Riding With Strap

Riding with a cage pedal and strap is fucking hard, it´s rather annoying trying to flip the pedal upward in order to slip my shoe in as it´s always upside down, and increasingly difficult to get in once I get going (which I learnt that you should try and put your feet in as soon as you start off).

how on earth do you do it? I hasn´t rode with a strap let alone a clipless pedal ever since I first got a fixed wheel bicycle a year and half ago.

yes I did search the topic, either I didn´t search properly or there´s not much help on putting your feet in a strap.

Uh, Practice?
Um Familiarity?

Next.

It's deffinitely easier at slower speeds i.e. when you are seting off.
Getting in is easiest if you tilt your foot forward on the bottom of the pedal and then lift it off so the weight of the clip sends it clip-upwards, then slip your foot in. Rather than battling with the spike/flip/foot drag motion.

You will get used to it.
And then gain those all important style points by having them. ;)

it´s next to impossible trying to flip the pedal upside down mind!

This is not answering your question- but if you have size ten feet then I can lend you both SPD shoes and pedals to have a go with.

They are double sided and a hell a of a lot easier than trying to fit your foot into one side of a toe-clip.

Kick and done- FTW! (As they say...)

lean your foot forward so you catch the side of the pedal nearest the opening of the cages with the ball of your foot and flip the pedal upwards the try and catch the entrance to the cages with your toe and slip on in. Just find a quiet road or a carpark at night and practice lots...oh and make sure you cages aren't actually too small to get your feet in obviously

it´s next to impossible trying to flip the pedal upside down mind!

I think the large number of people who use clips and straps would argue that it is, in fact, fairly easy. It takes like 3 days of practice. :)

or ten minutes

It's deffinitely easier at slower speeds i.e. when you are seting off.
Getting in is easiest if you tilt your foot forward on the bottom of the pedal and then lift it off so the weight of the clip sends it clip-upwards, then slip your foot in. Rather than battling with the spike/flip/foot drag motion.

You will get used to it.
And then gain those all important style points by having them. ;)

Both sets of cage pedals I have had are way too weight biased for them to flip over like that. Would definetely use that method if I could get it to work.

I find the drag/flip up 'normal' technique works pretty well though, its just annoying those times when your trying to make a dash from the lights and the pedal fails to come round. Horrible scraping of steel cages across a junction till you can slow down and do - over.

Try clipless / learn to trackstand / HTFU

I find the drag/flip up 'normal' technique works pretty well though, its just annoying those times when your trying to make a dash from the lights and the pedal fails to come round. Horrible scraping of steel cages across a junction till you can slow down and do - over.

this is exactly my issue, rather difficult to quickly slide my feet in in central London especially stopping at every traffic light, now I understand why a lots of fixed gear cyclist who have strip jump the red light!

time atac/alium
mtb shoes..shimano/northwave/sidi/yadda yadda

htfu and stfu

jus need to get the hang of it . . .
when i first got my bike i felt like a donut tryin 2 get my left feet in but now its a piece of cake . . .
but i do have trouble gettin my right feet in the cage, sometimes

its easy.

this is an opinion you will share in 2 days time.

ive ridden them for a long time, i still find them awkward. the only way i can get in them tightly is to lean down and pull them onto my foot with my hands. otherwise thier just too loose to do anything useful.

i made some power grips last week, and i love them. i still have to lean down to get them on tight, but its much easier to do, and i can do it without looking. because of the self tightening action you can wear any shoes and your always as tight as can be, unlike straps which are always a bit loose so that you can get into the bloody things.

Took half a day to master it, just flip it as it's on it's way down and ready to flip itself. If you use the beautiful Sylvian quill pedals, there's even a little spike to help you along.

I actually ride with only a right foot strap... it's easy enough getting one foot in when the bikes still, but getting the other foot in was such an arse...

I did put both sets of straps on originally, and did learn to put the second foot in after a bit of practice, but sometimes when I was in a hurry or on a dangerous road I wouldn't bother and that cage would scrap until i could be arsed to put it on... turns out you can break a plastic cage by letting it scrape the floor enough... bought replacement, but haven't bothered fitting it yet...

When i'm a bit less broke I'll be going clipless...

try loosening your straps, then as you get better at putting your foot in over time, tighten them back up in increments

Clipless is way cheaper than a set of HHSB double strapped cages and pedals.

I love the look of a nice cage pedal, but the only reason to ride a cage is for looks or if you are alergic to cycling shoes, going clipless increases your control even further, and is much easier to engage/disengage than straps = safer if you are nervous about such things.

Powerstraps are a good half way house for those not keen on any sort of foot retention, but wanting to move on their game

I though most common road pedals (the ones you attach cages to) came with like a little hook thing on the bottom to catch the grips on your shoes and help you flip the pedal, its pretty easy with Vans and their waffle shaped grips, id say practise with those.

Time atac...

gotta ride with straps if its brakeless . . .
fuck clips but i love the sounds of it clipping in . . .

My pedals don't have the hook on them but I get by ok - I find if I ever don't get in them after the first rev at some fast lights then I just point my left foot on the downstroke which avoids that horrible feeling of scraping the cages on the ground.

Only problem is my cages are dirt cheap and I managed to bend it up pretty badly - I thought I was in until I looked down and realised I'd just bent the top bit in on itself....

Stylist, I don't think you "clip into" clips, rather you clip into clipless.

Peace

fuck clips

have you ever used them for brakeless riding?