Clipless on a racer

scotthue wrote:
I was thinking that for the track races like at NAUCC or UNICON,
clipless could make your starts much faster.

Allow me to be your test comparison person. I submit that quick starts
are more about technique than having your feet locked to the pedals.
Unless your name is Chuck Edwall or a few other select people, I bet I
can outstart with conventional pedals regardless of what you use.

That said, there have always been a few intrepid users of clipped
pedals here and there. Some try it until they get hurt but others
haven't gotten hurt yet so they're still using them. I don't really
have a problem with keeping my feet on the pedals, except maybe when
it's snowy, so I don't consider it worth the risk, especially on a road
unicycle where you're reaching speeds faster than you can run. Having
had a crash last year where I broke my collarbone (due to an
"uncontrolled" shoelace), I'm definitely not a proponent of being stuck
to the pedals.


--
johnfoss

John Foss
Email: "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
-----------------------------------------------

Man with broken collar bone say: "Have you checked your shoelaces
lately?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/72224


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

johnfoss wrote:
Allow me to be your test comparison person. I submit that quick starts
are more about technique than having your feet locked to the pedals.
Unless your name is Chuck Edwall or a few other select people, I bet I
can outstart with conventional pedals regardless of what you use.

That said, there have always been a few intrepid users of clipped
pedals here and there. Some try it until they get hurt but others
haven't gotten hurt yet so they're still using them. I don't really
have a problem with keeping my feet on the pedals, except maybe when
it's snowy, so I don't consider it worth the risk, especially on a road
unicycle where you're reaching speeds faster than you can run. Having
had a crash last year where I broke my collarbone (due to an
"uncontrolled" shoelace), I'm definitely not a proponent of being stuck
to the pedals.



Maybe, maybe not.

But if you are going at 30km/hr, will you be hurt more if you were
stuck to the unicycle than if you were not stuck to the unicycle? You
can't run out of this one! My worst ever injury probably would have
been nothing more than road rash if I had been locked onto the pedal.
Likewise my second worst injury would not have happened if I was still
locked into my unicycle.


--
GizmoDuck

The Uninam Tour 2008.....Hanoi to Saigon!!! www.uninam.net

The SINZ Unicycle Tour 2007....South Island, New Zealand
www.sinzuni.org

The Induni Unicycle Tour 2009. Unicycle Tour of India. Email me for
details.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GizmoDuck's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/794
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/72224


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

johnfoss wrote:
I don't really have a problem with keeping my feet on the pedals, except
maybe when it's snowy, so I don't consider it worth the risk,



It is not about grip. You use clipless because they make it possible to
put force into a larger part of the pedalling circle.


--
goldenchickenIV
------------------------------------------------------------------------
goldenchickenIV's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/16391
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/72224


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

GizmoDuck wrote:
But if you are going at 30km/hr, will you be hurt more if you were stuck
to the unicycle than if you were not stuck to the unicycle?

Yes, yes and most likely. It's a lot easier to tuck and roll if you
don't have a unicycle stuck to your foot. I did plenty of dismounts at
speed back in my racing days, but that shoelace crash (at about 15 mph)
was a guaranteed injury of some sort. In my case, the clavicle healed
crooked and will never be the same.


goldenchickenIV wrote:
It is not about grip.

It's all about grip. You're obviously thinking about the riding part.
I'm thinking about the much more rare but very important
crashing-clipped-in part. I'll still take anyone on for race starts,
especially on 24" racing unicycles.


--
johnfoss

John Foss
Email: "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
-----------------------------------------------

Man with broken collar bone say: "Have you checked your shoelaces
lately?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/72224


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

johnfoss wrote:
Yes, yes and most likely. It's a lot easier to tuck and roll if you
don't have a unicycle stuck to your foot. I did plenty of dismounts at
speed back in my racing days, but that shoelace crash (at about 15 mph)
was a guaranteed injury of some sort. In my case, the clavicle healed
crooked and will never be the same.

It's all about grip. You're obviously thinking about the riding part.
I'm thinking about the much more rare but very important
crashing-clipped-in part. I'll still take anyone on for race starts,
especially on 24" racing unicycles.



It is also about the saving-energy part.


--
goldenchickenIV

It's a lot easier to tuck and roll if you don't have a unicycle stuck to
your foot. – John Foss
------------------------------------------------------------------------
goldenchickenIV's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/16391
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/72224


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

I would not recommend use clipless pedals. When I UPD on the Coker i
realised that the unicycle maybe not straight. There is difficult to
unclip the shoes when the unicycle is not completely straight.

I also feel that i can control my unicycle better with bmx pedals,
because you have a bigger contact area to the shoe. At last i like a
little soft shoes to get feeling with the unicycle.


--
unijuul

www.unijuul.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
unijuul's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/13774
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/72224


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

goldenchickenIV wrote:
It is also about the saving-energy part.



i couldnt agree more in terms of road riding having the ability to both
pull up on one pedal whilst pushing on the other makes it much easier to
put the same amount of force on the wheel (half as much effort but
equally distributed on both legs)

an interesting thing to point out is that you'll never see anyone on
anything but clipins in a road race on bikes ever


--
ScottLynch

The only limitations you have are those that you place upon yourself -
Muhammad Ail
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ScottLynch's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/16236
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/72224


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

ScottLynch wrote:
i couldnt agree more in terms of road riding having the ability to both
pull up on one pedal whilst pushing on the other makes it much easier
to put the same amount of force on the wheel (half as much effort but
equally distributed on both legs)

an interesting thing to point out is that you'll never see anyone on
anything but clipins in a road race on bikes ever



I think that only happens if you are riding long cranks on a 36"
Schlumpf or doing Coker MUni with long cranks. I very much doubt
you'd get much extra power from pulling up on the pedal otherwise.

Most of the time, I'm pedalling so fast I try to keep as little
pressure on the pedals as possible. Just enough to float on my foot on
the pedal and adjust my balance with. At high revs and short cranks, I
don't think you have enough time on the upstroke to be pulling up!

I think the main advantage in the clipless is the ability to keep your
foot securely locked in place when pedalling fast, allowing you to
pedal even faster.


--
GizmoDuck

The Uninam Tour 2008.....Hanoi to Saigon!!! www.uninam.net

The SINZ Unicycle Tour 2007....South Island, New Zealand
www.sinzuni.org

The Induni Unicycle Tour 2009. Unicycle Tour of India. Email me for
details.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GizmoDuck's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/794
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/72224


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

ScottLynch wrote:
i couldnt agree more in terms of road riding having the ability to both
pull up on one pedal whilst pushing on the other makes it much easier
to put the same amount of force on the wheel (half as much effort but
equally distributed on both legs)

an interesting thing to point out is that you'll never see anyone on
anything but clipins in a road race on bikes ever



Although interestingly, according to 'this recent study'
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18418807) actively pulling up
reduces your mechanical efficiency. That is in terms of energy use over
a certain distance, you'll be better off putting no pressure on your
upwards foot.

What pulling up does allow though is for a higher total power output,
so if you want to sprint at super fast speeds, you can go faster. It is
less efficient, so you end up putting in way more power, but that
matters less than absolute speed in a sprint.

On most current unicycles though, the limiting factor isn't how much
power you can put in, but like Ken says, the speed you can spin at.
Clipless pedals / toeclips help massively with this, although
personally I prefer to stick with half toeclips, for most of the
advantage, but with minimal risk.

Joe


--
joemarshall

' old pics' (http://tinyurl.com/56yl2f) 'new zealand pics'
(http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o...rshall_photos/) 'new
pics' (http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/joemarshall.org.uk)
'Where have I been riding? (GPS) ' (http://tinyurl.com/6fxw5x)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
joemarshall's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1545
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/72224


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com