As a counterpoint, about 1970 the wonderful British cycle shop owner REW Reynolds, who meet our US mail-order needs with great enthusiasm and skill, recommended the Berthet for those with outsized feet (with a stiff-soled shoe), becasue it had no encumbrance on the outside. Worked well for my big-foot friends... harvey sachs
At 09:31 PM 11/20/2000 -0500, Jerry & Liz Moos wrote:
>Well, maybe it was the perfect design for the typical Frenchman of 1935, who
>probably wore something considerably less than size 13 shoes. Being 5' 8" and
>158 (with some hope of maintaining this weight by commuting this winter), I'm
>probably closer to those 1935 French riders. I find the width just fine and
>have never bent an axle or separated a top plate on these pedals. This
>sort of
>strengthens the Frank Lloyd Wright analogy. If you visit homes he designed,
>you'll note the dimensions are sometimes awkward for persons over 6'. Wright,
>who had strong opinions on everything, believed the ideal height for an
>American
>male was 5' 8", which by amazing coincidence happened to be exactly
>Wright's own
>height. He was also fond of saying anyone over 6' tall "was a weed and should
>be cut off at the knees". Apparently, whoever designed the Lyotard mod 23
>held
>similar views.
>
>Regards,
>
>Jerry Moos
>
>Tim Fricker wrote:
>
> > I have to chime in with Leonard here on the Berthet pedals. I also found
> > them far from perfect. I bought a pair for commuting purposes years ago,
> > and used them on both an old UO-8 and a Norman 3 speed for that, as well as
> > on my Trek touring bike for "fun" riding. The problem I found with
> them was
> > they were just too small and narrow for my size 13 wide feet. It felt like
> > my feet were hanging off the sides, and if I wore tennis shoes, it was even
> > worse, making my foot feel like it was resting on a very small hard object,
> > much like the common complaint about SPDs. I kept them for years,
> > periodically trying them to see if they worked with this shoe or that, or
> > under different conditions. I never did get happy with them, and sold them
> > about a year ago. I think those of us with big feet need bigger platform
> > pedals than those. I keep wanting to try the MKS model that Rivendell
> > carries, but I'm happy with the curent pedals on my bikes right now.
> >
> > Tim
> >
> > Tim Fricker
> > tymn61@earthlink.net
> >
> > ----------
> > >From: Leonard Bulger <bulger@erim-int.com>
> > >To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> > >Subject: [Classicrendezvous] Re: Lyotard mod. 23 Marcel Berthet pedals
> > >Date: Mon, Nov 20, 2000, 10:42 AM
> > >
> >
> > >I don't think the Berthet pedal is perfect. It holds the foot closer to
> > >the crankarm than any other pedal. This can result in too low a Q. I
> > >used to tour with Model 23's and would get shooting pains along the
> > >outside of my knees. I realized that the inside of my foot was not
> > >sitting flat on the pedal. When I changed to a wider rattrap the pains
> > >went away. I still have 23's on two bikes and they're fine for short
> > >rides, and it's nice to not have a cage pushing into my foot.
> > >
> > >There's been a lot of low Q fanaticsm lately. Low Q is not
> > >automatically better. The appropriate Q depends on the width of the
> > >rider's hips and the natural motion of his or her joints.
> > >
> > >Leonard Bulger
> > >Ann Arbor, MI
> > >(It's trying to snow.)