Cycling UK Forum

Long time user of spd pedals, but Inhave a serious problem. I can no longer walk in even ‘normal’ shoes. I need barefoot shoes (1-2mm flat ultraflexible (non compressible) soles).
SPD shoes are just impossible.

But then again I can’t ride anything with only two wheels either... so the normal rules are out of the windows anyway.


I’m thinking that a footplate with decent strapping could hold my feet, allow for full pedalling, and allow me to wear my everyday shoes...

BUT - ‘bent trikes have a tendency to drop feet off pedals in rough terrain, so I’d probably want a very firm wrap or a heel support???

Would make riding a lot easier if I didn’t have to change shoes every time I wanted/needed to stand up.

You can get footplates with a heel support that fix to normal pedals.

This is the first example I came across, rather than a specific recommendation. I'm sure there are other similar ones out there.

Before spd pedals we used to MTB race with diagonal straps on the pedals. No idea what they were called, may have a set lurking somewhere in a shed. A quick search for "diagonal straps for mtb pedals" turns up a few leads, such as:-

https://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category ... -10-39407/

Link to manufacturers, seems they are still available:-

https://restrap.co.uk/products/diagonal-straps-1

They worked fine and would be ideal for a wide variety of shoes, including soft shoes. Easy to get into and you could pull up pretty effectively on the pedals too. If you missed getting in then they just squashed underfoot and you could pedal normally.

I read about magnetic pedals now. Sorry, I don't have more information than that

This Fly Pedal SPD/platform adapter would be a good basis for a bolt-on heel support, possibly on the same lines as this, and should be comfortable with a soft/thin sole if you remove the grip pins

Slightly out of the box answer.

How big are your feet in the thin shoes, ie will they fit in a pair of oversize SPD sandals with the shoes on ??
If they will then just leave the sandals on the trike and slip your shod feet into/out of them as needed.

Easy .......

https://www.hpvelotechnik.com/produkte/ ... dal_e.html
Bob Is this the sort of thing your looking for?

The ay that I read this was that the "shoe" has effectively 1 - 2 mm of Neoprene between foot and pedal

This will exclude a vast majority of pedals that have some sort of raised portion to allow grip, which will be felt and dig in

If I am correct, then have a look at the "Ergon PC2" pedals, they have a large surface area and the grip is provided by a roughened surface that should be functional without digging in

[youtube]Ep-pn0L-iQY[/youtube]


Lacks the strap, but is there enough grip to stop foot slip?

The sole is closer to a very this bike tyre than neoprene, but I can feel everything through it - which is why I can walk

A further thought on the platforms that attach to pedals that I linked to earlier.

As designed you would need to be able to reach your feet on the pedals from the seat. How easy is that on a recumbent trike?

An alternative would be to add cleat to the bottom so you could clip/unclip the whole lot using standard clipless pedals & also gives you the bailout option of not being irreversibly attached in the, admittedly unlikely, event of rolling over.

There are various organisations, both local & national (such as Wheels for All), that adapt cycles of various to enable folk to get cycling. If there is one reasonably local to to you they would probably be happy to give advice & let you try stuff out.

I have two wheel recumbent experience on this. I live barefoot off the bike, (yeah, I know, super eccentric!) so on the bike I wear ‘barefoot’ minimalist shoes. I use wide mtb pedals with the sharp tungsten studs. I can testify that this is fine for both comfort and grip. My shoes however are either Vivo Barefoot Achilles sandals or Xero Shoes hiking boots for cold weather. Both have 2mm flat soles, but the material in both cases is Vibram not neoprene, so quite tough enough for the mtb pedals. I have used this combination for many years and it works well with minimal wear to the shoes. I have not tried the Vibram Five Fingers barefoot shoes, but the name suggests the sole material there is also not neoprene.

On three wheels (which I don’t ride) there is the issue of leg-suck, eg a dropped foot being dragged back under the cross-bar of a tadpole trike. As well as the suggestions above, our American brethren find simple heel-slings made of stainless steel cable effective. For DIY and commercial options on these, see the US ‘Bentrider’ discussion board and search on ‘heel slings’ and ‘foot retention’.

Hope this helps,

The Recumbent and mostly Barefoot Panda

Vivobarefoot shoes here - excellent experience report... thanks.

A blast from the past

Conloy Asp pedals.

thirdcrank wrote:A blast from the past

Conloy Asp pedals.

IMG_8645_resize.jpg

Ah - YEAH - that's fine tc - but who does anything similar now?

Nobody, I fear and more to the point, nobody seems to be advertising any secondhand.