The Bicycling thread

I think I know the pedals you're talking about, haven't had any in years but I'd l ike a set for the Tracer. All I have for shoes are my Shimano Mtn bike shoes and only lipless on the tracer. Obviously road shoes on the Litespeed with Time pedals. Maybe one day I'll get to tour again.

kurtr11s said:

AND a cap underneath.

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If I don't wear a bicycle cap under my helmet, my head gets sunburn marks on top

kurtr11s said:

I have thought about those for my fat tire bike. Wasn't sure how well they would work. I could wear real boots in the winter.

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They work exceptionally well. On any bike.

They can be used with winter boots no problem. Also with mountain bike spd shoes.

I would unclip routinely and ride the “flats”, pretty much anytime I was in a situation where I might need to stop or dismount unexpectedly (eg congested slow speed areas with lots of pedestrian/kid traffic, or tricky terrain.)

The beauty of them is they offer tremendous versatility while riding with cycle shoes, but you don’t even have to switch to cycling shoes if you just want to take a quick spin.

They have a built-in weight/balance bias that presents the clip side to your foot, which is generally best when wearing cycle shoes. But after just a short time using them, it becomes second nature to give a slight toe flick to present the flat side if that’s what you need.

skibum69 said:

I don't think the branding was too much on my Litespeed
View attachment 78194

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I have a Colnago that says "Colnago" on it in 13 places.

vark said:

If you guys want the best of both worlds, try the Shimano SPD A530 pedals. I’ve worn out several pairs of them and they are fantastic - - truly versatile. (They may now be superseded by a new model#, but the concept is the same.)

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Big fan of my Speedplays. Would buy again after a bunch of years on Look and similar pedals. No screwing around with getting the pedal aligned, which helps when starting on steep spots.

I never liked the pedals that were clip one side, flat the other. My feet pop out when they need to unless the cleat is worn and won't push the spring.

One of my funniest I was skiing and went into some wet manmade snow at speed, the skis stopped and it launched me forward somersault and when I landed on my butt and looked at my skis both heel pieces were still engaged which meant I'd twisted out of the bindings. Obviously I'd instinctively twisted my ankles just like I was coming out of pedals.

kbasa said:

Big fan of my Speedplays. Would buy again after a bunch of years on Look and similar pedals. No screwing around with getting the pedal aligned, which helps when starting on steep spots.

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I am currently riding Speedplays, going on 4 years now, and I really dislike them. In my opinion it’s a very poor clunky design, with far too much metal stacked up. And the pedals are worthless when unclipped, which I find irritating.

The only reason I use them is they offer a set-back plate that shifts the position back from the ball of the foot and closer to the arch. They’re the only pedal system I’m aware of with this option. If someone else offered similar, I’d switch in a heartbeat.

Kbasa, I have SpeedPlay X pedals (they were the original ones, I think) on my trainer bike. They have been going strong for over 20 years. Michelle has a couple of pairs of Zeros, including one set that has the bling titanium spindles. In general I like them a lot. Two sided and the float is really, really awesome. And so lightweight. They look like little lollipops on the cranks. They are a good conversation starters because people unfamiliar with them can't figure out how they work from just looking at the pedal part.

I have a few slight negatives to the X series (which have been fixed for the most part with the zeros - but the X have more float). 1) The thing that holds you in is a bent metal spring that is round, as it wears it flattens and becomes more difficult to get into 2) the cleats are slick as anything on wet or tile floors, scary, 3) ANY grit makes it almost impossible to clip in - I had to stop on a cold, wet day in the Adirondacks and it took me a long time to get clipped in, I was really pissed - used half a water bottle trying to clean out the cleats, 4) Replacing the worn cleats is expensive, ($40 or so?) 5) Unless you get SpeedPlay specific shoes, you need an adapter which increases the stack height- so you have to take that into consideration when setting seat height.

For the hell of it I tried Ultegra SPD-SL pedals starting a few years ago. I got a bunch of cleats for less than $10 a pair (6 degree float, yellow). They are well engineered - although they are one sided, they always fall right where I want them. I have never had easier pedals to get into. Float is OK - not as good as SpeedPlay and it is more finicky to align the cleat. There are rubber nibs on the cleat so walking isn't the clip-clop road shoe affair.

Other pedals we use: Michelle uses Crank Bros pedals on all mountain bikes, gravel bike, touring bike, folding bike. She loves them and swears by them - from the cheapest Candy model to the bling Titanium. She started with SPD and switched because she likes the light release that the Crank brothers have. She tends to have difficulty getting into and out of any type of pedal other than these. I weigh 85 lbs more than her so I don't.

I use Shimano SPD pedals on all of those same types of bikes. All are the same model: the one below XT (I think it used to be called LX). Maybe the 530 series mentioned above? HUGE bang for the buck.

vark said:

I am currently riding Speedplays, going on 4 years now, and I really dislike them. In my opinion it’s a very poor clunky design, with far too much metal stacked up. And the pedals are worthless when unclipped, which I find irritating.

The only reason I use them is they offer a set-back plate that shifts the position back from the ball of the foot and closer to the arch. They’re the only pedal system I’m aware of with this option. If someone else offered similar, I’d switch in a heartbeat.

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Oh, I forgot that negative: almost unridable with sneakers on.

Got some presents in the mail:



All of those 2032s are for the bicycles. On my road bike, I have a head unit, 4iiii left crank power meter, CooSpo Blutooth speed/cadence sensor which all take 2032s and I wear a HRM strap that also takes one. I hate batteries. But I love data.

So I replaced all of the batteries in the electronics and took my road bike out for the maiden voyage. It is a 2017 Lynskey R370 made with a combo of 6/4 and 3/2.5 Ti alloys. Ultegra 6800 groupo.



Rode to the Martisco Station. An old railway station that has been turned into a little museum. Neat place:

When I said maiden voyage, I meant for this year: I've been riding the R370 since 2017.

Some details about the bike:

All components were thoughtfully selected after much research or experience. The biggest experiments were pedals and handlebars.

- Fizik Anteres R1 saddle (carbon rails). I have a few Anteres, they all feel the same. The carbon makes this a little lighter.
- Lynskey Titanium seat post w/ Enve saddle clamp. It is light. I holds the saddle in the position that I want it. I could beat it with a hammer and it would laugh.
- Fizik bar tape (it has a leather like texture). Feels nice. I've used this many times before
- Wheels Mfg PF30 bottom bracket. Good bearings, beautiful machining. Made in the USA. No creaking.
- King Ti Bottle cages. This is a ridiculous extravagance. They work great, though. And match the bike. We now own 8 Ti and 3 Steel cages. Won't buy anything else.
- Easton compact carbon handlebar. 42cm. I need compact. I like the buzz reduction of carbon.
- Thompson Elite road stem. Machining work of art. Light. Made in the USA
- ENVE 2.0 carbon fork. Not as light as the 1.0 but higher load rating. Hopefully I'll never need it.
- Cane Creek headset. Most of my bikes have Cane Creek or Chris King headsets. I don't notice a difference - they both work great and hold up.
- Ultegra 6800 group set, semi-compact chainrings (52/36) - 172.5mm cranks, 11x32 cassette, if I ever rebuild this bike, I will go full compact. I like to ride up steep hills.
- Ultegra 6800 SPD-SL pedals. This was a flyer because I got a good deal so I gave them a try based on excellent reviews. I'm sold. Before this I only used SpeedPlay X pedals on road. I thought they were good, too.
- Prime Pro wheel set w/ Schwalbe Pro One tires. Wanted to try tubeless on road. These sounded good and were inexpensive w/ good reviews. The are light, robust (so far), comfortable. Sapim CX-ray spokes, top of the Novatec line hubs, Alex deep aluminum rims. Was expecting to replace these with something nicer - but haven't needed to.

So this is a bike made of pretty good stuff. It is not a race bike as I don't race on the road anymore. I value durability over weight and comfort and functionality over aesthetics. But I do like the look of raw Ti. I try to support craftspeople and small manufacturers from the USA. But I have nothing against foreign manufacturers.

The bike comes in right at 18lbs ready to ride with cages and pedals (doesn't include electronics). That is fine for me, I could use to lose at least 15lbs off the old body. Total cost for the frame and all of the parts (same caveat as the weight) was $3050. I was not budget constrained on this build but when I decided on a particular part, I tried to find the best price on a delivered product. The only part I purchased because it was on sale were the pedals. And I'm glad I took the chance. Ultegra -vs- Dura Ace: at that time Dura Ace was limited to a max of 28 teeth on the cassette. No starter for me. Campy isn't an option. I'm just a rider.

This post was brought to you by the COVID-19 quarantine.

One last thought about the R370: what would I change in hindsight?

Frame isn't drilled to run electronic shifting and rim brakes. The electronic shifting is a bigger deal than the rim brakes. I have disks on my gravel bike if I'm going to do rain or a lot of down hill. And the gravel frame IS drilled for electronic shifting - but I don't even want that on my gravel/touring bike.

kbasa said:

Big fan of my Speedplays. Would buy again after a bunch of years on Look and similar pedals. No screwing around with getting the pedal aligned, which helps when starting on steep spots.

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Running Speedplays on my newest C’dale, ran Time forever and a Campy set in between. The price of replacement cleats and availability made me put the Campy’s on the shelf. Shimano totally ripped off that design. My knees seem to like the Speedplays though as mentioned useless in flipflops!

I run Shimanos on the Mtn bikes, spin bikes and on my older CAAD4 just to limit how many shoes I need.
H has only used Shimanos of various iterations.

edit: My Speedplays came on one of H's CAAD 7 finds, she asked WTF are those? I put some SPD two sided on her bike and tried the lollipops as I like the float they provided and always wanted to give them a shot. Some friends were razzing me about my 90's era Time's on a new bike. Just replaced cleats as I broke a spring retainer, making the rest of that ride interesting to say the least on hills..a little stiff brand new and hope they break in soon, applying a shot of grease prior to,rides at the moment.

I was laughing earlier realizing I was destined to be a GS rider.




Neither me, but the large canvas bags are now my future GS dreams around 1970.

Having sister look for my bike in action with a full load of 200+ Sunday Chronicles packed high.My brother and I did this for about two years before I got a job at the Honda shop and changed my life forever.

The bike was a paperboy special made for deliveries, but I kept breaking axles and upgraded to beefier wheels with maybe 5/8” axles. More than once rolling down driveway and hitting steep drop before street, I
wheelied and stopped pointing at the sky hoping I could get off before the papers unloaded and send me back the other way... great times until you tried to collect the $1.25 monthly charge in the apartments on the route... I never made much money.

Found one more from Houston a few years before my turn. Didn’t catch at first, but must be the Express edition delivery! Notice only three wheels and one set of panniers!!

henzilla said:

....great times until you tried to collect the $1.25 monthly charge in the apartments on the route... I never made much money.

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Yup. It took me a few years of being a slave to the paper route, about age 11-12, before I realized how much I was putting in and how little I was getting out. I came to dread “collection.” Not only did the newspaper have me delivering their product on the cheap, but I was collecting their bills too. What a racket!

I agree, nothing has the look of straight Ti, my ex got a De Rosa carbon something around the same time I built my Litespeed. It was pretty but I still preferred mine. I think hers was insured for $10-12 000 and mine was insured for $15 000 replacement. With the flock of bikes we had then including my DH bikes our insurance rider was for something like $50 000.

I have one Ti cage, I think it's on the 1x1 and I have a flask cage on my Steamroller. As I recall a Zipp cage on the road bike. Talking about Zipp I had 404 tubies for the Litespeed and when I left that girl I left those wheels. Idiot!

vark said:

Yup. It took me a few years of being a slave to the paper route, about age 11-12, before I realized how much I was putting in and how little I was getting out. I came to dread “collection.” Not only did the newspaper have me delivering their product on the cheap, but I was collecting their bills too. What a racket!

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Funny, that's exactly the same experience I had with my paper route. It was also hard because I lived in the country and my 60 customers were spread over many miles. All with the same pay as a guy who lived in the city and could deliver 60 papers in way less than an hour. The winter months with the big Sunday edition were especially fun. On really crappy Sunday's my dad would take pity on me and ride me around in his car. Still had to drop the paper off in the door. We weren't allowed to just throw it as we rode by. After figuring out the paper route wasn't doing it, I struck out on my own doing lawns and shoveling snow.

Some bikes from pre teen years that some of the neighbor kids had. One had a dad who was the manager of local Western Auto and always had cool stuff. My first new bike that was not
a hand me down was a Murray. Did the job but was not a Schwinn.





The neighbor kid had this Western Auto w/ steering wheel... was an odd duck





These were after my entry into European 10 speeds in 1971


Snowflake wheels!


Yamaha attempt

Steve, If you are ever in Pittsburgh, check out Bicycle Heaven. I'm sure they have examples of all of the bikes you posted. I do feel left out, I didn't have a paper route or a Schwinn. Around 1990 I did get a Schwinn LeTour that was too big for me and I didn't ride it much.

Here are a couple of shots from Bicycle heaven: