Using The Strap-On In Public

I started cycling back in the day when toestraps were the only pedal retention system in existence. When Look came out with their clipless pedals, I saw a good thing and jumped on it. I had my shoes drilled to accept the three-hole cleats, since I could find no shoes pre-drilled. I'm old, I know.

I race at the velodrome. I rode clipless pedals there for a few years, but never felt entirely confident. I've seen people get bumped (read: slammed), and get one foot unclipped. With no freewheeling and no brakes, it takes intestinal fortitude and a bit of luck in order to stay upright. So I always thought that toestraps still had value for track riding. Additionally, I have a hard time keeping my feet from wiggling when I do a standing start in a time trial and I sometimes pop out of clipless pedals.

So I rode with toestraps on the track for the safety, but always wished that I could ride clipless pedals for the convenience (and the need for fewer pairs of shoes).

This last spring, I had a brainwave. I ride Speedplay Zero Track pedals on the road. (Even though I preferred the high retention force of my old Looks, my cleats always squeaked and drove me nuts, so I switched. The Zero's retention force barely cuts the mustard, but they're quiet and they work.) I have a pile of old junk in the bike room and cobbled together a setup that allows me to have toestraps with my Speedplays when I want them.

Here's what I did. I got an old set of cleats, including all the mounting screws, and some inserts that come with my Sidi shoes. (I don't use the inserts because they are for Look cleats.) I found some old SPD mounting inserts, cut them in half, and used them with some screws to sandwich a set of toestraps. It's harder to understand from my words than it is to examine the pictures closely.

So now this setup allows me to use toestraps with my road pedal/shoe setup, and I can take them off when I don't want to futz with toestraps. It's nice to be able to just hop on the bike, do a warmup, and then later attach the straps when I think I need them. I just clip the Strap-Ons to one side of the pedals, clip my shoes in the the other side, tighten down the straps, and go. I even use them on the road sometimes. It's nice to have the option when doing certain workouts.

It's important to note that there is no modification to the pedal or shoe, so I can use this on any bike that has a Zero pedal. My wife and I once did a workout together where we traded back and forth, with one of us resting while the other did a standing start using this setup.

There are two things that I got from sheer luck.

First, the cleat of the Strap-On does not interfere with the cleat on my shoe. There appears to be about two millimeters of clearance between the cleats sandwiching the pedal, and this allows me to unclick my shoes like normal.


Second, the Strap-On keeps my foot from clicking out of the pedal in two ways. The Speedplay cleat (in normal usage) allows the heel to move outward in order to release from the pedal. But you can't move your heel inward (toward the crank), as the cleat has a stop in that direction. The cleat in the Strap-On is upside down, and is working in a direction opposite to that of the shoe's cleat. This means that, when I move my heel outward (and the straps cause the Strap-On to move with it), the Strap-On cleat hits that stop, and it's harder for me to unclip from the pedals. Plus, the shoe's cleat cannot come up off the top of the pedal. So even when the straps aren't strangling-tight, when I move my heel back toward center, the straps pull my shoe's cleat back onto the pedal.

Theoretically, this can work with any pedal system that's two-sided. Shimano's SPD is an example. However, the design of the Speedplay cleats seems to lend itself nicely, not requiring significant modifications to any of the parts used to make the Strap-on.

Yes, there's a slight decrease in cornering clearance. On the track, I've brushed the Strap-On in the banking when doing the cat-and-mouse routine in a sprint, but it wasn't enough to cause a problem. (Colorado Springs has 33 degree banking.) But at any speed above a walking pace and on flatter tracks, I haven't noticed this problem. Of course, you can coast through turns on the road. If these weren't simply recycled parts, it would be easy to overcome this problem by designing the Strap-On with a lower profile.

Here's a couple of more pictures.