I was just thinking that they seemed to be using what looked like old style toe clips when there was a pile up and rider and bike stayed " attached"?? Excuse my ignorance ...
The consequences of accidentally ripping a shoe out of a pedal when at full pelt are rather nasty , so it's safer to add straps too and stay attached. AKA 'belts & braces' approach
I think i heard it was due to the bindings in the clipless pedals might not be able to cope under the pressure the riders are putting on them, so the straps are there to take the pressure off the clipless pedals. I think thats what i heard anyway.
Must be down to mistrust a lot of the time. Quite a few of the Brits didn't use straps and it didn't stop them winning a few of the medals did it?!
I thought it was a mixture of straps/ clipless. I expected everybody to have aero helmets too but they didn't.
by aero helmets do you mean the 'pointy' ones (excuse my ignorance)? Because some of them had those, usually in the pursuits, where as in the sprints and races that involve a lot of movement around the track they either just had normal helmets, or those round one with no vents (without the 'point'). The only reasoning i could make of this is that the point would hinder them turning their head from each side when looking at competitors in the sprints, but am not sure if thats the correct reason why.
When you hire bikes at the Manchester velodrome they have Look pedals, but lesser mortals are unlikely to any problems pulling their feet out of the pedals.
The sprinters use clips and double straps. Endurance riders will usually just use clips. They don't put through the sheer force that someone like Hoy uses. Aero helmets are not permitted in some events. You will usually see them though in TTs.
They should just weld the shoes to the pedals and be done with it. If you're about to fall, you can quickly reach down and undo the laces.
