General Category > Velo Fixe
Setting off and toeclips
damerell:
I started riding fixed a week ago for the first time in my life. (Amusingly, I am forty-seven - "I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five").
I am as yet unpranged (it may help that I own a tandem so I'm used to the pedals occasionally trying to do their own thing whether I wanted them to or not), although I've had one pretty good go at it - a ped did the "will I cross, won't I cross" thing, I slowed to a crawl; with a freewheel you can coast right pedal down, out of the saddle, left foot free, stop any time you like; when it became clear I'd have to stop I was still in the saddle at an awkward point in the pedal cycle and nearly fell over sideways.
Initially, it was a complete mystery to me how I am to get my left foot into the toeclip. (At the moment, the pedals have clips but no straps, which seemed like it would be easier; and FTAOD I've been riding freewheeled bikes in toeclips for decades.) I asked a reddit sub and got two replies one of which was to the effect of "set off very slowly". That works, but on an urban commute it's not always ideal, and normally one of the advantages of toeclips over clipless is you can hammer away from a start without having to faff about clipping in.
There some kind of knack to doing it at speed, or is it just practice, practice, practice?
(I really am not going to switch to clipless.)
Deano:
There's a knack to flipping your pedal with your toe at the right point in the arc, can't remember it taking that long for me to get used to it.
Or go clipless, of course.
Ian H:
Some 'traditional' pedals have a tab on the back plate which helps when picking up the pedal. You can see them on some of these. The tabs were also available separately to bolt on.
Plastic clips collapse too easily under the foot. Metal ones are much better.
damerell:
--- Quote from: Ian H on 30 March, 2023, 02:27:08 pm ---Some 'traditional' pedals have a tab on the back plate which helps when picking up the pedal.
Plastic clips collapse too easily under the foot. Metal ones are much better.
--- End quote ---
I use MKS GR-9s which have such a tab, at least until it breaks off. Plastic clips have the advantage they're made in the size of my boots, though. :-)
LittleWheelsandBig:
MKS are sized up to 'extra large' and also have 'deep' options for chunkier shoes.
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