Lakerat

I've seen people do it and don't understand it unless it is just to shorten the strap, but why wouldn't you just cut it?

Manny66 

It keeps it in place so the buckle stays where its supposed to.

Lakerat

I suppose that means the slots for the straps are loose and allow the strap to slide. I've not used that many different pedals with toe clips and straps since I rode Suntour Superbe pedals for 30 years and they had tight slots for the straps.

clubman 

Suntour Sprint and Cyclone pedals had set screws on the bottom of the pedal to hold the strap in position. The twist is traditional.

79pmooney

The twisted strap had another use. Extended the life a little. Slippage at the buckle happened because the teeth had worn grooves into the leather. Pull the strap out, untwist it (or add more) and voila! good clean leather for the buckle. Trim the excess off and ride a few more miles. (Cheap racer trick. Straps that slip so you uncleat don't work in races. This let's you ride those straps another month.)

I both raced on toestraps and rode fix gears forever. With straps that slip, after a certain grade percentage on a fix gear, you're walking. Doesn't matter how strong you are.

Edit: Speaking of tight fits for straps, the Dura Ace and 600 semi-platform pedals have a fairly tight fit but the really nice feature of screws holding the rattrap in place. Remove the rattrap and running the straps is easy.

Chombi1 

Tightest fit for straps in pedals I had ever encountered was with MKS quills. Anything thicker than Christophe's cheapest leather and nylon straps are close to impossible to thread through the pedal body slots. Forget even trying to install laminated leather straps on them.

tkamd73 

Leather straps fit tight in MKS pedals, no reason to twist, might have to with the synthetic ones though.
Tim

hazetguy 

the twist creates a vortex air flow pattern, decreasing wind resistance (increasing aerodynamic advantage), thereby a significant increase in wattage output is created (when compared to non-twisted straps). this has been proven in the bizarro world wind tunnel in my mind.
the real concern should be when you have red straps and use the twist, because as we all know, red makes you go even faster. and if you use red twisted straps in conjunction red pulley wheels, you might just break the sound barrier!

i am a little scared to put clips on these pedals and use them. i might not be able to handle the power increase.

Road Fan

hazetguy , your caution demonstrates your worthiness!

repechage

Way back a full twist in the strap was needed with less expensive straps as noted to keep the strap from sliding through and the buckle moving about the shoe.
Binda straps rarely needed this, Masi did not bother to twist them when they assembled a bike. They did an added feature and folded under the strap end and riveted it closed, easier to grab. A toe strap button before there were.

Binda Extra or Binda Supers never needed twisting.

Bianchi84

When twisting, I use the following method. While looking at dust cap: on drive side, twist counter clockwise. On NDS, twist clockwise. (Or the reverse; as long as they are opposite). That way, twists appear symmetrical when viewed as a pair.

ltokuno

The riveted strap couldn't be fed back through the stock Christophe Special toe clip, so if you wanted to put in a twist you'd need to cut the strap. Fortunately the only reason to put a twist in the stock setup was superstition.

DiabloScott

Not having a twist in your straps, is like parking your QR skewer pointing straight down.

Steel Charlie

I was faced with a similar dilemma when I acquired a set of red Look pedals for the Specialized. Fortunately my substantial body mass overcame the RedEffect and a sort of null state was achieved.

DiabloScott

It always bugged me that Christophe and Binda didn't make a left and right strap, so the logos would both read right-side up when viewed from the saddle.

clubman 

And they could charge more!

Drillium Dude 

Since installing reddish Strawberry toestraps (which are so thin they absolutely must be twisted to stay where I want 'em) I have been afraid to ride the Medici due to its overly-enhanced Red Effect. But it sure looks sweet







DD

SurferRosa

What if it's french?

Seriously, I've thought about direction before. For too long. The best are thick Bindas, with the twist already frozen into place, so I don't have to think about it.

Bianchi84

My Binda Extras are so thick, I didn't need to twist them for my Campy Record pedals. Plus that torsional force might have weakened the aluminum at the strap slots over time.
My laminated Avovet Mod. III were more loose in my Suntour XC Compes so they got the twist.

One last tbought; how about giving straps a half-twist? That way, once secured, they'd be one-sided like a Möbius strip?

JohnDThompson 

With most straps, that would mean that the finished side of the leather would engage the teeth, which IME doesn't work very well. I bought some laminated leather toestraps on closeout from Electra that are finished leather on both sides. I ended up putting them in a drawer because they wouldn't stay snug when jamming up hills.

RobbieTunes

Because folding doesn’t work very well.

Drillium Dude 

Yup. And spindling/mutilating is right out.

DD