It's easy to get carried away buying equipment you think you need, like a new driver that Tiger uses (or do we like Nick Watney now?), a $229 fishing pole that better fishermen than you use, or one of those ShamWows that Vince Shlomi uses to wrap around his hand before he hits people. It's all very tempting, but thankfully they don't advertise triathlon gear on TV. Most of the triathlete's gear has a little red sticker that says, "As Not Seen on TV".
However, I still felt compelled last week to buy new pedals and shoes for my bike. Why? For performance? I wish! No, the biggest reason I got the pedals was to look the part of a triathlete/cyclist. I am nothing if not a slave to image. Well, that's not 100% true, but we'll get to that.
Here is a picture of the pedals that came with my Lotus when I bought it in '91 or '92:
That strap thing that goes around your foot is a clip, evidently. These pedals are a little tricky to get into, especially after you've completed your first ever swim in your first ever triathlon. At any rate, when you have these kind of pedals on your bike you look like a total dork. I am not kidding. This is a kin to jamming out to Good Vibrations, Marky Mark's Funky Bunch version, or just jamming in general. Actually, these pedals are worse than that, because no one even uses these in an ironic retro sort of way.
So I went out, online, and bought "clipless" pedals. That's totally confusing to me, because a clip is exactly what these pedals have to put your shoe in, see:
You can "clip" you foot into either side of these pedals. After seeing so many other cyclists using these, and talking with several, and by "several" I mean two, I decided to get them for my Lotus. I realize it's like getting a Prius and putting flames on it. It doesn't make my bike look cool, but maybe I'll save some energy. Maybe. That's the idea. Your pedaling becomes more efficient because your foot is attached to the pedal and more energy is transferred to the pedaling stroke. Are you buying that?
When you use clipless pedals, you have to have shoes that attach, see:
They attach with a cleat that you fasten to the bottom of the shoe. The cleats generally come with the pedals, but if you're shopping for used pedals on ebay, you have to read the description carefully to see if they're really included. The cleats wear out, so it may be best just to get new cleats if you're buying used pedals, I don't know.
I ended up getting a set of new pedals because the price was good. About thirty dollars with shipping. I realize these are not top o' the line pedals. My shoes were a little more, but I offset that with some money I'd earned from my insurance company. Here's the bottom of my shoe and the cleat:
Now, here's where I'll still look like a dork at a triathlon: I got mountain bike shoes and pedals. I know, it's like wearing my flip-flops with my suit. The mountain bike shoes have a recess where the cleat attaches, which makes it easier to walk around with the cleat affixed. I'm not sure what's different about the mountain bike pedals. I knew I still wanted to do more cyclocross races this year, and you definitely need a shoe you can walk in for that, so since I didn't want to buy two sets of pedals and shoes, I decided to use these for both.
I put it all together last evening and rode around a little. They're not as tricky to use as I thought they'd be. I've heard stories of people falling over at intersections because they couldn't get their foot out, but I practiced a little in the garage, and didn't have any problems on the road. Will they help my performance? Probably not as much as training and riding will.
So there you have it. I got the pedals, the shoes, and now since I've taken my kickstand off, I'm starting to feel like a real cyclists.
Time to go riding! C'mon, C'mon, C'mon!
However, I still felt compelled last week to buy new pedals and shoes for my bike. Why? For performance? I wish! No, the biggest reason I got the pedals was to look the part of a triathlete/cyclist. I am nothing if not a slave to image. Well, that's not 100% true, but we'll get to that.
Here is a picture of the pedals that came with my Lotus when I bought it in '91 or '92:
That strap thing that goes around your foot is a clip, evidently. These pedals are a little tricky to get into, especially after you've completed your first ever swim in your first ever triathlon. At any rate, when you have these kind of pedals on your bike you look like a total dork. I am not kidding. This is a kin to jamming out to Good Vibrations, Marky Mark's Funky Bunch version, or just jamming in general. Actually, these pedals are worse than that, because no one even uses these in an ironic retro sort of way.
So I went out, online, and bought "clipless" pedals. That's totally confusing to me, because a clip is exactly what these pedals have to put your shoe in, see:
You can "clip" you foot into either side of these pedals. After seeing so many other cyclists using these, and talking with several, and by "several" I mean two, I decided to get them for my Lotus. I realize it's like getting a Prius and putting flames on it. It doesn't make my bike look cool, but maybe I'll save some energy. Maybe. That's the idea. Your pedaling becomes more efficient because your foot is attached to the pedal and more energy is transferred to the pedaling stroke. Are you buying that?
When you use clipless pedals, you have to have shoes that attach, see:
They attach with a cleat that you fasten to the bottom of the shoe. The cleats generally come with the pedals, but if you're shopping for used pedals on ebay, you have to read the description carefully to see if they're really included. The cleats wear out, so it may be best just to get new cleats if you're buying used pedals, I don't know.
I ended up getting a set of new pedals because the price was good. About thirty dollars with shipping. I realize these are not top o' the line pedals. My shoes were a little more, but I offset that with some money I'd earned from my insurance company. Here's the bottom of my shoe and the cleat:
Now, here's where I'll still look like a dork at a triathlon: I got mountain bike shoes and pedals. I know, it's like wearing my flip-flops with my suit. The mountain bike shoes have a recess where the cleat attaches, which makes it easier to walk around with the cleat affixed. I'm not sure what's different about the mountain bike pedals. I knew I still wanted to do more cyclocross races this year, and you definitely need a shoe you can walk in for that, so since I didn't want to buy two sets of pedals and shoes, I decided to use these for both.
I put it all together last evening and rode around a little. They're not as tricky to use as I thought they'd be. I've heard stories of people falling over at intersections because they couldn't get their foot out, but I practiced a little in the garage, and didn't have any problems on the road. Will they help my performance? Probably not as much as training and riding will.
So there you have it. I got the pedals, the shoes, and now since I've taken my kickstand off, I'm starting to feel like a real cyclists.
Time to go riding! C'mon, C'mon, C'mon!
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