Yet Another Cycling Forum
Random Musings => Miscellany => Kidstuff => Topic started by: hatler on 31 August, 2010, 02:50:10 pm
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What's people's experience of when children are best able to cope with clipless pedals ?
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I started using toe clips and loose straps at ~7 1/2 years. Clipless did not exist then.
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Since kids learn to balance on two wheels at vastly different ages, readiness for clipless will also vary.
What shoe sizes are available?
There is no point going for clipless if you can't get suitable shoes that fit.
I never went clipless...
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It depends ... I worked up slowly from half toeclips, to loose toeclips, to slightly tighter toeclips, to loose clipless about two years ago (so when I was 14). :)
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Thank you all.
I'll report back here on mini-hatler's progress on this one. He's 9 now so we have a way to go.
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The bigger issue for me with getting kids onto clipless (Our Kid doesn't like them anyway; TGL wants them for all riding except track) was the cost of shoes. When kids' feet are still growing fast, I'm not able to afford shoes they'll be through in no time at all.
Lidl helps with the pain of this.
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The bigger issue for me with getting kids onto clipless (Our Kid doesn't like them anyway; TGL wants them for all riding except track) was the cost of shoes. When kids' feet are still growing fast, I'm not able to afford shoes they'll be through in no time at all.
Lidl helps with the pain of this.
My answer would be "When the growth rate of their feet slows enough to make the shoes affordable"
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I'd also be very careful about ensuring that the system had enough float to protect their knees. When it's me, I know what the cleats are supposed to feel like when they're well positioned. Getting that feedback from a 9-10 year old is a little more tricky.
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Thank you all for your input on this one. I think the growing feet thing is the killer for this project.
We have a few years to go therefore.
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I have the answer. 14.
Both rr and Clarion had it right though.
My answer would be "When the growth rate of their feet slows enough to make the shoes affordable"
The bigger issue for me with getting kids onto clipless (Our Kid doesn't like them anyway; TGL wants them for all riding except track) was the cost of shoes. When kids' feet are still growing fast, I'm not able to afford shoes they'll be through in no time at all.
Mini-hatler now has feet just a half size down from me, so we tried him on clipless a couple of weeks ago with my oldest pair of SPD shoes.
He cycled perfectly happily around the campsite many times and successfully unclipped on both sides many times.
Went out for our first ride and got all of 300 yards down the road onto the first little rise, and over he went. :-)
Anyhow, he's sold on the idea and I'm not getting those shoes back.
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He cycled perfectly happily around the campsite many times and successfully unclipped on both sides many times.
Excellent! Better than me after using them for several years (I can only unclip on the left unless already stationary – but have never had a clipless moment falling to the right).
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A YACF shoe lending library could solve the economic problem.
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Great idea! I can lend a left in gorgonzola and a right in wensleydale.
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Wearing Dad's old shoes makes excellent sense!
You might even need to buy some new shoes for yourself - what a pity!
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Sadly I have pre-bought spare shoes for when current ones wear out. I think I have three regular pairs and one pair of Winter boots. They don't wear out fast enough !
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They'll wear out twice as fast if hminor is helping you...
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Great idea! I can lend a left in gorgonzola and a right in wensleydale.
Do you mean holey and crumbly, or smelling of cheese? Don't say both!
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A YACF shoe lending library could solve the economic problem.
That's a good idea. We should start a thread! I could contribute sizes 4, 5 and possibly 6 and maybe a small 4/larger 3. I'd be happy to lend some to a fast growing youngster who wanted to try them. Or anyone else for that matter.
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About 35 in my case :P
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Ha ha. So true. I too was in my thirties before I even became aware such things even existed.
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I never went clipless.
Trying to fit skinny girly size 42s into suitable shoes would have been a challenge and I feared clipless moments.
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My chum C (the Clockwork Geordie) is very very small with feet in proportion. She could not find SPD-compatible shoes in her size, which Ma Hardisty (matriarch of the bike-shop-owning dynasty in Newcastle) took as a personal affront. After a lot of telephoning and fishwifey language suitable shoes were found, probably in Japan where they're all really tiny except the sumo wrestlers.