TrevA wrote:On a rush hour commute, you can be stopping every few hundred yards, so you'll be unclipping and clipping in quite often.
You can, but mainly if it's a bad route, bad council or bad cycling. A combination of picking a route that bypasses inconveniently-timed lights, having handily-placed posts and fences to hold onto while stopped and coasting up to red lights and give-ways means that I rarely have to take my feet off the pedals despite passing through at least 12 sets of lights in 1.5 miles in town. It would be 21 sets of lights in the same distance if I used a slightly different route - I could reduce it further (possibly to 8 sets) but the synchronisation of the lights (optimised for motorists not cyclists) would mean more stops despite fewer lights!
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
TrevA wrote:On a rush hour commute, you can be stopping every few hundred yards, so you'll be unclipping and clipping in quite often.
You can, but mainly if it's a bad route, bad council or bad cycling. A combination of picking a route that bypasses inconveniently-timed lights, having handily-placed posts and fences to hold onto while stopped and coasting up to red lights and give-ways means that I rarely have to take my feet off the pedals despite passing through at least 12 sets of lights in 1.5 miles in town. It would be 21 sets of lights in the same distance if I used a slightly different route - I could reduce it further (possibly to 8 sets) but the synchronisation of the lights (optimised for motorists not cyclists) would mean more stops despite fewer lights!
Yes, I managed to reduce mine to just 4 sets of lights on a 9 mile commute, nearly all of these are in the last mile, where I have to cross the River Trent, so don't really have a choice of route on that section. You can often time it so that you don't have to stop but this is more difficult in packed rush hour stop start traffic.
TrevA wrote:My summer and winter club riding bikes both have Look Keos. These are a real pain in stop-start traffic and for town riding generally. They are perfect for club runs in the countryside where it is rare to have to stop at all.
It took me a while to learn the trick with Keos - swing your foot forwards just above the pedal axle: this picks up the pedal top, which then engages and clicks. It's a move of grace once perfected!
However when I commuted I preferred SPDs as the shoes didn't make me walk like a duck.
Do you contribute/view "on three wheels my fast forum" ? Dedicated to Upright Trikes and Upright Trikies.
Careful though I think Trikes cause confusion and dismay in the CTC !
We don't create that much confusion, although I think we probably have a few more 'bent trikes on the forum than upright ones.
Upright trikes are 'interesting' to ride, years of 'how to ride a bike' undone in moments.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way.No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse. There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
A commute I used to do in the 90s had 3 sets of difficult to avoid lights in quick succession in the last 1/2 mile of my route in (& 1st 1/2 mile heading home).
I used to run Looks on my road bike but went to SPDs on the MTB eventually (I stuck to clips & straps for quite a while there).
I eventually settled on SPDS across the board. I found the double sided SPDs so much less likely to miss at 1st attempt & the shoes are better for carrying on if still unclipped compared to a "road" shoe.
I had forgotten how much extra effort the Looks needed to disengage too until I dug them out again for some velodrome riding (mainly the NCC in Manchester but I've been on the "Sir Chris Hoy" in Glasgow once too )in the last couple of years.
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
SPD single sided pedals with "normal " platform on the reverse. Fitted to both trikes and a pair on a bicycle. I need to remember the difference when stationary on the bike but easy to set off lights then clip in. Trike no problem as no need to unclipping at short stops.
As someone who rides in normal shoes, SPD users drive me nuts moving away from lights.
I like to get going and across the lights asap, not start to move off and then have to wait for someone to click in. It doesn't help that they all seem to start in a high gear so even when they're clipped in they still take an age to get going.
(You can really annoy the lycra crowd by overtaking them whilst they're trying to get going. Nothing says red rag to a bull more than a grey haired old bloke in jeans and t-shirt on a tourer acclerating away from them at the lights )
I've never come across this ,cyclists delay at lights when clipping in, or not noticed it. I use SPDs on all my bikes and just clip in automatically without thinking about it. If on the odd rare occasion I may miss it, I just pedal with enough power with the flat of the shoe. Maybe it's inexperienced cyclists. Especially if they are looking down. We have probably all been there in the beginning. Much like looking down at DT levers.
bigjim wrote:I've never come across this ,cyclists delay at lights when clipping in, or not noticed it. I use SPDs on all my bikes and just clip in automatically without thinking about it. If on the odd rare occasion I may miss it, I just pedal with enough power with the flat of the shoe. Maybe it's inexperienced cyclists. Especially if they are looking down. We have probably all been there in the beginning. Much like looking down at DT levers.
FWIW,I think there are a growing number of newish cyclists on the Wiggo/Froome bandwagon who believe all the guff about Keo/Look type pedals and road shoes giving better power transfer,blah,blah,etc,etc,and so suffer the difficulties that system brings with it. Fashion is a hard master to satisfy......
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"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
I guess the criticism was against new riders. I don't think it matters which pedals you use you will learn to clip into then fairly instantly after a short amount of use. What is wrong with track standing at the lights . I did have a guy on posh racing bike try and do this not very successfully, because he didn't want to unclip, fortunately neither of were hurt or bikes damaged.
I would say the biggest mistake and we all make from time to time at lights, is not changing down before you come to a stand still. by far the biggest cause of a sluggish get away is too big a gear. one big advantage here for urban use of the IHG.
Back in the 70s my riding partner Neil and I would link arms at traffic lights and support each other to save unclipping
In some cases definitely, but the obviously experienced ones seem to start off in too high a gear, just high enough to mean I have to take my time getting going.
As several have alluded too already I feel that road shoes/pedals are more suited to longer distance non-stop riding. I think spd( or perhaps lollipop/eggbeater style road pedals ) are better suited to stop start urban riding. The shoes with recessed cleat are more practical and the spd pedals easy to quickly clip in and out as well as being double sided and easy to push power on when not clipped in being fairly flat. But spd's came from the mtb world where regularly being in and out of the clips is more common than for roadies?
My vote would be for spd in a busy urban setting over non flat, single sided road pedals and shoes.
I would say the biggest mistake and we all make from time to time at lights, is not changing down before you come to a stand still.
So easy to do even though we know to avoid such. If you have great balance a track stand looks impressive but even more so on a fail .
