Re: [CR]new riding shoes vs. toeclips, cages and straps

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Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 12:02:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: "devon warner" <crabulux@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [CR]new riding shoes vs. toeclips, cages and straps
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org, john@os2.dhs.org
In-Reply-To: <482C7EBC.1090002@new.rr.com>



--- On Thu, 5/15/08, John Thompson wrote:


> From: John Thompson <johndthompson@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [CR]no shoes, no toeclips, no problem
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Date: Thursday, May 15, 2008, 11:19 AM
> marcus.e.helman@gm.com wrote:
> > Grant Petersen argues for no cleats, no cycling shoes,
> no toeclips. Just
> > Grant and his faux-Crocs on platform pedas.
> Interesting, although to me,
> > unconvincing. I did try taking the toeclips off a
> bike, and felt like my
> > foot was all over the place. Despite what Grant says,
> there are times on
> > every ride when I am consciously pulling up, which
> requires toeclips at
> > least
> >
> > http://www.rivbike.com/article/clothing/the_shoes_ruse
>
> Alas, I can't agree with Grant's analysis. I find
> riding any distance
> more than a few miles on ordinary (on topic) pedals causes
> a lot of foot
> pain, burning, etc. that I do not get when using
> appropriate cycling
> shoes. I can use street shoes with platform pedals, though
> I don't
> usually ride long distances on that bike (7 mile commute to
> work).
> everyone seems to have strong feelings about this. I have ridden with straps in crappy canvas shoes for years and just by coincidence am trying to learn to ride with cycling shoes just this week, thanks kevin for the free shoes, and thanks to my lbs which gave me a pair of wooden soled vitorias, nos in the box for 10.00, the price he paid for them. i think my feet are very strong due to my past habbits but i do find it easier to ride up hill with the stiffer shoes and am trying to get comfortable in them with taking the feet out and re-placing them. i'm fiding this hard to do commuting in traffic and a little hair raising.
> And regarding his assertion that "top riders" do
> not pull up on their
> upstroke -- one of the problems riders encountered when
> trying to adapt
> regular (slotted cleat) all leather shoes to clipless
> pedals at the
> beginning of the off-topic era was that these shoes tended
> to stretch
> on top from pulling up on the upstroke, eventually ruining
> them.
> Shoemakers responded by reinforcing the uppers with e.g.
> Velcro straps
> or nylon mesh uppers instead of perforated leather
> &etc. Now you would
> be hard-pressed to find an all leather cycling shoe that
> wasn't
> manufactured 20 some years ago.
> Actually, i was always wondering why the velcro straps, this make sense. i feel sure i will get around to trying out these types of shoes too. but what about the notion that these shoes are actually harder on the knees? does anyone get this feeling from riding with the modern shoes/cleats? or do people feel that the newer ones make his or her knees more healthy?

devon warner
roasting in
san francisco, USA

> --

>

> -John Thompson (john@os2.dhs.org)

> Appleton WI USA