I agree with the better shops having the clips and straps on all the better bikes. The only time the Azzuris would get to us is when they had the strap doubled over and riveted so it couldn't be removed. Grrr. Made it a little tougher to do the job correctly. Remember the Italian shoes that came with the brass covered leather cleat nailed in place? Great arrogance telling us where the rider's foot should be on the pedal. That was back in the '70's and the Campagnolo ship was riding high on the waves. Then came the rising sun and the ship went over the edge of the ocean. Took a long while for it to sail back up into a reasonable tradewind again. Great history. Ted Ernst Palos Verdes Estates, Ca
> In most of the shops I knew a decent bike with quill pedals would already
> have toe-clips installed, probably medium, and if you needed a different
> size they are easy to swap out without disturbing the toe strap.
>
> Mitch Harris
> Little Rock Canyon, Utah
>
>
> On 5/20/06, Donald Gillies <gillies@cs.ubc.ca> wrote:
>>
>> Remember, the bike cannot really come with toe-clips pre-installed,
>> because foot size can vary quite a lot. My dad's feet were fully 2
>> sizes larger than mine, even though we are the same height.
>>
>> It's possible that for a given size of frameset, 2 or even 3 different
>> sizes of toe clips might be appropriate.
>>
>> In my opinion, most toe clips were added as "extras" by bike shops.
>> And, most "serious" bicyclists bought toe clips right away, even for
>> commuting, as I did in 1973/4 ( once I got Eugene Sloan's book .)
>>
>> The 800-pound gorilla of toe clips was Christophe. I think that just
>> about ANY 1960's or 1970's french or english bike with "Christophe
>> Special" (old logo, all on a single line, surrounded by a box kinda
>> like campy brake levers), is period correct. Lapize and I think AFA
>> are also related or a brand name from the same company - can anyone
>> clarify ??
>>
>> An italian bike might have other toe clips. Campagnolo clips were NOT
>> common and I don't think they made clips until 1976 or later (they
>> waited to invent a little useless spike that goes inside the pedal
>> cage..) I'll defer to the many Italian-o-philes as to what is correct
>> for an Italian toe clip, although i think alfredo binda straps are the
>> gold standard when it comes to Italian straps ...
>>
>> - Don Gillies
>> San Diego, CA