New pedals

[juliet]

I have shiny new SPD pedals on my bike & they are *lovely*.


SPD pedals have to be worn with cycling shoes - the pedals have cleats on them, and the shoes have an inset bit in the sole with a bit of metal on that, and the two lock together. So you're held onto the pedals, making cycling more efficient, & avoiding your feet sliding around & so on. Also beneficial from a knee point of view, as my knees are now nicely held over my toes.

The downside, of course, is that you have to remember to take your feet *out* of the cleats before stopping, or you fall over. Thankfully, whilst the whole thing was a bit of a trial when I experimented in the bike shop last night (after bike maintenance class), it became much easier when actually cycling (rather than hanging onto a bike stand with Ben-the-mechanic making encouraging noises as I totally failed to be able to clip-in (out is actually much easier, as I suppose it should be)). And I didn't fall over once on the way in this morning. Hopefully this will last

Anyway: they are very lovely & make me happy. Hurrah.


Things that do not make me happy include: the tail-end of the cold that had me off work yesterday; the stupid Dell engineer who showed up yesterday & switched the wrong damn disk (& clearly didn't run the BIOS tests to check all was well or would have noticed this...); the fact that it's not hometime yet. Curses.

Comments

[juliet]

Shimano MT-30. Got good reviews from various places for straddling the line between the two things well. Initial impressions are that they seem pretty solid, & I certainly won't be going for any lengthy walks in them, but they're not going to be crippling for walking round the supermarket on my way home from work. I've brought a pair of old trainers into work to keep here, though (partly for comfort, partly to avoid wearing out the bike shoes).

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

I've always been terrified of shoes that attach you to your bike! What if you need to put a foot down in a hurry, etc. Similarly, I was lent a scooter with handlebar muffs while my scoot was being serviced, and I hated the feeling that my hands were trapped. I guess one gets used to these things in time.

[juliet]

They are actually v easy to get out of (twist heel outwards). But yeah, they do feel a bit odd atm. But I'm assured by everyone who uses them that they are well worth the getting used to (& it did feel much more efficient this morning!).

[peshwengi.livejournal.com]

They *are* more efficient! To the point where I tried normal pedals on my mountain bike again and couldn't figure out what was "wrong" with the bike!

I've never had anything but clipless pedals on my road bike, but I don't think I'd feel safe without them, especially in horrible london traffic.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nicolai_/]

They are obviously much 'leeter than normal pedals, but I am finding I am getting quite satisfactory results from toe clips and boots or shoes with enough tread to tend to lock into the pedals. Makes me much faster :)

[juliet]

I thought about toe clips, but I tend to shove too hard, or try to grip, with my toes anyway (which can lead to physical problems & god knows I have enough problems with my feet as it is), so figured that cleats would be better. Plus they keep my knees in the right place. I did, though, get pedals with a cage so that I *can* ride with regular shoes as well if need be.

[rgl.livejournal.com]

We had a Sun engineer who did much the same thing - two of the disks in the RAID array had failed, he came around and promptly took out one of the remaining functioning disks, causing the whole array to crash.

[editor.livejournal.com]

I'm always alarmed by those snazzy pedals, because I'm always secretly planning to leap off my bike at the first sign of peril. But if you're happy then I can only consider them a Wise Purchase. (For you.)

On the subject of bikes: since my fourth bike was stolen a few months ago, I've been hankering after a fifth. But I don't want to spend anything significant on a bike because they only get nicked and/or ruined (my last one was £90, which is the most I've ever spent). Can you recommend anywhere in London to acquire a nice, solid bike for cycling around town which won't disturb my overdraft?

[juliet]

They're pretty easy to get out of (twist foot outwards).

Er. http://www.southwarkcyclists.org.uk/bikebuyingadvice.shtml has info on 2nd-hand bike buying. 90quid is really not very much, but you should be able to get *something* second-hand for that. Or try Loot?

[editor.livejournal.com]

Fair enough - thanks for the advice. My previous bikes were just cheap mountain bikes from big student bike shops in Cambridge, but bikes in London seem to be a bit more, and if you don't want a mountain bike (which would seem a bit unnecessary in London) that seems to add £50 to the price.

[skibbley.livejournal.com]

Ooh. I have toe clips on my pedals and have considered SPD but I'm not sure they would be much advantage for me. Happy pedalling.

[silkyraven.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the wonderful world of SPDs :o) You'll never go back now!! Congrats on making your maiden voyage without falling over as well :o)

[juliet]

Hello! I was going to go find your LJ & let you know I'd switched :-)

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Hurrah!

(nothing to add, just thought I hadn't used this icon for a while!)

[shadowdaddy.livejournal.com]

I've had some form of clipless pedal for over a decade now (yoinks!) and frankly feel wobbly without them now. And that whole thing where your foot slips off the pedal and kicks it a full cycle around right into your shin? Gone. =)

The spare shoes at the office are a must, though - even the SPD shoes meant for walking around have a stiffer sole than regular shoes, and even if they are comfortable they will tire the feet over the course of a day.

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

Jolly good show. It's just a matter of time until you have the truly humbling experience of a 0mph fall in an ASL. :-)

PS: Shimano do multirelease cleats, where a twist in any direction will release. They are vg.

[juliet]

the truly humbling experience of a 0mph fall in an ASL

Last night, in fact - although not in an ASL. Turning right across Queen's Gate, which has a large island in the middle at which to wait; unclipped left foot, stopped, leaned rightwards... Wouldn't have been that bad at all had it not been for the fact that my keys were in my pocket & I landed right on them. Ouch. Impressive bruise this morning...

Ah well :-)

I saw the multirelease, but they didn't seem to have 'em with a cage (for use of normal shoes) which was one of my requirements.

[seneca-trewe.livejournal.com]

They sound the biznis.

This one time I had to get new pedals on my bike because I rode over some dog sh!t and the sh!t splashed up onto the pedals (I think it was dog diarrhoea) and no amount of scrubbing from my whole family could get it off. It STANK. Even after washing with

1) turpentine
2) WWD40
3) swar-f*cking-fega
4) white spirit
5) ethanol
and spraying it with all the best air freshener sprays. Heck, my little sister Ailsa even poured TCP on it, but still it stank.

So I had to get new ones, which set me back more money than I care to remember.

Don't forget to take the survey/quiz thingy on my LJ.

Best, SyMon xx