Toe clips!

Well, I did it. I joined the (according to 'John Foss'
(http://www.unicycling.com/garage/special.htm)) 1% of unicyclists who
use toe clips (that's gotta be a tiny number). I went to my LBS and got
a $15 pair of Bontrager resin body and steel cage pedals with toe clips
and straps. After about 2 min. of testing them out I decided I was
ready to put them to use and set off on my daily 15 mile loop.

The main reason I got them was that I was tired of constantly
readjusting my feet as they slowly slid down the pedals. Cleated pedals
don't help since, when my feet become unadjusted (like after hitting a
bump), it's difficult to slide them back without slowing down.

So far they're everything I hoped for. First, and most obviously, I
feel much more secured to my uni. I can understand how many would view
this as a bad thing in the event of a UPD. However, I find that (with
road unicycling), 90% of my UPD's are caused by nothing more than a foot
slipping off the pedal. I actually feel much more stable and confident
with the toe clips. Also, I'm forced to keep the ball of my foot on the
pedal, allowing me to utilize my ankles more when climbing hills. I
also feel like I have a lot more control and maneuverability. No
problem idling. I also raised my average speed to 12.5, compared to
usually 10.5-11.

Intentional dismounts are easy, though not as convenient as my usual
method of stepping forward off the uni, straight into walking. Instead
I have to stop with one foot down, step backwards with my 12'o'clock
foot, then remove my 6'o'clock foot and go from there. However, the
pedals work just as well upside down, so for riding around campus I'll
probably just do that.

The only thing that really sucks is the inability to freemount. Any
advice/comments from the other 1%ers? I think I saw toe clips on one of
Hopeful's unis.


--
hell-on-wheel - My karma ran over your dogma

On the other hand, you have different fingers. - Steven Wright
------------------------------------------------------------------------
hell-on-wheel's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/3425
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/32239

hell-on-wheel wrote:
*Well, I did it. I joined the (according to 'John Foss'
(http://www.unicycling.com/garage/special.htm)) 1% of unicyclists who
use toe clips

However, I find that (with road unicycling), 90% of my UPD's are
caused by nothing more than a foot slipping off the pedal. I actually
feel much more stable and confident with the toe clips. Also, I'm
forced to keep the ball of my foot on the pedal, allowing me to
utilize my ankles more when climbing hills.*
That 1% has got to be a major overestimate. You are in a very
teeny-weenie percentage of a teeny-weenie sport.

I can see how clips (or clipless) would be less scary for road riding,
especially on a familiar route, such as my ride to work. I have had only
a small handful of unplanned dismounts in many trips to and from the
office, and most of those were at stops and starts. Otherwise I pedal
all the way from one forced stop (traffic light) to the next.

But my feet don't slip around on my pedals. I can adjust them as I see
fit, but they stay in place very well with my pinned pedals. On a large
wheel cycle, especially a Coker, I think there is less chance of getting
tangled up with your pedals as there is with smaller wheels. So if you
don't have pinned pedals try some out, and possibly a shoe with a softer
bottom if those aren't working for you.

If your feet are *still* slipping it may mean you just need to work on
smoothing out your pedal stroke. Or if not that, your route may be more
bumpy than my mostly paved one. But I rode several miles on dirt
yesterday and didn't notice a problem with foot placement on the pedals,
except when mounting.

How to mount with toeclips? My advice for the most part still has to be
"don't." Beyond that, I think I'd start on the open side of the pedal,
and carefully try to flip them one at a time before speeding up.
Practice your one footing skills!


--
johnfoss - Walkin' on the edge

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"I should be wearing a helmet here -- so should you." -- George Peck,
who prefers not to wear one, in the 1991 video Rough Terrain Unicycling
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/32239

I know one of the less than 1%...... hopeful rides with toe clips
(crazyness)


--
zod - Icey Hot Stunta(z)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
zod's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/3631
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/32239

Try 'Egg Beaters' (http://tinyurl.com/pva5).

I have a pair of regular eggbeaters on my road bike and a pair of candy
SLs on my fixed gear. Mounting the fixed gear is similar to mounting a
Uni in that once you are up your feet are moving, and sometimes at a
high rate of speed. I have no problems clipping in at any speed, or
unclipping at any speed (just unweight the foot and swing the ankle out
15 degrees). Engagement is easy and very positive.

Because of the symmetry and simplicity there are three ways to get in:

1) Line it up and stomp down
2) Scuff foot forwards
3) Scuff foot backwards

Now that I've experienced a couple of "high speed" crashes on my Coker
I'm a little more likely to go for cleats. First, because I DID crash
on the Coker - both falls were low-side, twisting affairs where rolling
out of the fall where rolling out of the fall was far easier than
running out of the fall. On my smaller unicycles I always land on my
feet. I tried that on the Coker a couple of times and concluded that I
would eventually jamb a knee, twist an ankle or strain my back. Rolling
is safer.

Second, both my Coker falls were very benign. I'm used to high-speed
bike crashes where you get 3-5 seconds of deep meditation on the
potential usefulness of protective gear as a hand-sized piece of skin is
ground down, then 2-3 weeks of carefully changing bandages and watching
for signs of infection. The worst I've seen with a Coker crash is a
minor abrasion on my elbow. I think with practice rolling I wouldn't
even get that.

So I'm inclined to believe that "tumbling in" while cleated would be no
worse than normal pinned pedals, and perhaps less frequent since control
with cleats is so much more positive. Also, by eliminating the need for
pins the pedals would be a little more leg-friendly and less armor would
be required.

Of course, I have to get good at the dang thing first. That might take
a while. I am enjoing the "carved" turns that are possible on the big
wheel. It's beginning to feel like I'm riding something instead of just
managing to push the planet away.

Tim


--
cyberbellum - Level 1.0 rider!

Optimists think the glass is half full. Pesimists think the glass is
half empty. Engineers think the glass is too big.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
cyberbellum's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4550
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/32239

I have used partial toe clips on bicycles for years, they are simply
regular toe clips with the straps removed. They would probably be safer
than regular clips, but without as much extra "oomph".


--
carjug
------------------------------------------------------------------------
carjug's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1228
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/32239

In article yclist.com,
cyberbellum . com wrote:
)
)Try 'Egg Beaters' (http://tinyurl.com/pva5).
)
)I have a pair of regular eggbeaters on my road bike and a pair of candy
)SLs on my fixed gear. Mounting the fixed gear is similar to mounting a
)Uni in that once you are up your feet are moving, and sometimes at a
)high rate of speed. I have no problems clipping in at any speed, or
)unclipping at any speed (just unweight the foot and swing the ankle out
)15 degrees). Engagement is easy and very positive.

Mounting into clipless pedals on a unicycle is very different from
mounting on a bike, even a fixed-gear bike. You have to manage to
press down and forward at the same time, while still using your pedal
stroke to balance. It's quite tricky, really. The fixed-gear will stay
balanced no matter what you do with the pedals.

When I rode with SPD pedals, I would try to clip in while holding on
to something--even that was quite tricky. If I had to freemount, I
was often a significant distance down the road before I managed to get
both feet clipped in, and I had a number of UPDs and a few falls related
to attempting to clip in.

)So I'm inclined to believe that "tumbling in" while cleated would be no
)worse than normal pinned pedals, and perhaps less frequent since control
)with cleats is so much more positive. Also, by eliminating the need for
)pins the pedals would be a little more leg-friendly and less armor would
)be required.

It's definitely true that being clipped in reduces UPDs at speed.
(Dealing with the clips tends to increase UPDs while mounting and
dismounting). However, I think it's foolish to think you'd be able to
safely "tumble" your Coker while it was clipped to your feet, and
while you're having a fall in traffic.
-Tom

As far as mounting, put one foot in a clip & mount, then do a quick idle
& flip the second clip on. You'll get used to it with time. Sometimes
it takes a second try to get the second clip on, especially on the
Coker. The giraffes are the easiest, but in all cases remember to keep
the straps loose. My straps aren't missing (like a previous post), but
are open almost all the way.

And I thought I was the only one . .

Mike


--
entertainer - Toe clips ? Sure !
------------------------------------------------------------------------
entertainer's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1713
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/32239

hell-on-wheel wrote:
*Any advice/comments from the other 1%ers? I think I saw toe clips on
one of Hopeful's unis. *


For years I rode with toe clips/straps. I found that they offered the
same advantages as you pointed out.

It was only after I started pushing myself for more speed that I
abandoned them. I had a couple of nasty UPDs and decided they weren't
worth it.

To freemount with clips is pretty easy. I think it's obvious that one
of your feet is already in the clip to start. Then you do a static
mount where the toes of your free foot sort of "grab" the edge of the
pedal and flip it around. Once you get than hang of it it will feel as
natural as freemounting in general. Occasionally I'd miss the clip and
have to try again on the next revolution. On rare occasions I'd ride
for some distance before I'd actually get the free foot in place. As
with all things the more you practice the easier it gets.

It's been at least two years since I've had clips on any of my unis.
Sometimes I think about putting some on my Coker but I've not yet done
so and I probably never will.

-mg


--
mgrant - Ever hoping for the best!

The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older, shorter of
breath, and one day closer to death.
michael_j_grant (at) yahoo (dot) com
Gallery: http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/Michael_Grant/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
mgrant's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/440
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/32239

cyberbellum:

Those egg beaters look like they'd be pretty good for unicycles. I had
thought about getting clipless pedals, but for now, $15 toe clips will
do.

mgrant and entertainer:

I'll practice the flip technique tonight. I'm on a 700c, so it'll
probably be easier than on a Coker.

johnfoss and cyberbellum:

My terminology may be wrong; is there a difference between cleated and
pinned pedals? I think when I said cleated I meant pinned.


--
hell-on-wheel - My karma ran over your dogma

On the other hand, you have different fingers. - Steven Wright
------------------------------------------------------------------------
hell-on-wheel's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/3425
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/32239

Tom Holub wrote:
* When I rode with SPD pedals...
*


Ah, well, there's your problem. I had SPDs for a a few years and never
liked them. Too fussy. You had to find the sweet spot to engage, then
press down with significant force to click them in. Once the cleat had
worn a bit it was a bear getting in. It usually took several attempts,
and once I was in it was tough getting out. I eventually threw them
away.

The eggbeaters, on the other hand, are effortless. I just ride away
knowing that as my feet shuffle around they'll eventually engage. After
50 yards if they don't engage I reposition my foot and "click", they're
in.

Also, note the eggbeaters I recommend have nice, big platforms. There
really isn't much penalty for not clipping in immediately. IMHO, the
risk is that you silently clip in, don't know it, and forget to unclip
when you try to dismount.

I wouldn't ever consider SPDs for a unicycle.

Tom Holub wrote:
* I think it's foolish to think you'd be able to
safely "tumble" your Coker while it was clipped to your feet...
*


Agreed, it would be tough to "tumble with the Coker clipped to [my]
feet," but my sense is that that would never, could never happen. I've
never had a crash where my feet stayed attached, even those slow-faling
low-siders on a bike. And in all but the sudden crash cases, I'd have
time to unclip and step off as usual. It's just another reflex that
can be trained. Unlike SPDs, the eggbeaters have almost no resistance
to unclipping.

That said, I'm still a long way away from confidently screwing a pair of
clipless pedals onto a unicycle and riding away. I figure I'll need at
least a full summer of riding to reduce my UPD frequency to less than
once per mile. When I can go for months with routine, UPD-free rides of
more than 10 miles I'll consider it, but not before. I'm not crazy.

Tim


--
cyberbellum - Level 1.0 rider!

Optimists think the glass is half full. Pesimists think the glass is
half empty. Engineers think the glass is too big.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
cyberbellum's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4550
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/32239