RobbieTunes

My C&V touring shoes are like the Puma above, but they have no mounting for cleats, which makes them very nice with toe clips. I grind down the lip on the pedals and am comfy enough.

JohnDThompson 

Sure. I still use toeclips and slotted cleats on my fixed gear bikes.

Chombi

I rode with slotted cleats and clips in the early 80's (Diadoras with mesh uppers) Got so used to them that getting in and out of them at stops became more like muscle memory, so was never a safety issue for me, but when Look clipless pedals became available in 84/85, I bought a pair for my bike without hestation and I never looked back ( maybe because I was an avid downhill skier, and looked at them more as safety bindings instead of just pedals.. Funny though, I do have two bikes in my stable today with clips and straps. Haven't ridden them yet with slotted cleats because all my bike shoes are set up for clipless pedals. Just been using my stiffest soled cleatless shoes for now, but I don't know if I will risk ruining my knees with the zero float condition that slotted cleats provide, as I did have knee trouble a couple of times when I used them in the 80's......

crank_addict

Those look terrific. I get the float hack but how does one set the fore - aft?

Puma.. brings back memories of school days, track spikes. Also a neat storyline of the company origins and rivalry with Adidas.

T-Mar

Each pair of shoes came with three sets of cleats. The variation in the slot position in each set was ~5mm, so you chose the set closest to your optimum. Alternately, since the cleats were solid pucks, you could pick the set with the position furthest away from your ideal and cut a custom slot.

Edit: Here's a better picture that shows the difference in slot position between the 3 sets of cleats.

rootboy 

Toe clips and straps, with cleated shoes?

I thought ever'body still used those....

SJX426 

I converted years ago. Now I have two bikes with clips and straps. I also have an old pair of Avia's that came with slotted cleats that I never used (cleats not the shoes). Now I have a use for them (the shoes)! And they look vintage too!

[IMG]P1030191 by superissimo_83, on Flickr[/IMG]

One of the bikes:
[IMG]1983 Colnago Superissimo by superissimo_83, on Flickr[/IMG]

The bike looks better than the shoes!

Jon T

Not trying to revive an old thread, but......
If you need slotted cleats for modern 2 or 3 bolt shoes, try the Yellow Jersey bike shop in Arlington, WI. (I have no affiliation with them).
I still ride only cages and straps and found a set of NOS, NIW with hardware slotted cleats for my old Dettos for only $10 on evilpay.
Jon

Miele Man

A couple of years ago I lucked out at a out of the way bike shop outside of town. I got NOS Uniglide cassettes, NOS Shimano cleats for Shimano 600 pedals and NOS gum rubber hoods for Shimano 600 EX or Shimano 600 Arabesque brake levers. i also got a few other items there. Just recently I got a pair of toe-clip shoe covers from a friend of mine.

Cheers

Slightspeed

Back in the '60s, we rode, raced and went everywhere in clips, straps and slotted metal cleats. We didn't know any better. I don't remember having any problems (except numb toes) or even falling with them. Back in 2000 or so, I discovered clipless SPDs, and the clips, cleats and straps went in the parts bin (where they belong). I got them out for 2016 Eroica, where they are required, and fell twice, damaging my knee, which still hurts. The straps, clips and cleats went back in the parts bin, till next Eroica. I now ride SPD pedals and shoes for all but Eroica, and I use Louis Garneau Nickel shoes with flat soles and recessed SPD cleats that I can ride with or without the straps and clips. Not as efficient as cleats, but I only have one more knee left to give to the sport. I also hate how the clips drag on the ground and get caught on stuff, when walking the bike. I do not miss them.

2016 Eroica Vittoria 1976 shoes and plastic cleats. Nice looking shoes. My knee still hurts.

Current Eroica shoes, LG Nickels with recessed SPD cleats for "normal" riding, flat soles which sorta work in straps and clips for Eroica.

Ballenxj

Cages and straps are the only things I have ever used beyond bare pedals. I prefer being able to wear regular shoes both on and off the Bike.
PS, if you hadn't revived this thread, I might not have found it?

randyjawa 

Nothing will ever get me to ride with straps and traps again! They are inefficient, in my opinion, and dangerous. I am an SPD rider now and, unless something much better comes along, they are my go to riding shoes system. Even on a sixty year old cottered crank...

Kabuki12

I ride with cages and have for many years. No cleats , just flat soles . I keep the binding straps just loose enough to slip out when necessary. Forme , it is just part of the whole vintage thing! I get that clip less is probably better , like a new carbon bike , it’s just not my thing. Joe. joesvintageroadbikes.wordpress

ollo_ollo

My contribution: Had them on eBay with some saddles a while back. Saddles sold but not the shoes. Decided to keep them if only to impress my grand kids. If ever I wear them again, will be without the cleats! Don

Johno59

If you file a bit off the rear edge of a Look cleat it snaps home giving you a reasonable fit without the straps being too tight for safe riding in traffic.

obuckler

I was given some shoes with nail on T.A. Anquetil cleats. A couple of the nails fell out after a few rides. Anyone know the trick to proper nailing technique. I assume nail them in at alternate angles?? No screws or bolts on these.

LouB 

I use toe clips/straps and Vintage Steel HNB shoes. These have a deeply ribbed sole that I find holds my foot in place, yet allows me to get my feet in and out easily as I ride in traffic a good b it. Looks correct and works well for me.

Salamandrine 

No, the nails go straight in. The trick is that you use nails long enough to fold over inside the shoe, and then hammer them flat on the inside by using an iron anvil or last. Sounds funky but that's how it was done. Obviously, having some sort of a thin insole to go over the nail ends is a good idea.

I haven't done a nail on cleat since maybe 1981, so I'm probably forgetting some details. They were already obsolescent at that time.

rosefarts

I just got a pair of Dura Ace 7400 pedals on a vintage bike. I don't want to go clipless but would rather keep this as original as possible.

For toe clips from about 85', what shoes and cleat system am I looking for. I don't want to mix 70's tech on a state of the art bike from the mid 80's. Like putting Model T seats in a '37 Chevy.

Salamandrine 

Shoes from that period would have had adjustable plastic slot cleats integrated into the shoe. That's what you want. Cleats were proprietary to the brand at that time, though some interchange was possible. Slots was what was used though.

Shoes were just starting to transition from all leather and all black. Some color was showing up - though mostly just a few white patches on the black. Some synthetic materials were being incorporated. Leather was still king though. Detto, Duegi and Sidi were probably the most popular. There were other slightly oddball brands like Rivat and somes other I can't immediately recall. Sidi were highly regarded. They had some of the first shoes that incorporated plastic mesh. I had at the time the Detto version of a wooden soled shoe. Unlike Duegis, the wood was varnished and exposed.

IIRC the very first Shimano shoes came out around this time, and they were 100% synthetic. Maybe I'm a couple years off on this though. I ignored them. I can't recall if they made a slot cleat shoe or not. Maybe they were for their licensed look cleats only.

79pmooney

I still use aluminum slotted cleats on my fix gears with Shimano 600 pedals. (I will not run clipless down hill at 200 RPM and risk one foot getting separated from the pedal.) I use modern Lake shoes (LOOK 3-bolt pattern) and Exustar track cleats, the $20 ones that are like what we used to ride 40 years ago except they bolt on, no more nails. The setup is as good as the best back then and far easier to swap out cleats. Plus aluminum, not plastic so they don't tend to slip. (You do need chrome plated steel pedal cages so they are heavier.)

(Those Exustar cleats are really good cleats. I wish I could have raced them.)

Ben

79pmooney

Inefficient? With aluminum slotted cleats in good shape and good quality toestraps, the connection to the pedal is as good as anything out there. Yes, there is no float. But that is not necessarily inefficient. Some of us go out of our way to avoid float. Lance Armstrong rode no-float pedals all through his racing career. Shimano finally had to copy LOOK so he would stop using them with the black no-float cleats.

steelbikeguy

John Schubert did an article on installing slotted cleats for Bicycling quite a few years back. I happen to have saved the issue that it was in.....

page 1:


page 2:


page 3:


page 4:



For a little extra info, as well as some amusement, Jamie Swan on the Classic Rendezvous list shared a story about installing cleats. The story was posted back in 2006, so I doubt it survived the transition to Google Groups.
Here's Jamie's story:

OK, I haven't told a story in a while but this reminds me of a good one.

When I got serious about cycling in the early 70's I had a riding
partner named Mitch. We got going in racing at the same time and we
both bought leather cycling shoes as well as the aforementioned TA
cleats. We did what you are supposed to do; ride the shoes without the
cleats until you get a mark, and then nail the cleats on using the
special nails that come in the bag with the cleats. Everything was cool
for a few rides but after a while the nails loosened up and the cleats
fell off!

Mitch's next door neighbor was an Italian immigrant. His brother, Hugo,
was a shoe maker and his shop was right on our regular training route.
Mitch had an idea that maybe Uncle Hugo could make our cleats stay put.
So he bought a new set of cleats and we stopped at Hugo's shop on our
next ride.

The place was a wonderful mess; old shoes, scraps of leather and all
kinds of crazy stuff strewn about. Hugo didn't speak a word of English.
Mitch took off one of his shoes and handed it to Hugo with a sad cleat
hanging on by a couple of loose nails. Then he handed him the new
cleats in the sealed plastic bag with the special nails. While babbling
at us in Italian, Hugo tore open the bag, spilled the sacred nails into
the palm of his hand and promptly threw them over his shoulder into
abyss of endless leather scraps. We were dumbfounded!!! This IDIOT has
just thrown away the SACRED NAILS!!!

Before we could say a word Hugo picked up a nail from his bench and
proudly held it up for our examination. It was square in cross section
and tapered over its whole length. But the punch line was that it was
easily twice as long as the sole of the shoe was thick. "Isn't that
going to stick into the bottom of my foot??? Why did we ever come in
here??? This guy is a lunatic!!!" That was the low point of or visit to
Uncle Hugo's.

Hugo pull the old cleat off with a pair a pincers. He loosened the
laces and placed the shoe on the iron foot thingy. Next he carefully
bent the cleat a bit over the edge of the bench so that it matched the
curve of the sole of the shoe... I tiny glimmer of hope that he wasn't
a complete moron. Next he brushed a thick coat of glue on the sole of
the shoe, plopped the cleat down and lined up the slot with the mark
left from Mitch's pedal... Things were starting to look up. Uncle Hugo
actually understood that the slot in cleat had to line up with the
mark... But what about those way too long nails?

Hugo started a nail with a little tap of his hammer. Then he took a
huge swing at it and drive the nail home in one swat! Hugo pulled back
the tongue of the shoe and showed us the insole of the shoe. It was a
miracle!!! The nail was not sticking out at all. It was bend around
back on itself like a capitol letter J. Uncle Hugo was a GENIUS!!!

Hugo finished the job and wouldn't take our money. On the next ride we
stopped in with a bottle of Chianti... Needless to say those cleats
never loosened up. We used those TA cleats for years after that, but
they only lasted about one season before the aluminum base plate
cracked at the middle of the slot. It was mildly annoying but at least
it was an excuse to go visit uncle Hugo.


hope that was helpful and/or entertaining.

Steve in Peoria

Salamandrine 

Yeah, slotted cleats and good straps functionally were more or less exactly the same as clipless pedals and shoes. Clipless is more comfortable though. Those straps could dig into your feet at times.

WRT float, we were very careful in aligning the cleats and shoes. If that is done, float isn't necessary. Or maybe I just got used to it.

CliffordK

How do you get your feet out of the pedals?

It has been a while since I've used cleats, but I thought one twisted the heel out, very similar to using clipless.

I picked up a pair of one-bolt cleats for a future C&V project.

I'm not quite sure where my old shoes ended up. Not here yet. Boy were they a pain to walk in, especially on marble stairs.