“Unshined shoes are absolutely the end of civilization, darling” ~ Diana Vreland, Vogue Editor
Long-distance cyclists recognized early on that stabilizing the foot on the pedal dramatically improves pedaling efficiency.
Well before the end of the 19th century, tinkerers were devising ways to secure foot to pedal. Toe-clips, with and without straps, were soon essential accessories. In 1895, Charles Hanson of Peace Dale, Rhode Island invented the first clipless pedal. Later that year, preceding Shimano’s SPD by nearly a century, Canadian painter Marmaduke Matthews put aside his brushes to create the first recessed-cleat, dual-sided, spring-actuated clipless pedal. Even so, quill pedals, clips and straps were adopted by most cyclists through the 1980s.
Pedals I’ve turned
Stiff-soled cycling shoes were recognized as an important adjunct to endurance cycling. In addition to clips and straps, resourceful cyclists added cleats to the reinforced soles of their leather shoes. Modern shoes use stiff, lightweight plastic or carbon-fibre soles and incorporate velcro straps and exotic fasteners to adjust fit on the fly.
(Fit tip: Feet swell on long rides. Avoid “hot foot.” Make sure your shoes are roomy enough.
Of course, when securing peds to pedals, it’s important to preserve the rider’s natural gait. Lateral placement of nailed cleats was determined by riding in new shoes for a day or two, until the leather (or wooden) soles were marked by the pedal. Cleats were then nailed down with the opening aligned along the crease.
Shoes I’ve shined
Today, there are many clipless systems, each with their own virtues. Personal preference will often depend on what one becomes used to. It’s important that the cleat can be adjusted laterally, to allow “float” or natural alignment of the foot, as well as fore-aft, to position the foot over the pedal axle. Most long-distance cyclists will want to also adjust the shoe level across the pedal. This is referred to as varus/vulgus alignment. If you have intractable knee problems, consult a fitter who can analyze your gait and recommend adjustment.
Of course, non-recessed cleats are hardly conducive to walking any distance. Tourists and randonneurs often prefer systems such as SPD or Speedplay Frogs.
There are holdouts who claim that attaching foot to pedal, or even wearing stiff-soled shoes, offers no appreciable benefit. This may well be true for short commutes and around-town errands, when a simple platform pedal is a wise choice. But, as early technical developers concluded, solid foot placement smoothes cadence and is particularly helpful when climbing.
As you can see from the accompanying photo galleries, I’ve used many different options over the years. What pedal/shoe system do you prefer?
Speedplay’s Bicycle Pedal Museum | Retro leather shoes from Dromarti
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After finally stopping using the good old toeclips and straps in 1990 I retrofitted my Duegi 101’s to work with Time pedals on my road bike. However in the mid 90’s the time pedals were causing knee problems so I swithched to Look pedals and that solved the knee problems.
As for the mountain and touring bikes after trying various different SPD type pedals I have settled on Time, they don’t get clogged up with mud, snow etc.
I agree SPDs clog in muddy offroad conditions, but I’ve not had too much trouble with them touring, except for springs rusting on the Alaska/Yukon/BC trip, which led to a “clipless moment.”
The Speedplay road system, admired for their generous float, are the most prone to clogging as the release system is part of the cleat rather than pedal. Accordingly, “Coffee Shop Covers” are de rigueur off the bike.
I find changing between road and mountain pedals to be inconvenient and expensive. Why switch between shoes? The best solution appeared in the 90’s, with Shimano’s original SPD road pedals. They are no longer made, but they were the only road pedals that were (despite what Shimano said) fully compatible with its off-road cleats.
Road SPD went thru three phases. First, there was SPD road, which used a cleat with rubber “pontoons” that were attached to road shoes equipped with slots for SPD in addition to the three Look threaded holes. This was followed by SPD-R, which used a different, totally incompatible cleat and a shoe mount with one slot longer than the other, and unusable with the original SPD road cleats. Finally, there was SPD-SL, which was a Look pedal incompatible with Look cleats. Typical of Shimano.
I still use the original SPD road pedals (Ultegra version was the best). I buy old Ultegra SPD road pedals whenever I can find them, and cleats with pontoons have not been difficult to find, although they are rising in price. The SPD road cleats can be used with Shimano SPD mtb pedals (the typical winter configuration, since this gives you a 2-sided pedal that is easier to clip into in the snow), and vice versa. In fact, I typically use the Shimano RT-80 touring shoe (an mtb shoe with recessed cleat and flat sole instead of the lugged sole – much easier to walk in) with the Ultegra SPD road pedals in the summer and the SPD mtb pedals in the winter. Otherwise, I use one of 6 or 7 pairs of Adidas road shoes, all with SPD road cleats.
Many people think the SPD road pedals are too small, with not enough support. This is ostensibly the reason Shimano came out with the SPD-SL “Lance” pedal. But the SPD road pedal is no smaller than the Speedplay lollipop, and the cleat doesn’t have to remain immaculately clean to work.
I really think Shimano’s SPD road pedal was one of the few products Shimano did well, but typically it has been discontinued without any backward compatibility. This is another reason why I am not fond of Shimano.
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