capnjonny 

One of my friends and fellow francophile at the Bike Exchange found these pedals in our used pedal bin and showed them to me. He said he looked them up on E Bay and said they are quite valuable. I took them home to clean up and thought you all might like to see them. They are stamped Lyotard, made in France Bertret. The cages are Christophe. Anyone have any further knowledge about these apparently high end pedals?

SurferRosa

I found some last year and was excited to put them on my Moto, but they didn't work out as far as comfort. Smallest pedals I've ever used. Had to JB Weld them as well. Quickly found a buyer on Craigslist, so they went to a good home.

edit: found the posts:

Aardwolf

Lyotard M23 Marcel Berthet
https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.a...3-8e4bef89ad9a



I got a set for £35 on Ebay.
I think they were supplied on Holdsworths in 1960 - "Chrome plated continental racing pattern" pedals.
I've fitted them with MKS half cages and they're damn good.

juvela

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earliest edition, catalogue of 1935-37 -



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JohnDThompson 

Those are Lyotard mod. 23 pedals, aka "Marcel Berthet," so named for the 1930s French national track champion. They were designed in the mid-30s and remained in production until the late 80s with only minor design changes. While designed as a track pedal, they were popular with touring bikes for the flat platform that provided support for soft-soled street shoes and the broad tab that made shoe entry into the toeclip easy. While some people report breakage problems, I've had several sets in use for many years now, with no failures.

They served as inspiration for the modern MKS "Urban Platform" pedal, which improved on the mod. 23 design by using a one-piece cast aluminum body instead of the riveted steel plates on the mod. 23, and a high strength chrome-moly axle with sealed cartridge bearings. My sole complaint with the Urban Platform pedal is that, unlike the mod. 23, it is not compatible with slotted cleats. But that's only a problem if you use slotted cleats on your shoes.

https://www.retro-gression.com/produ...ant=1226388921

zandoval 

I forgot about that little twist on the leather strap to hold the strap in position till I saw your pics... Thanks.

3alarmer 

.
...I have used the Lyotard Berthet pedals once before, in the ancient past. The MKS version is a vast improvement, IMO, and I happily use them on several bicycles.


Here they are on a Woodrup.

MooneyBloke

Amusing. My commuter used to have an old pair of SunTour Superbe X body pedals, and when I wore those out, I had some mod. 23s from one of my LBS's odd parts box, and now I'm running MKS Urban Platforms on my current commuter. Somehow I wound up with some SR platforms, but those don't live on anything yet.

MooneyBloke

I always thought that was standard practice.

repechage

If one has narrow feet and or has a toe in heel out stance, they work.

I like the #65 model, of the Form factor of the Campagnolo. I could use them straight across with the same shoes.

oneclick 

I quite like these, have several sets on bikes.

With use they wear the hole in the endplates to the point where the centre housing will move as you pedal - and then they click.

I'm not big on clicks; all the ones I have have been percussively corrected to stop this annoyance.

obrentharris 

I use them on the Allegro. No complaints.
I bought mine at a swap for $5. Bruce Gordon wanted them for demos for his toe clips, so I sold them to him for $5. When he went out of business he sold them back to me for $5. That was a few years ago and they're still going strong, though they have been "percussively corrected." (by peening the aluminum bits that grip the steel top plate.



Brent

non-fixie 

I like them. Have several pairs and use them on some of my touring bikes. For comfort and, yes, to add a touch of Frenchness.

Pic from a few weeks ago:

quakerparrot67

just clicked on your sig- are you a rocksteady and studio1 fan? i've been delving into early reggae and its predecessors and really loving the sounds.

cheers,
rob

chain_whipped

For a pedal that was produced over 4 decades, it says much. Very popular and desirable to both OEM and aftermarket makes them not rare, but there's rare variants. I've had them in Duralumin and steel. Axles were available for all thread variants including 1/2".

Also, I have a pair with longer threads to fit an aluminum cottered crank with thicker pedal thread hole. The issue with that version is having the pedal platform come close to the crank arm, and can cause a leather strap to wear the crank. Its almost illogical in that these pedals require toe clips and straps, but for that particular axle, they should've made a longer shank. Or, I suppose one could use as a townie pedal with half clip.

I certainly like them but have also broken a few. The platform at the swedge to body fracture. Not sure exactly why, though its happened on bikes with taller geared or when mashing. That connection joint gets loose under stress until it finally breaks. They're fine for a higher cadence and less strained usage.

obrentharris 

I should point out that they don't work with certain slot cleats. The Vittoria slot cleats, for example, don't mesh well with the shape of the pedal platform and push the foot up against the crank arm.
Brent

brewerkz 

non-fixie 

I am. I find it combines well with wrenching on old bikes.

Wikkid Wrenching Widdims

quakerparrot67

goes great with riding them, too- and gets the occasional thumbs up from passerbys when i roll with my "mobile sound system " (aka bass-y boom box) in the basket. big bass boom and sweet soul harmonies- who could ask for more! i figured your sig was a batman reference, but i wasn't expecting it to be lynn tait's version. too cool!

wow- just noticed all the alliteration up there... been reading some james elroy, lol, go figure.


cheers,
rob

Velo Mule

I am a big fan of clever design. As a result, I love these vintage pedals and the fact that they worked so well. I bought them in the 80's for a different bike. I have them on my 1980's Schwinn Traveler now. My only bike with toe clips. I do feel that they are a bit too narrow to fit my wide American feet with the 510 Mountain bike shoes that I like to wear.

Those MKS Urban Platform pedals are a good modern take on the Model 23 pedal.