Frame size

The only time I pulled a foot out of my speedplay zeros is when I was doing tons of sprinting, and I believe I was loosing my form because of the excessive training load. I pulled my foot 3 or 4 times one day and then said I needed to take a break. This was all on the road training.

velomanct said:

The only time I pulled a foot out of my speedplay zeros is when I was doing tons of sprinting, and I believe I was loosing my form because of the excessive training load. I pulled my foot 3 or 4 times one day and then said I needed to take a break. This was all on the road training.

I believe the cleats do wear out over time from wear and tear.

velomanct said:

The only time I pulled a foot out of my speedplay zeros is when I was doing tons of sprinting, and I believe I was loosing my form because of the excessive training load. I pulled my foot 3 or 4 times one day and then said I needed to take a break. This was all on the road training.

we are talking speedplay use on track...pulling a foot on the road with a freewheel is a lot more forgiving, in fact it is a training method for some to ride with only one foot clipped in for some drills...especially hill training.

on the track, pulling a foot can be fatal ( and I mean fatal), both feet are in synch with the cranks, forceably, there is no room to relax and a loss of synch by one foot coming out at speed, under great load, is more than likely to have you kissing the boards, taking out the field and doing great injury to yourself, others and the track ( unless you ride outdoor tracks like Colorado Springs etc, where its concrete and you would love to slide there)...

anything to help minimise that happening is a plus...I am amazed at why many new riders and plenty of club riders continue insist on using cleats on track...is it because they don't have the confidence when stopping on a fixed gear and undo toe clips/straps?..., or is it that they just have never used toe cilips ...or think they are old hat?....

whatever reason they have....., and IMHO it is more likely an irrational fear........but, for maximum confidence and performance/output, use toe clips and straps....cleats cannot match the retention factor that clips and straps deliver.

rooman said:

whatever reason they have....., and IMHO it is more likely an irrational fear........but, for maximum confidence and performance/output, use toe clips and straps....cleats cannot match the retention factor that clips and straps deliver.

You sound quite reasonable, but on the other hand, most (all?) six days racers don't use straps and clips, but clipless pedals. Probably, clipless pedals are fool prove enough for anything but match sprint and the kilo...

Please forgive my bad english, I'm not a native speaker.

rooman said:

we are talking speedplay use on track...pulling a foot on the road with a freewheel is a lot more forgiving, in fact it is a training method for some to ride with only one foot clipped in for some drills...especially hill training.

on the track, pulling a foot can be fatal ( and I mean fatal), both feet are in synch with the cranks, forceably, there is no room to relax and a loss of synch by one foot coming out at speed, under great load, is more than likely to have you kissing the boards, taking out the field and doing great injury to yourself, others and the track ( unless you ride outdoor tracks like Colorado Springs etc, where its concrete and you would love to slide there)...

anything to help minimise that happening is a plus...I am amazed at why many new riders and plenty of club riders continue insist on using cleats on track...is it because they don't have the confidence when stopping on a fixed gear and undo toe clips/straps?..., or is it that they just have never used toe cilips ...or think they are old hat?....

whatever reason they have....., and IMHO it is more likely an irrational fear........but, for maximum confidence and performance/output, use toe clips and straps....cleats cannot match the retention factor that clips and straps deliver.

I actually agree with you. If I were to do a standing start or any other sprint effort on the track, I want the absolute highest confidence in my pedal/shoe system. I want it to be impossible to pull a foot. Even on the road, I don't care for standing starts because of this. The shoe flexes on the upstroke and it doesn't feel secure/efficient. I'm even a little leary about my bars on my roadbike during standing starts. They creak and flex and it doesn't feel good. Someday I will get a real track bike and ride the track, I'm sure it will be a lot different than the road.

velomanct said:

I actually agree with you. If I were to do a standing start or any other sprint effort on the track, I want the absolute highest confidence in my pedal/shoe system. I want it to be impossible to pull a foot. Even on the road, I don't care for standing starts because of this. The shoe flexes on the upstroke and it doesn't feel secure/efficient. I'm even a little leary about my bars on my roadbike during standing starts. They creak and flex and it doesn't feel good. Someday I will get a real track bike and ride the track, I'm sure it will be a lot different than the road.

I use speedplays on all my bikes. The reason I got them was becuase I pulled out of a cheap pair of clips. They were on tight and I pulled out at over 30mph. (The other day I tossed a chain at tic under 40mph. I kept the bike upright.. barely) The other reason I have used the speed plays is because I like the freedom they give the foot. I will give the clips with double straps another try......Cha ching, there goes another $250 for shoes

How hard you sprint is not a factor in releasing from Speedplays. If it was Marty Nothstein would not have used them. Speedplays can release because of the angle of your foot to the pedal. You can reduce this possibility by increasing the amount of float (angle of rotation needed for release). On the track, you sometimes have to make hard accelerations while the bike is at odd angles due to the angles/banking of the track.

For sprints and standing starts I like the maximum security of double (not two individual) kierin-rated straps (about $75--$90) and clips. I have the black MKS double straps listed here... http://www.businesscycles.com/trcomp.htm#straps

For mass-start events I use Speedplays because the efforts are mostly different, they're more comfortable for longer races, and you don't want to make the rest of the riders wait for you to get your straps adjusted before each race.

Thanks Warren. You have done a couple of mass start races?🙂

Billsworld said:

Thanks Warren. You have done a couple of mass start races?🙂

Yes, a couple... I did a points race on Thursday that was 55 minutes (!). Long, long race, but I ended up in 5th place. Tight straps for that long, no way!