Davidc
Guru
- Location
- Somerset UK
Interesting site here - from Speedplay pedal museum My link History of clips and straps AND cleats - made from leather, metal and plastic. I used alloy ones, which were nailed to the sole using short tacks. I still have a pair of shoes with the ridged soles - in fact a number of parallel ridges to allow for different foot placement. These date from the mid 90s, and I use them now on the spinning bikes at the gym.
I wouldn't disagree that cleats and their pedal attachments were around by the 90s. They were beginning to appear with some riders when I stopped doing TT and training around the mid 80s when my family were growing and taking my time away from cycling. I've had a quick look at your link, and saw some of the bolt-on ones which were around then. They fitted on the then current varieties of pedals, but the cleats needed shoes to be drilled to fit them. They'd been around for quite a few years by then. The early add-on cleats were lethal, they often jammed tight.
What I certainly never saw was anyone attempting to use toe clips and cleats simultaneously. I'd be intruiged to know how you'd do the twisting and lifting action for cleats while your foot was held firmly by clips and straps.
Back in those dark and distant days (early and mid 80s) the fastest riders I came across were certainly still using toe clips, and by then cycling shoes as you describe, with multiple ridges which also had rubber soles and didn't slide everywhere. I had a cheap pair with ridged soles all the way from the toe to insole. I gave my 1960s second hand and well worn Campagnolo leather shoes to a museum, but keep the memory of often falling over getting off the bike and/or walking to the loo. Those did only have one built in ridge, if you wanted more you could either get one put on at a shoe shop or fit a little metal thing to your pedal which adjusted to meet the one provided
I'll look with interest in more detail at your link later, I'll probably find all the pedally bits I've ever used.
I have a lnk to a picture of the 1960s campagnolo shoes but it doesn't want to work. I'll try and find the piccy and and get a current link