Pedal Pedantry

I’ve always maintained that you can tell the experience and expertise of a cyclist by the pedals they use (and a lot about them as a person). For example you can use the following reference table for help:



However I have been starting to notice some worrying trends amongst the Mountain Bike SPD brigade. Rather than being the cool masters of cycling that they should be, with advanced handling skills and an evolved view of cycling clothing, there seems to be infiltration from less confident types who maybe don’t even know what “SPD” stands for.

The first of these imposters are what I’m going to call Indecisive. They have bought SPDs but aren’t confident enough to go the whole hog so have gone for the half-and-half option that Shimano offer. This shows a distinct lack of commitment. The commuters on these pedals are invariably in cycling shoes, and clipped-in, so their pedals have just become a hindrance, not letting them find the clip as quickly as they need, rather than providing the freedom to ride in any shoes that they thought they were getting. In fact it’s not really that hard to ride on clipless pedals in trainers, if you’re not going anywhere too extreme. Let’s face it, if you were going somewhere where grip might be an issue, you’re going to wear the cycling shoes and clip firmly into the pedals anyway.

It has to be said, however, that they are a step up form the people who leave the plastic jobbie from the shop in one side of the pedal. The insert is designed for nothing more than test-riding the bike if you’ve forgotten your cycling shoes. If you leave it in as a makeshift platform pedal you just look like you didn’t really mean to buy the bike you did. Perhaps the shop persuaded you to upgrade from where you thought you were going with your budget, but either way you should have at least tried to pretend you meant it. Get a screwdriver, pop it out, and join the world of real cyclists.

My final intruder is Nervous. Approaching any potential obstacle they clip-out of their shiny new SPDs with several miles to spare. I don’t know what they think will happen if they get too close before detaching their feet from the pedals, but I know for a fact they have more time than they think. The process should go like this: Approach junction, check for traffic, stop (if necessary), and, if you’re stopped for too long, unclip and put your foot down. Getting out of the pedals is not a long process and if you’re going to ride with them learn to use them properly. Following the method of unclipping, coasting for a while and then having to clip back in, or stop, just makes you look silly.

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