SpeedofLite 

79pmooney

I see the article on the Berthet pedals points out the weak point, those press fits. I used most of a dozen pairs on my fixed gear commuter from as soon as I discovered them until I graduated to the Shimano semi-platforms. Going up steep hills meant pulling so hard it wasn't long before I loosened those press fits. (Not all bad. New pedals meant more dust caps. My UO-8 fix gear shed left side dust caps like ducks shed water. Pedal scrapes unscrewed them. (And tightened the right dust caps.) UO-8 bottom brackets were so low, especially if you ran 700c and small tires - 1970s so it was sewups - that pedals scraped anytime you cornered and forgot to lean the bike away.

Somewhere I have a box of those old pedals. They pack very nicely so a box maybe a third the size of a shoe box holds a lot! It's heavy. Every pair has loose press fits and there might be 2 dustcaps total.

Aside from all that - simply great city fix gear pedals. Some of the easiest pickup toeclip pedals ever made. Those pickup tabs should be studied and copied by any manufacturer making toeclip pedals for fix gears. Also the weight balance of the full pedal and clip. So easy to flip and insert foot. First try pickup almost every time. Important on hard accelerations at lights to take your place in Boston city traffic back in the days before bike lanes.

kroozer 

I have a couple pairs of these, It's a cool-looking, original design that was in production for decades, and is a good fit for many vintage bikes. I rotate my riding among several bikes so I don't use them all that hard, and have not had any problems with loosening. The term "platform" suggests a wide pedal, but they are actually quite narrow. That is fine for road riding with cycling shoes, but for urban commuting I use the much wider Lyotard 460's, which hold my wide street shoes much better.

ManekiNico

"of satisfactory quality"

JohnDThompson 

They have been copied in more modern pedals, e.g. the Sakae Ringyo SP-11 and Mikashima "Urban Platform," for example. Both have one-piece, cast bodies that prevent the loosening issue the Lyotards suffered from; the MKS is particularly nice in using sealed cartridge bearings. Unfortunately, the MKS does not accommodate slotted cleats, so that's a show-stopper for me.

rustystrings61 

When I took delivery of my '76 Puch Royal X in 1978, one of the changes I had made before the bike left the shop was to fit a set of Lyotard 23s, and they were still on it when it was sold and then stolen in '87. They were my favorite fixed-gear clip-and-strap pedals for many years as well, before I finally got tired enough of constantly repacking them that I switched over to MKS Sylvans augmented by Crank Brothers Eggbeaters.

Back around 2001 or so, I wrote an appreciation of them that Grant ran in The Rivendell Reader. Maynard Hershon took offense somehow to that and wrote a snarky-a$$ column in Velo-News implying I was a fool and a liar. I lost all respect for Velo-New's editors for their refusal to respond to my phone calls to discuss the matter, and towards Maynard for his choosing to belittle a cycling hobbyist.

SurferRosa

I found a pair of these Lyotards recently at Recycled Cycles for $20 or so. So cool looking, I thought they would be great for my Moto GR grocery getter. Spent a lot of time overhauling them and JB Welding their loose press fittings. Mounted 'em just to realize they were the smallest and least comfortable pedal I've ever tried. Quickly sold them for $30 on craigs.