From Clips to Cleats?

"TopCounsel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

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I am an experienced cyclist but new to your NG. I want to switch from my

old

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Super Record pedals with clips to the new cleated pedals and shoes with recessed cleat wells. I
checked your FAQ but couldn't find this subject exactly. Is it there? My questions include:

(1) Are the threads on my old cranks going to be threaded the same way

these

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pedals with "bindings" are? That is, if my cranks take the SR pedals will

they

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take, say, the Shimano SPD pedal system or the Look stuff? If not, what

type

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of crankset will I need to look for?

the threads will be the same for your old and new pedals... I put the equivalent of a pair of Look
A3.1's on a 18 year old bike when i first went to cleat pedals...

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(2) If I go with the Shimano system, I would like to have both a "touring" (walkable) shoe AND a
more serious hard-soled shoe. Are there models for

both

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that will take the same pedals & cleats? Any suggestions for the shoes

and

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pedals?

personally, I dont like the Shimano road pedals, but I like their MTB ones... Can't make any
suggestions aside from whichever Look pedals suit your budget ;-)

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(3) I have always had occasional problems with my toeclip tips scraping

either

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the ground and/or my front tires on severe turns or at high speed. Does

this

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new cleated system solve this? It seems to me that it would, because the toeclips seem to add
about a half inch to my needed clearance. Am I

right?

never had this problem in over 20 years of cycling... Maybe your cranks are too long??

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(4) Is there a good guide to tensioning these "bindings" for the best combination of safety and
accessibility?

rule of thumb is to start with them looseish, and then as you get used to clipping in and out,
tighten them up... My Look A3.1's are at the tightest setting now, and I have no problems getting in
or out of them... Bear in mind, that as the cleats wear out, you can get in and out of the pedal a
lot easier...

(TopCounsel) said:

I am an experienced cyclist but new to your NG. I want to switch from my old Super Record pedals
with clips to the new cleated pedals and shoes with recessed cleat wells. I checked your FAQ but
couldn't find this subject exactly. Is it there? My questions include:

These are called "clipless" pedal systems.

Quoted message said:

(1) Are the threads on my old cranks going to be threaded the same way these pedals with "bindings"
are? That is, if my cranks take the SR pedals will they take, say, the Shimano SPD pedal system
or the Look stuff? If not, what type of crankset will I need to look for?

AFAIK, there are two or three standards for pedal spindle threads, but one is nearly 100% common.
That one is probably what you have. I've never worried about it, anyway, and have never had a bike
that didn't fit with standard pedals.

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(2) If I go with the Shimano system, I would like to have both a "touring" (walkable) shoe AND a
more serious hard-soled shoe. Are there models for both that will take the same pedals &
cleats? Any suggestions for the shoes and pedals?

There are models for both purposes for nearly every type of cleat. SPD seems to be the most common.
The variety of shoes compatible with SPD cleats is nearly endless.

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(3) I have always had occasional problems with my toeclip tips scraping either the ground and/or my
front tires on severe turns or at high speed. Does this new cleated system solve this? It seems
to me that it would, because the toeclips seem to add about a half inch to my needed clearance.
Am I right?

You can adjust the position of the cleat on the shoe, but that adjustment should be done solely
based on foot comfort, not for clearance issues. Different pedals offer different "stack height", if
I remember the term correctly, which is how much space is between the bottom of your shoe and the
pedal spindle center. You may find some relief of your problem.

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(4) Is there a good guide to tensioning these "bindings" for the best combination of safety and
accessibility?

It's not rocket surgery; adjust until you like it. I have four sets of clipless pedals: one set that
I hate because I can never get into it, no matter how they are adjusted (Want to buy some Wellgo R4
pedals?) two identical sets that I adjust to their lightest tension; no matter how hard I pull, they
don't come undone until I choose to get out one set compatible with the other two that is adjusted
to nearly it's lightest tension.

With those adjustments, I have an extremely secure connection with no unwanted release issues -- I
release only when I want to.

Except the ones that I hate, they're all SPDs. The two identical sets are "Nashbar Special SPDs",
$20/set at nashbar.com including cleats. I love them. The other set is Shimano PD-M545s, which was
my first clipless pedal set, and they are great too.

Beware that just because it says the name of a particular system (such as "SPD"😉, that does not mean
that it's cleat is compatible with another pedal. Descriptions commonly don't articulate whether the
system mentioned is only for what type of shoe the cleat will mount to, or if it's for that AND what
type of cleats/pedals are compatible with it. An example is Egg Beaters, whose cleats mount to SPD
shoes, but are nowhere near similar to actual SPD cleats.

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I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can give. Thanks in advance.

Good luck.
--
Rick Onanian

"TopCounsel" wrote ...

Quoted message said:

I am an experienced cyclist but new to your NG. I want to switch from my

old

Quoted message said:

Super Record pedals with clips to the new cleated pedals and shoes with recessed cleat wells. I
checked your FAQ but couldn't find this subject exactly. Is it there? My questions include:
(3) I have always had occasional problems with my toeclip tips scraping

either

Quoted message said:

the ground and/or my front tires on severe turns or at high speed. Does

this

Quoted message said:

new cleated system solve this? It seems to me that it would, because the toeclips seem to add
about a half inch to my needed clearance. Am I

right?

BB height, crank arm length, shoe size and toe clip size are all contributing factors to the problem
of your toe clip tip scraping the ground. If your toe clips added 1/2 " to your needed clearance,
could you have used a smaller toe clip? If you lean the bike far enough the pedals or your toe clips
will scrape, but well designed clipless pedals will let you lean farther than you could have with
your old toe clip pedals.

Frame geometry (specifically, BB to front dropout distance), tire size, fender position ( if you use
them), crank arm length, shoe size, type of shoe, and toe clip size are all factors in determining
whether your foot will hit the front wheel when turning sharply. again, could you have used a
smaller size toe clip on your old pedals? Doing away with the toe clips will obviously add a little
clearance.

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(4) Is there a good guide to tensioning these "bindings" for the best combination of safety and
accessibility?

Start with the lowest setting and work your way up as you become more comfortable with clicking in
and out, and as you feel the need for greater retention. Strong sprinters will obviously want a
higher setting than other people. If you deal with a lot of traffic lights or stop signs and haven't
mastered the track stand, a lower setting is strongly advised. One of the nice things about clipless
pedals is that they are so much easier than toe clips to get in and out of at stop lights.
--
mark

"TopCounsel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

A few months ago I switched my old touring bike from Nouvo Record pedals with clips to Shimano SPD
pedals. I chose SPD-515 "mountain" pedals because they have clamps on both sides of the pedal, no
need to wory about which side is up.

Quoted message said:

(1) Are the threads on my old cranks going to be threaded the same

way these

Quoted message said:

pedals with "bindings" are? That is, if my cranks take the SR

pedals will they

Quoted message said:

take, say, the Shimano SPD pedal system or the Look stuff? If not,

what type

Quoted message said:

of crankset will I need to look for?

There was no issue with the threads. They screwed right into the NR cranks

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(2) If I go with the Shimano system, I would like to have both a

"touring"

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(walkable) shoe AND a more serious hard-soled shoe. Are there

models for both

Quoted message said:

that will take the same pedals & cleats? Any suggestions for the

shoes and

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pedals?

I have two pair of SPD shoes. One is a pair of lurid colored Northwave Team shoes, bought used. The
other is a pair of Shimano M058 mountain bike boot/shoes, bought on sale. The Northwave shoes are
very stiff and light, but they are too tight for extra socks and too well ventilated for winter
riding. The Shimano mountain shoes look pretty much like light-weight hiking boots and they have
enough room for a pair of nice wool socks. They are reasonably stiff but also not bad for walking. I
am happy with both sets of shoes. The cleats are identical.

I like the Shimano 515 pedals, but that is the only clipless pedal I've ever tried. They aren't
particularly light, but that wasn't important to me.

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(3) I have always had occasional problems with my toeclip tips

scraping either

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the ground and/or my front tires on severe turns or at high speed.

Does this

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new cleated system solve this? It seems to me that it would,

because the

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toeclips seem to add about a half inch to my needed clearance. Am

I right?

I used to have that problem with the clips hitting the tire in sharp low speed turns and they always
dragged the ground while I was trying to get in them. I have not had any such problem with the
clipless pedals. Getting in them after a stop is much less of a pain than with toeclips

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(4) Is there a good guide to tensioning these "bindings" for the

best

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combination of safety and accessibility?

I set them to the lowest tension I can without worrying about dropping the adjusting screws. So far
I've never had an accidental disconnect but can get out when I want, even when laying the bike down
on black ice. When they are new the pedals come with the screws way too tight, back them off before
you try them the first time. The instructions that come with the pedals are simple enough. After you
get used to the motion of clipping in and out you can adjust them to your perference.

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I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can give. Thanks in

advance.

Good luck. You probably will fall at least once because you forgot to unclip before stopping, but
they are much better than toeclips and well worth the effort.

Quoted message said:

(1) Are the threads on my old cranks going to be threaded the same way these pedals with
"bindings" are?

Quoted message said:

That is, if my cranks take the SR pedals will they take, say, the Shimano SPD pedal system or the
Look stuff?

Well, I have no encyclopedic knowledge of this. But I was able to take off my old pedals for toe
clips and put on pedals that were LOOK or SPD with no problem.

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(2) If I go with the Shimano system, I would like to have both a "touring" (walkable) shoe AND a
more serious hard-soled shoe. >Are there models for both that will take the same pedals &
cleats?

There are shoes that will take SPD cleats that are road and mtb and touring. I am not a good person
to ask about shoes because I have big, wide feet and I buy shoes based pretty much on "does it
fit?". If it does, I buy it. The notion of buying shoes for style or other reasons is outside of my
experience.

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(3) I have always had occasional problems with my toeclip tips scraping either the ground and/or my
front tires on severe turns or at high speed.

Quoted message said:

Does this new cleated system solve this?

Well, your toe clips will not scrape the ground ever because you will not have any!

Now I have had bikes where the geometry was pretty performance oriented and on some of these I had
problems with my great big feet touching the front tire on a tight turn at low speed. Never had the
problem at high speed because if I turned the wheel that much at high speed, I probably would have
crashed before my foot could touch the tire. Toe clips do extend beyond your toe some, so they
aggravate the problem. But you can still have it sometimes on some bikes depending on the geometry.
It really isn't a problem though.

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(4) Is there a good guide to tensioning these "bindings" for the best combination of safety and
accessibility?

This varies with the pedal and system. I fool with the adjustment until I can click out easily
without clicking out whilst riding. It isn't hard to do.

Wow, thanks to all who have replied. This NG is a far sight more helpful than the "rec.running"
crowd I sometimes hang with -- now that is a hard group to understand at times.

I think the reason my toeclips have interfered with my tires, etc., is that I have size 12 (and
sometimes 13) feet. Not huge, but not small either. The change to clipless should increase my
clearance.

TopCounsel said:

I am an experienced cyclist but new to your NG. I want to switch from my old Super Record pedals
with clips to the new cleated pedals and shoes with recessed cleat wells.

...

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I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can give. Thanks in advance.

One important thing that hasn't been mentioned: be very careful about adjusting the position of the
cleat on your shoe, which controls the position of your foot on the pedal.

The cleat's position can be adjusted by loosening the mounting screws and sliding it around. You can
vary its fore-aft position as well as its angular position. This must be done properly, or knee pain
and damage is a possibility.

When used without the old-style racing cleats (which are very rare these days), toe clips allow your
feet to seek their own neutral position on the pedals. Clipless pedals don't do this. A few degrees
of angular "float" are generally built into the system, but if your anatomy calls for lots of toe-
out, and you've got the cleats set for toe-in, you can strain your knees. The same goes for the fore-
aft position. If you get it wrong, you won't necessarily notice discomfort; damage and pain may be
the first thing you feel, after weeks of riding.

So be careful. Start by examining your existing shoes for the marks made by the pedal, and use them
as references with the new system. Adjust with care, and pay lots of attention to how things feel.
If you get any twinges, don't ignore them; readjust.

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]

"TopCounsel" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Wow, thanks to all who have replied. This NG is a far sight more

helpful than

Quoted message said:

the "rec.running" crowd I sometimes hang with -- now that is a hard

group to

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understand at times.

I think the reason my toeclips have interfered with my tires, etc.,

is that I

Quoted message said:

have size 12 (and sometimes 13) feet. Not huge, but not small

either. The

Quoted message said:

change to clipless should increase my clearance.

Just don't ask if you should wear a helmet... it eventually degenerates into "safety nazi"
accusations.

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I also have 2 sets of Nashbar Special SPD's and also have them set at the lightest tension and have
never come out of them by accident. Very good clipless pedal especially for the price.

Jon

Rick Onanian said:

Except the ones that I hate, they're all SPDs. The two identical sets are "Nashbar Special SPDs",
$20/set at nashbar.com including cleats. I love them. The other set is Shimano PD-M545s, which was
my first clipless pedal set, and they are great too.

Beware that just because it says the name of a particular system (such as "SPD"😉, that does not
mean that it's cleat is compatible with another pedal. Descriptions commonly don't articulate
whether the system mentioned is only for what type of shoe the cleat will mount to, or if it's for
that AND what type of cleats/pedals are compatible with it. An example is Egg Beaters, whose cleats
mount to SPD shoes, but are nowhere near similar to actual SPD cleats.

Quoted message said:

I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can give. Thanks in advance.

Good luck.
--
Rick Onanian

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Encoding: 7bit

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-
Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1"> <title></title> </head> <body text="#000000"
bgcolor="#ffffff"> I also have 2 sets of Nashbar Special SPD's and also have them set at the
lightest tension and have never come out of them by accident. Very good clipless pedal especially
for the price.<br> <br> Jon<br> <br> Rick Onanian wrote:<br> <blockquote type="cite"
cite="[email hidden]"> <pre wrap=""> Except the ones that I hate,
they're all SPDs. The two identical sets are "Nashbar Special SPDs", $20/set at nashbar.com
including cleats. I love them. The other set is Shimano PD-M545s, which was my first clipless pedal
set, and they are great too.

Beware that just because it says the name of a particular system (such as "SPD"😉, that does not mean
that it's cleat is compatible with another pedal. Descriptions commonly don't articulate whether the
system mentioned is only for what type of shoe the cleat will mount to, or if it's for that AND what
type of cleats/pedals are compatible with it. An example is Egg Beaters, whose cleats mount to SPD
shoes, but are nowhere near similar to actual SPD cleats.

</pre> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">I greatly appreciate any assistance anyone can give.
Thanks in advance. </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""><!----> Good luck.
--
Rick Onanian
</pre>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>

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TopCounsel said:

Quoted message said:

Just don't ask if you should wear a helmet... it eventually degenerates into

"safety nazi" accusations.

I'm bad in this department.

You're fine in that department. Don't worry.

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]