Years ago, my crankset started making a nasty ticking sound on every stroke when I was spinning. I did everything I could to get that durn thing to quiet down. Finally I decided the BB had to be munched and replaced the Campagnolo old style BB cups and cyclocross axle & a BB spacer (the perfect fit for my TA half step and granny) with an American Classic adjustable ti BB. The old Campy was toast, bad axle and cup on the drive side. I KNEW I'd taken care of that stinkin' thing. On the next ride, as soon as I started to spin, tick tick tick tick ... I looked down and watched the toe strap button hitting the top of the toe clip with every stroke. I stopped, pulled out my mini swiss army house and moved the button about 1/2". The ticking stopped. ... What can I say, I still like the buttons. And those Cinelli straps, love that big leather comfort patch ... and the BB is still working fine.
The great things about the Cinelli and Binda straps were that they would hold well with a light pull and not cut off circulation. The buttons weren't needed, but I still used them on the straps that came with them. Then again the chrome plastic ones with the yellow Campagnolo logo was a perfect match for my old blue Colnago w/ yellow straps, decals, tape, housing & matching bar plugs. They're also a bit easier to grab when riding fixed (glad I've never used those double straps). Tucking the buckles so your foot can slip in and out just doesn't cut it.
Dan Artley in Parkton, Maryland USA
Archive-URL: http://search.bikelist.org/
Curious about how CR riders decide/d whether to use toe strap buttons, either now if you still ride clips and straps as I do, or back in the day when we all did.
The real reason I choose against buttons is that they bugged me to look in the pace line. Toe strap buttons bounce up and down while a rider pedals in a way that used to mesmerize me, distract me, and annoy me when riding in the bunch. Reminded me of that bouncing ball in the Mitch Miller show. I'm not really old enough for Mitch Miller but that was the only other Mitch people had heard of when I was in grade school so I got told to "follow the bouncing ball" by grown ups who thought that was funny. Follow the bouncing toe strap button.
But back then (and today) I also decided against toe strap buttons because I never found I needed them--it always works fine to just pull on the end of the strap. I never tuck my straps into the buckle but let them stick straight up. Binda Extras were a little too stiff and thick to tuck in anyway. I dind't/don't pull on them much; they stay a certain just-right tightness that keeps my feet in without squeezing them. I only yanks on straps for end-of-race sprints, for track races (mostly short anyway so feet don't suffer from prolonged squeezing), and when I ride my bikes in other shoes that require re-adjustment.
Did anyone really pull hard enough on toe straps to need the buttons? Ouch.
Mitch Harris
Little Rock Canyon, Utah, USA