Traditonal toe clips and recumbents - do they work?

[UpWrong]

Foot retention on recumbent tadpole trikes is important to prevent injury. "leg suck" can cause horrendous injuries if your leg gets dragged under the cruciform. I have used SPDs previously but I became disenchanted with them. I would occasionally get inadvertent release (even with single position release cleats) and I disliked the heavy shoes. Also you get cold feet in the winter and walking in them is awkward. I have got used to wearing normal shoes with platform pedals on uprights and two wheeled bents. I know about Powergrip straps and I expect I will order some to try. However I was wondering how well traditional toe clips with straps work on recumbents in terms of foot retention. Does anyone have experience of this?

[Cunobelin]

Foot retention on recumbent tadpole trikes is important to prevent injury. "leg suck" can cause horrendous injury. I have used SPDs previously but I became disenchanted with them. I would occasionally get inadvertent release (even with single position release cleats) and I disliked the heavy shoes. Also you get cold feet in the winter and walking in them is awkward. I have got used to wearing normal shoes with platform pedals on uprights and two wheeled bents. I know about Powergrip straps and I expect I will order some to try. However I was wondering how well traditional toe clips with straps work on recumbents in terms of foot retention. Does anyone have experience of this?

MY wife used these successfully on her Gekko

I noted your comments about walking, I toured a lot and found that walking was essential, so used to use trainer or boot style SPD shoes

My winter pair were MT 90s. Similar weight and size to other walking boots, warm, waterproof and capable of walking anywhere

[yakdiver]

The answer to your question by asking another have you every had your foot run over by the trike ? If you had you wouldn't be asking the question believe me it hurts - SPDs and do them up tight

[UpWrong]

The answer to your question by asking another have you every had your foot run over by the trike ? If you had you wouldn't be asking the question believe me it hurts - SPDs and do them up tight

No I haven't. I can think of only one occasion in many thousands of miles on a two wheeled bent using platform pedals where my foot came off the pedal but it didn't contact the ground. But on a trike it might have. Hence I acknowledge the risk. My question is whether that risk is eliminated by using traditional toe clips and straps.

[[XAP]Bob]

I’ve had my foot come off pedals on the rapto, and pulled cleats out of the bottom of (cheap) spd shoes.

Toe clips don’t work unless they’re tight - heel straps are available though.

[Tigerbiten]

You're probably looking to buy/make something like this -> https://www.getcycling.org.uk/Disabilit ... ent-Pedals

That will probably give you enough heel retention without going for a full length platform with a heel cup.

Luck .........

[[XAP]Bob]

The heel straps I have on one trike are just that, straps. They don’t need to be a platform.

I also have pyro platforms on my trike - because I need barefoot shoes to be able to walk at all, and they really aren’t conducive to cycling, so I use the platform there.

[UpWrong]

Gosh, some good ideas. The Hase pedals makes me wonder if I could make some elasticated heel straps to help with foot retention. I've ordered some diagonal heel straps https://restrap.com/collections/pedal-straps/products/diagonal-straps-1

and I shall then assess whether or not additional heel straps are worth trying. As long as they aren't an inconvenience then I think they'd be worth a go.

[pjclinch]

Foot retention on recumbent tadpole trikes is important to prevent injury. "leg suck" can cause horrendous injuries if your leg gets dragged under the cruciform. I have used SPDs previously but I became disenchanted with them. I would occasionally get inadvertent release (even with single position release cleats) and I disliked the heavy shoes. Also you get cold feet in the winter and walking in them is awkward.

Bit late to the party here...

Anyways, I prefer Time ATACs to SPuDs. I find they engage more positively, there's no faffing about with different tensions (they're In or they're Out) and you can wear the cleats down to practically non-existent and they're not release when you don't want them to. They're no harder than SPuDs to get in to and they have genuine lateral float as well as rotational float so potentially a bit easier on joints.

Heavy shoes... I often wear Shimano sandals (cleats for ATACs fit the same shoes as SPuD cleats) with mine which aren't heavy and are okay to walk in. Otherwise there's various SPuD shoes that are reasonably light and walkable (at least for shortish distances, I'm happy in them as my General Shoes on time out from a cycle tour, but I'd never use them in place of non-cycling shoes if I was going out for a walk). Cold feet will depend on the shoe design and what socks you have.

Pete.

[UpWrong]

Interesting, I hadn't looked at ATAC pedals.

Unfortunately I suffered a kneee injury on my 2nd ride on the trike and I was stupid enough to carry on riding for a week. I damaged by quadriceps tendons above and around the knee so have an enforced lay off now. I was trying too hard and I think lack of experience with the Restraps played a part. However overall I'm happy with them and it's nice not having to change shoes when arriving at work.

Worth pointing out that I have cerebral palsy and tend to point my toes when riding. I think the Restraps provide adequate security for me but I need to think about keeping my heel down when pedalling. For "normal" people there might be more of a risk of the foot coming off the pedal.

[Shreds]

Another massive vote for Time Atacs.

(If it wasnt for the huge SPD marketing budget, they would not be where they are today).

Used Time Atacs for on all my bikes for many years, in fact since they first came out in the 1990s.

Far better than SPDs and have good float / positive locking but easy release when necessary.

Wouldnt dream of using anything else because the ‘cross/mtb’ shoes have a raised sole, inset cleat and raised heel like a normal shoe so you are not waddling like a duck on a traditional racing shoe.

Toeclips and straps do not work well on laid back bikes.

[OldBloke]

In this post some simple heel slings made from bike tubes: https://m.facebook.com/comment/replies/ ... nemW51ztp8

They would help support your foot in traditional toe clips.

OB

[hercule]

Would you recommend one of the Time ATAC pedals for recumbent use? I have Shimano M324s on my Fuego and use the flat side unclipped for slow speed manoeuvres... I’ve never felt that I can rely on the SPD release on tricky situations where I might need to get my feet down in a hurry. On a trike, of course, that doesn’t matter!

[nigelnightmare]

I use Shimano SH-MT54B & SH-MT44L SPD Touring shoes.
They're like Trainers with stiffer soles and recessed cleats.
They weigh the same as my normal trainers & unlike road cycle shoes I don't find I get cold feet in winter
To stop rain getting in Via the sole/cleat I put some Duct tape on the inside under the insole over the hole.

HTH

P.S. Just found that they don't do these Models anymore but there are other similar touring shoes out there.
Touring shoes are not as stiff soled so they are much easier to walk in and have good grip on most surfaces.

[NUKe]

I changed to crank brothers mallets last year from Shimano,
https://uk.crankbrothers.com/collection ... /mallet-dh
Liked the idea of a larger supporting foot bed.