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Why Do We Still Call Them "Clipless" Pedals?

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Why Do We Still Call Them "Clipless" Pedals?

Old 10-11-06, 09:45 PM
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dbmcclus
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Why Do We Still Call Them "Clipless" Pedals?

There once was a family reunion. Four generations were represented. The daughters were to cook the meal. The youngest was to cook the ham. When placing the ham in the pan, her husband noticed she cut off one inch from the end and threw it away. He asked, "Why do you cut off one inch?" She replied; "That is the way my mother always did it." They went into the other room and asked the mother. She responed that was the way her mother did it. Finally, they reach the great-grandmother in the dining room. When asked why, she replied; "My pan was too short!"

Just because someone made a mistake years ago by calling these pedals "clipless", why do we continue when we know better! They are not clipless, they are clipped, as in clipped to the pedal.
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Old 10-11-06, 09:47 PM
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Toe clips. Now, no toe clips.
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Old 10-12-06, 12:04 AM
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Older style pedals, "platforms", often had attached a curved metal clip that you slid your foot under. A leather strap looped through this clip, under the pedal and came back over your shoe. By tightening down this strap, you could secure your foot to the pedal for more power efficient pedaling. "Clipless" pedals connect your shoe directly to the pedal without the the clip-and-strap so common well into the '80's.

Some still use clips and straps and find them more than efficient enough, even missing the strap fiddling, much as others miss the fine tuning of friction shifting. By and large, most "Serious Riders" prefer clipless much as they prefer indexed shifting. Essentially either does the job and each has its own quirks. I always feel graceful and snobbishly Old World exclusive when leaning down to loosen a strap when coming to an intersection. I didn't feel so graceful when I threw my chain last summer on a climb and, unable to unstrap in time, fell over on my butt.

*Finding old fashioned cleats for clipped platforms can be a real Quest. (I have one pair of cleated shoes horded away...I'll probably die with them safely unused.)

** I never imagined, back pre-clipless years ago, that I would be talking about such pedals as other Geezers reminisce about Ipana toothpaste.
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Old 10-12-06, 06:58 AM
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Snap on, would probably be more apropos.
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Old 10-12-06, 07:00 AM
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I'm still refering to Coke and Pepsi as tonic so I'm probably not the right person to reflect on linguistics.
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Old 10-12-06, 07:02 AM
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I still use toe straps, they make great tie downs.
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Old 10-12-06, 07:05 AM
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What I don't understand is, why do people still talk about clipping in... to clipless pedals...
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Old 10-12-06, 07:21 AM
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Originally Posted by Pobble.808
What I don't understand is, why do people still talk about clipping in... to clipless pedals...
Have a piece of pie or two while you meditate on it. Enlightenment will come.
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Old 10-12-06, 10:18 AM
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I have arthritic toes and I need special shoes. This requires the use of old style clips. I also like to do my last mile walking as a cool down and this would require me to haul around walking shoes if I used clip less pedals and shoes.
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Old 10-12-06, 11:16 AM
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You can clip with clipless, but clips clearly can't clip.
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Old 10-12-06, 11:23 AM
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Because toe clips used the name first and are still sold. Would you prefer toe clips jr. or toe clips II?

Clipless means without toe clips. Seems reasonable enough to me.
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Old 10-12-06, 11:39 AM
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How about cleated pedals based on what they are as opposed to what they are not?
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Old 10-12-06, 11:41 AM
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It is an age old question but so far Retro Grouch has the best answer.
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Old 10-12-06, 12:57 PM
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Originally Posted by colnagorider
Toe clips. Now, no toe clips.
Nobody has toes?
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Old 10-12-06, 01:16 PM
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Tradition
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Old 10-12-06, 01:43 PM
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Because that's what they are.

I don't "clip" into clipless pedals. I "click" in or "lock" in.
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Old 10-12-06, 03:00 PM
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my wife says its dumb they are called clipless and thus calls them clippies, actually the people at the LBS knew exactly what she was talking about, they probably laughed at us later though. but i agree "clippies" or "clippy pedals" makes more sense than clipless, there's lots of things named that way though... give me a minute to think of one...ok i can't think of any examples but there are lots im sure!!
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Old 10-12-06, 03:06 PM
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Originally Posted by jackb
How about cleated pedals based on what they are as opposed to what they are not?
Except back in the day, hard core riders with toe clips also used cleats... so this wouldn't differentiate the two.
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Old 10-12-06, 05:49 PM
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Although there will never be a concensus on renaming "clipless" pedals; my suggestion is "click-in" pedals. When you secure your shoe to the pedal, there is a distinctive "click." Now you can ask, "Were you clicked in when you fell?"
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Old 10-13-06, 01:11 AM
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My daughter calls them "death pedals "
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Old 10-13-06, 03:07 PM
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Because if they called them Strapless Pedals it would give an entirely different idea?
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Old 10-13-06, 04:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Cadillac
Although there will never be a concensus on renaming "clipless" pedals; my suggestion is "click-in" pedals. When you secure your shoe to the pedal, there is a distinctive "click." Now you can ask, "Were you clicked in when you fell?"
I use Speedplay Frogs -- they don't really make a clicking sound. I suppose I could just say that my frogs were attached when I fell, but that sounds a little strange.
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Old 10-13-06, 04:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Louis
You can clip with clipless, but clips clearly can't clip.

Clearly you have never used cleats and toe clips.
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Old 10-13-06, 05:42 PM
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Originally Posted by WorldWind
Clearly you have never used cleats and toe clips.
Uh...probably for around 50k miles or more.

I just write 'em, I don't 'splain 'em.
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Old 10-13-06, 11:50 PM
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I just love the "clipless" nomenclature. Of course, spreading confusion has moved from a hobby into the avocation stage.
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