[CR]cycling shoe baloney

(Example: Component Manufacturers:Avocet)

Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 11:29:24 +0200 (CEST)
From: "Nick March" <nicbordeaux@yahoo.fr>
To: marcus.e.helman@gm.com, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]cycling shoe baloney

Marcus wrote: << Someone recently recommended shotput shoes for use with toeclips and straps. How stiff are the soles? I have been riding with the same pair of indoor soccer shoes for several years, and am beginning to want something new. Has anyone tried to put stiffer insoles in sneakers to get a better pedalling platform? Do stiffer insoles exist? >>

Dear Marcus, Dear List: The whole issue of cycling shoes and stiff soles is a load of pure, unadultered, copperplated baloney. A very good friend o' mine recently pointed me to an article about this, and no doubt he will contact you to give you the url.

OK, let's say you are aiming to win the TDF or some other minor criterium, maybe real stiff shoes strapped down hard will give you an advantage of sorts. They'll also make sure that it's exactly the same muscles working in the same way on every stroke, so you'll get RSI. I guess you need to be able to move aound a bit on the pedals, as in the seat to accomodate different terrain, fatigue. Clips are really fine. As long as you don't strap your feet tight. They look good, they are part of the fun of riding old machines, but to the average cyclist they offer no advantage whatsoever apart from foot placement (and mostly people fit any length period clip irrespective of their shoe size).

So why do so many people wear specific shoes locked to the pedals ? Because they are like the Baboons on Gibraltar rock, they copy whatever they see. Tommorow the marketting boys tell the sponsored racers to ride the Giro mountain stages with a pink Ostrich feather protuding from the back of their Lycra pants, 1 000 000 000 cyclist will spend 50 trillion bucks on pink ostrich feathers.

This is only my opinion and I can imagine that other people won't agree, which is fine, anybody is allowed to be wrong, it's a free world.

Plimsoles (sneakers) are fine if you feel good in 'em, the only rigidity you need to add is to the underside of the sole to stop your soft plims being torn apart by the pedal cage edges.

Nick March, Agen 47000, Lot et Garonne, France

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