We're chatting away as she walks to the tram stop to go home, me rolling beside her.
Things are going well when, inevitably, I slowly topple over. We had a good laugh, luckily.
Fun times.
These have a similar locking mechanism to the Cinellis, and still get used on the track a fair bit. It's been interesting, I've considered them but people who used them on the road complained about the plastic body flexing, so instead I've just gone with Shimanos I can put a strap through if I need it. I know people luuurve speedplay but they're for me they're a solution to a bunch of problems I don't have. For the record, with speedplay you
have to regularly oil your cleats. That you walk on?
Cleats are expensive, even by cycling standards to replace
Unless you have custom shoes you need an adaptor plate to go from 3 to four bolt.
For? A lighter bike with double sided entry?
Like I said they've got their fans and I don't have any issues that potentially could be resolved by speedplay. BUT (caution personal opinion ahead) nnnnarrrgggh I just hate them. I think they suck and hate them with an indignant anger not appropriate for any inanimate thing that I've never used.
I remember my last clipped in 0kph incident was my first ride back after my most serious crash, I had a bruise from my hip to the middle of my shoulder, 2 dislocated fingers and detatched my collarbone from whatever the heck it is supposed to be attached to. Anyways, once I thought I'd healed up enough, hop back on the bike, first set of traffic lights I keep both feet clipped in and start going over. The last thing I remember was debating about which hand I should stick out to break my fall - fingers and collarbone were on opposite sides. Think it turned out ok, managed to continue the ride so must have been ok.
Clip, unclip, no problem. It was learning to track stand that caused some real embarrassment. In the 90's no-one really cared about road rules. Unlike nowadays, running a red light back them was de norm rather than the frowned upon activity of the modern era. And we didn't have to wear helmets either. Instead we got to scoot around in our little cycle caps for that genuine pro feeling. Anyways, I digress. Learning to trackstand was, for me, simply a case of rolling through a red light at increasingly slower speeds, one eye through the intersection on the lookout for non-existent traffic. Early one morning, whilst slowly, slowly, s_l_o_w_l_y rolling through a deserted insection, I collided with an unseen cat's eye on the road. Thinking I was meant to be rolling forward, and at a mere 5km/h it was enough to completely throw off my balance and have me roll backwards. As a recently graduated newbie, I had no time or even the ability to rapidly unclip. The result was that I ended up on the ground, still clipped in and pathetically shimming around like an oversized turtle trying to unclip. Of course, from nowhere the once deserted intersection became a thoroughfare of vehicles, a whole lot of which slowed down to have a good old look. I actually heard one guy with his window down laughing as he drove past. The shame still hurts.
On a fine day in summer 1987 I pulled up to the lights beside the crowded bus stop at Kirkaldies department store and settled into a relaxed track-stand.
Looking around, I caught the eye of a stunning brunette with piercing green eyes. I smiled at her, and coquettishly she smiled back. Feeling cool and confident, I turned on the full-charm Oli smile and I was delighted to see her give me a full beam smile in return.
"I'm in here!", I thought. That's when my front wheel slipped from under me, I for the first and last time failed to unclip my brand new Look pedals, and I sprawled onto the road like the proverbial sack of shit.
The topple lasted longer than it took me to spring back onto my feet, but not as long as the withering and contemptuous look she gave me before turning her gaze irrevocably away from me forever...
The best ever build pedal was the Time Magnesium Equipe Pro.