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Do You Road Bike?

Kim, no matter what everybody tells you, buy what fits YOU.

To the Sidi hater, I've put over 25,000 miles each on 2 pairs that are still usable and fit great (and so now are my wet weather standby shoes). I also wear Lakes, Diadoras and Mavics -- NONE of them have given me as much life as the Sidi shoes.
 
Yea get the ones that fit. That trumps all. I reealllyyyy suggest you get a pair that has one ratchet main strap and not three velcro straps.
The super light Mavics are super badass. Soon as they come out with pink I'll upgrade my yellow pair.
Who was drilling the cleat holes at Lake last year? I can't get my heal parallel with the bike on any of them now.
 
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So I'm going to be moving to scott's valley.. is there any good routes in the area (besides obviously heading to the S/C mountains)? Also I tried the Swanton road TT thing and almost killed myself but still learned a lot and had fun. Hopefully next time I can do better. Didn't think I could burn myself out in only a 11 mile ride but I was wrong!
 
aram said:
So I'm going to be moving to scott's valley.. is there any good routes in the area (besides obviously heading to the S/C mountains)? Also I tried the Swanton road TT thing and almost killed myself but still learned a lot and had fun. Hopefully next time I can do better. Didn't think I could burn myself out in only a 11 mile ride but I was wrong!
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Bean Creek, Mt.Charlie, Granite Creek to Branciforte, back up Glen Canyon...tons of great roads in SV.
 
sonofabike said:
Kim, no matter what everybody tells you, buy what fits YOU.

To the Sidi hater, I've put over 25,000 miles each on 2 pairs that are still usable and fit great (and so now are my wet weather standby shoes). I also wear Lakes, Diadoras and Mavics -- NONE of them have given me as much life as the Sidi shoes.
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Yea, Im going to have to go in and try some on. The shoes I bought were "all purpose" shoes. But they are only for the MTB clips.

I think we are going to attempt to go to sports basement this up coming weekend to check out shoes. May also hit up Lombardi Sports. That place is huge. Never went there for cycling stuff might be a good idea to check them out as well though.
 
Now I'm not a sidi hater, I own a pair of sidi's and they are nearly as well fitted to my foot as specialized. However, for what I bought (low end sidi) I could have gotten a stiffer and more comfortable, and lighter shoe from specialized. I feel like sidi makes great shoes, but they tend to be on the $$$ side for their lower end stuff.
Go with what fits and is affordable
 
Going to hopefully grab some shoes on Saturday morning. :)
 

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Those are great pedals!

Don't go to sports basement without at least a 10% off coupon. Let me know if you need one, I can stick one in the mail for you
 
I'm not particularly prone to crashing. But good to know thanks. :laughing
 
We need to gather a group ride.
 
Pro tip. Stay away from newb group rides......'specially around stop signs and red lights.
See if ya can exchange those cleats for the ones with red thingies instead of yellow thingies. Clean off the off the gunk from the threads and be take care when when putting them on. I've got a pedal wrench if you need but I think Shimano's take an Allen key too. It's metric. Don't stick an SAE wrench in there even though it kinda sorta fits.

If anyone's interested I've gotta brand new in box never ever put on set of Speedplay stainless steel I wanna trade for Dura Ace or fancy Look or Speedplay track pedals. Also have used but great shape chromaly Speedplay....+ or - cash on either deal if we have to.
 
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Yep, Shimano take allen key. A scar on my wrist is a proof that pedal wrench works better. :laughing

FYI Missing Link in Berkeley is a Co-OP with a work stand and tools people can use to work on their bikes. Although it has been a while, might have changed.
 
theAmazingKickstand said:
Pro tip. Stay away from newb group rides......'specially around stop signs and red lights.
See if ya can exchange those cleats for the ones with red thingies instead of yellow thingies. Clean off the off the gunk from the threads and be take care when when putting them on. I've got a pedal wrench if you need but I think Shimano's take an Allen key too. It's metric. Don't stick an SAE wrench in there even though it kinda sorta fits.

If anyone's interested I've gotta brand new in box never ever put on set of Speedplay stainless steel I wanna trade for Dura Ace or fancy Look or Speedplay track pedals. Also have used but great shape chromaly Speedplay....+ or - cash on either deal if we have to.
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I have some older model look keo carbon pedals I could trade for another set of speedplays if you're interested.
 
theAmazingKickstand said:
Pro tip. Stay away from newb group rides......'specially around stop signs and red lights.
See if ya can exchange those cleats for the ones with red thingies instead of yellow thingies. Clean off the off the gunk from the threads and be take care when when putting them on. I've got a pedal wrench if you need but I think Shimano's take an Allen key too. It's metric. Don't stick an SAE wrench in there even though it kinda sorta fits.

If anyone's interested I've gotta brand new in box never ever put on set of Speedplay stainless steel I wanna trade for Dura Ace or fancy Look or Speedplay track pedals. Also have used but great shape chromaly Speedplay....+ or - cash on either deal if we have to.
Click to expand...

Why? and whats the difference? I didnt even realize that the pedals came with cleats so I actually have 2 sets of cleats with the yellow thingies. We need to get a pedal wrench taking off the last ones was a nightmare. But hes got a stand and some tools we can probably pick up a wrench when I buy my shoes tomorrow.
 
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Yellow ones have float. Which means you can move the top of your foot from side to side. The red ones don't. In theory with float your fit doesn't need to be perfect and you can adjust your foot position slightly. Downside is that since it does allows for motion you can move your foot while pedaling which can lead to issues and is inefficient. TAK has a somewhat strong opinion about that one. :laughing
 
aram said:
I have some older model look keo carbon pedals I could trade for another set of speedplays if you're interested.
Click to expand...

Were you the guy who bought these from me half a yea ago?:laughing

UDRider said:
Yellow ones have float. Which means you can move the top of your foot from side to side. The red ones don't. In theory with float your fit doesn't need to be perfect and you can adjust your foot position slightly. Downside is that since it does allows for motion you can move your foot while pedaling which can lead to issues and is inefficient. TAK has a somewhat strong opinion about that one. :laughing
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+1

Uninformed wieners use float. Super mean dumb wieners put newbs on float.
You did so well with the amazing pedal choice. Go correct all out and folks will think that you're a super smart pro......so long as you don't fall over on them at stop signs. Plus you'll pedal correctly and be efficient and won't hurt all the cables and crunchy stuff in your legs or unclip accidentally while taking Roadstrgal's trophy away from her. Just have a super smart pro set em up for ya. All the bad rep you'll hear about 0 degree float comes from folks not reading instructions and/or not thinking logically. The internets really helped this group. WIth float you're able to move your heal side to side. I forget how much on Shimano's maybe 6 degree's? Look has three cleats to sell to a bigger market. 0 degree for smart folks and 4.5 and 9 (I think) degrees for dumb and extra dumb.
Speedplay saved tons of money cuz they have screws. Smart folks tighten up. Other folks leave em loose to whatever they think is right; rather, how much they think they should offset their initial incorrect cleat placement.
If you hurt yourself while eating with a fork you probably won't switch to a spork. You'll figure out why you keep poking yourself with the correct fork.
 
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Okay, I'm sorry but I must step in.

Unless your pedals are set up perfetly, you will probably injure yourself. I ran fixed cleats on my track bike because I liked the feel of sprinting full out and having my feel locked into place. It also made sense because my q-factor on my cranks was very narrow. I also ran some fixed cleats on my road bike, it felt more stable, but I did end up hurting my knee a bit because the cleat was not adjusted perfectly.

It is true if you had it set up perfectly and your body did not move from your pedal you'd be fine. However, the lateral deviation of everything below your hip does change angle because the cranks move in circles.
Also, standing up and sprinting/climbing increases the need for rotation of the foot because you will be moving the bike left and right and leaning the opposite way. Your foot will compensate with inversion and eversion, but your knees will compensate with the rest of the lateral rotation needed. This works fine on a track bike because standing time is limited, and the tecnique used with stiffer bike and higher speed sprinting is to keep the bike parallel to the ground. But for a road bike it's not so great.

The other reason you should not run fixed cleats is because of the extra tension you will need to run your pedals at. Because you have no room to move laterally, if you accidently twist a bit it'll pop out of the pedal. Tightening up the pedal release is no problem for the seasoned rider, but you may not like the extra force needed to get in and out of your pedals. Though after time you may prefer a tighter setting.

I have also never heard of a stroke being inefficiant because of float. None of the seasoned racers have ever brought it up. I believe it's more of a preference thing.

Here is a good description of the rotation of the lower part of the leg. (comment 5)
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/coaching/pros-fixed-cleats-279039.html

I am of course open to discussion on the power transfer and likelyhood of injury with fixed cleats, but I will not advocate a new rider with underdeveloped cycling muscles to ride with fixed cleats ever.

Maurice
 
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Red cleats here ever since they've been around. I used fixed cleats on my Detto Pietro shoes but they were nailed into the soles! Once Look introduced the Red cleat, I've never looked back. I would definitely use black cleats for the track but until one is built here in Sacto, I guess I'll stay a dumb wiener! I see Cat 1-2 guys using both so I think that it's more of a personal choice.
 
It's a bummer Hellyer is so far away. If only we had a track in Berkeley, then we could all meet in the middleish... I'm not going to complain though, going to the track 2-3 times a week was great!
 
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