Toe Clip Woes

Having finished the 78 Lloyd, I am obviously keen to ride it.

However, I found the 1980's shoes I had managed to get were not happy with my pedals, as the slot in the cleat was a little narrow. Looking at pedals from that era I now understand why, as Campag C Record or Chorus have a thin blade at the back and others like the Tricolor 600 are similar and need a Shimano triangular cleat.

So, I managed to find some NOS universal cleats in Europe which work with my pedals and fit the shoes.... but. On trying to rotate the pedals with the shoe in place, the toe strap is getting squashed between the crank arm and the shoe, and by the looks of the straps this was also happening to a degree when I recently rode the bike using some modern shoes with the cleats removed completely (not good from a grip point of view).

So, do I need some different pedals? Shoes? Or am I missing a trick here?

Can the cleats be either slid along the rear of the cage, i.e. pushed outboard or slid across the sole of the shoe (moved inboard, same net effect of moving the shoe away from the crank.

Or is it something else crushing the strap against the crank?

(Couple of pictures might help.......)

Put a twist in the strap after you have threaded in from the outside but before iy come out again next to the crank. That locks the strap into the pedal. Or thread it in, out at the back of the pedal , in then out by the crank. Used to do both. I also sometimes brought the strap up through the pedal. Don't know what pedal you are using but there was often a bit that was meant for the strap to go behind to stop this. It was usually open ended.

Re:

Mattr, I have tried all that, but the pedals are quite narrow and the shoes are fitting exactly in the right position.

Mattsccm, brilliant, I'll give all of that a try.

I can't say what make the pedals are, as I cannot find anything on them. They are quality though with a alloy cage and body, steel axle and adjustable bearings. The toe clips are Christophe and due to the design of the pedals, the clips fit exactly between the points where the pedal body and the cage are secured to one another.

Forgot to post on your build thread how great your bike looked maybe equalise the top tube clips

Twisting the toe strap stops the strap buckle wandering upwards at each use. If you want to use 70's toe clips then you need the narrow shoes, having said that the ones you have front look too wiude. Any pics?

The other option is to try Adidas Samba type trainers which usually work fairly well with the sdole design they have.

Shaun

Re:

Thanks Shaun.

The clips have now been sorted and some different bits added, more photo's to follow soon.

I was just about to pop down to the garage and see about routing the strap differently around the crank side of the pedal, as this may help in the short term, but I fancy the proper solution is some different shoes.

Looking at pictures from the various L'Eroica's, both here and in Italy, it certainly looks like most people are using shoes much older than mine.

I'll have a look at the Adidas trainers, as finding 70's shoes in my size looks to be a 1) long term (2) expensive search.

The Axo shoes I have a very modern in design, and fit exactly the same as the Fizik shoes I use, they are actually a 43 when I normally wear 42, but then my SIDI mtb shoes are nothing like a 42 and they fit well.

I'll go and have a fiddle.... with the pedals and take some photo's while I'm at it.

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Just looked up the trainers. I used to have a pair like that which I wore when I was motor racing, as I couldn't afford 'proper' boots (which were not fire proof) and needed something as skinny as possible. Of course, they went to the charity shop years ago.

I think these two photo's illustrate the problem and I also think the only solution is some different shoes.

I'm on the iPhone with crappy screen but there's something wrong with those pedals.....I've got some SR ones you can have or some others which will do.

Or buy some MKS Sylvan new

shaun

I'm riding on quills at the moment. Your toeclips look like the bolt slots are about the same spacing as mine (ALE toeclips) but I can get mine much further out on the pedal. The pointy quill pokes into the outside of my shoe sole, in fact. I'd say the bolt spacing on your pedals is annoyingly too narrow, which is what's causing the problem. My pedals are a modern clone, MKS Sylvan, but I'd recommend giving them a go instead.

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Thanks for the recommendations.

I have some different toe clips, but when I tried to fit them I realised that the construction of the pedals meant the new clips were too wide, so I put the Christophe ones back on.

Currently looking at pedals on the bay... it may just be easier to get some Sylvan's on order.