road195 

Good day; I got my new vintage ride, a 72 Gitane Tour De France. I wanted to get a understanding in elementary terms on pedals. The pedals I have are Campagnolo Nuovo Record. so if I want toe clips and straps, what is the recommendation? Also I think I had a slotted plastic piece on my shoes in early 80s before I took the Look clip in route. Also, is there a Italian wide vintage shoe out there? Thanks; road195

SJX426 

@road195 - others who use them should chime in. I have used a couple of different toe clips, Specialized, Christophe, Campagnolo, doesn't really matter. they come/came in three sizes, s/m/l.
Straps need to be leather to keep them from slipping in the "buckle." Nylon or plastic types, even woven, will slip.
That slotted plastic piece is called a cleat. They can still be found with a little searching if you want to use them. The whole configuration set is a bit challenging for riding on the road, or I should say commuting. Long distance is fine. It is the issue of removing your shoe.
As far as shoes go, look in C&V for threads on the topic. There are several and you can save a lot of time by finding them and then deciding what to do.

Personally, I use Look Keo on all my bikes, with one exception. The Colnago keeps the pedals, cage and straps. A lot less hassle from my point of view. I need to pay attention to the traffic scenarios while riding. I don't want to make a move with my foot and forget what I am wearing and how I am attached to the bike!
P1000188
on Flickr

merziac

Very nice score, well done.

H**Y CRAP, THOSE FENDERS ARE AMAZING, UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!

I use clips and straps on all my bikes, can't stand the look of clipless pedals on C+V and I have an ankle that won't tolerate them anyway.

I use dual gate clips and leather straps not tight to just cradle my foot and keep it on the pedal.

road195 

Thanks for the reply’s. So, for me to be clear. If we use a timeline, 1: pedals clips, straps. 2. Cleats, pedals clips, straps. 3. Regular clip in, pedals. I am trying to understand where the clips bolted to shoes bottoms fit in the picture. Seems to me I might use a flat shoe and the number 1 route.. I am a big Look fan KEO . But I want to try to use vintage set up? Thanks

bikemig 

Flat shoes, toe clips and straps are the way to go IMO on a vintage bike. I have a set of cycling shoes with a slotted cleat but I never use them. They're for racing/long distance rides but they're a bit of a PITA for walking.

The hassle is that modern cycling shoes tend to have a bigger toe box and don't tend to fit old school toe clips and straps. MKS deep toe clips work with pretty much any shoe. I like them a lot for that reason.

davester

I use zefal/christophe toe clips and straps. The biggest issue with these is that the L/XL size that is needed for my size 9.5USA feet are a little rare so you need to look around for them. Aeons ago I also used metal and/or nylon slot cleats. However, I do not use cleats any more and would not recommend them...the lack of easy release from them is a serious hazard, not to mention the lack of rotation and the difficulty of walking in them. IMHO it has been rigorously proven that pulling up on the pedal backstroke does not enhance, and may impair, efficiency so there is no good reason to use them.

randyjawa 

I gave up on straps and traps long ago. These days it is SPD or nothing. Coupled with mountain bike shoes, the system is as close to perfect as I have found. They are fitted to all of my bikes, from my 1958 restored German Rabeneick to my 2000 Marinoni Piuma...


That said, I just remembered that I had these and I just might give them a try...

steelbikeguy

I use Christophe XL clips, as well as MKS and ALE on my bikes. The straps are old Christophe, Binda, or whatever else I stashed away.
I'm fortunate to have snagged a few pairs of shoes with slotted cleats when shops were unloading them. Mostly Duegi shoes.







I have used Shimano shoes with the Look bolt pattern with some matching Shimano slotted cleats. I've got some spare cleats I'd be happy to sell cheap... but the hard part is finding shoes without velcro straps that hang up in the toe strap. The Shimano shoes that I used had small/short straps in front. I've got some pics of this stuff somewhere. The last time I bought shoes for this was ... over 10 years ago. No idea what is currently available.

Steve in Peoria

sincos

For straps: actually, a really good question. Does anybody make Binda-style (double thickness) straps these days? The Christophes are OK but thin and stretchy.

To OP: avoid nylon. They're not stretchy but will fray and the teeth of the buckle will catch and slow down your disengagement. But only when you least expect it, so that extra split second is enough to get you up close and personal with the pavement. Been there, done that.

merziac

No.1 in your list was not a thing in the real cleat/clip timeline until now and maybe for many of us who never raced or rode very hard.

You really don't want to try the oldschool cleats for any real riding, when it goes south, you have one slim unpracticed chance to release the strap if it is truly as tight as it should be (in which case your feet will be numb) before you hit the deck flailing, adding more insult to way more injury from trying to get your foot out as you literally grind to a halt by expending flesh at the very least.

The timeline is pedals, shoes with metal cleats nailed on in the beginning, clips and straps, next was the same but with cleats bolted onto the shoe, clips and straps, then came all the new fangled clipless, spring loaded high tech nonsense that has no place in C+V IMO.

And no I don't use any cleats, never did and can't now even if I wanted to, which I don't and won't.

merziac

MKS makes some more serious njs Keirin than regular ones that we have now, the Zefal christophe straps are perfect for me nowdays.

https://www.retro-gression.com/produ...ble-toe-straps

Charles Wahl

There are differences in pedal strap quality. In the old days (say 1985) Alfredo Binda laminated straps (two layers of leather with some sort of composite laminate between them, manufactured by Bianchi Dino, I think) were the gold standard, and fairly ubiquitous. They were thicker than the single-ply type, had a lot of natural "body" (not floppy), had excellent buckles, and there were available accessories such as pads for the buckle/strap transition (which, unbuffered, can lead to pain over one's little toe knuckle) and screw-on plastic buttons to make pulling the free end of the strap (to tighten) easier. The NJS (Japanese track racing) cult still uses such straps, and, at least until recently, MKS and Kashimax seemed to be producing them. They're not cheap: in the area of $100 for a set, whether single or double -- but a real step up from the Christophe or Zefal, which are serviceable enough, but can "sag" enough to make flipping and inserting after a "foot-down" stop a less-than-100%-first-try affair. Velo-Orange makes some for $25, I guess -- never tried them but might; this picture suggests that they really are thicker, and they seem to come with the buckle pad to boot:



When I was younger (in the '80s), I tried cleats for about 5 minutes, and hated them. For my type of "recreational" riding, I could see no increase in efficiency, they were dangerous to walk on, made getting into the pedal either a chore or outright dangerous, and I've ridden cleat-less ever since; sometimes with true cycling shoes, but, due to wide feet, more and more (and now exclusively) in minimally-soled "track" style athletic shoes. I can definitely "pull" on climbs without cleats, and often do, and it makes a big difference to me -- puts off or obviates the (sometimes necessary, but "to be avoided if possible" for me) transition to out-of-the-saddle pedaling, which I dislike.

JohnDThompson 

MKS α-fit straps are also available as a single laminated strap as well as the double keirin strap @merziac mentioned. Boulder Bicycle was blowing them out last year for about $15/pair, but it looks like they're out of stock now. Universal Cycles has them listed for $28/pair now:

https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...s.php?id=39800

sincos

I'd seen the double track straps but those are overkill even more than Christophes are underkill ... so those laminated MKS and especially the VO with the pad look good, thanks! And way more reasonable than NOS Binda Extras for $80-100 (sometimes the V part in C&V gets way out of hand...)