I'm ashamed to admit I was conned.

Doing some house cleaning in the cold weather, and I found a stash of
old cycling race mags, and a stack of vhs tapes on tour de france and
those other races they have in Europe. I kind of thumbed through some
of the mags, put a couple of the vhs tapes in, and I thought of how
stupid I was back then. All of it went into the dumpster. The only
thing remotely interesting was some of the hype on that old equipment,
bikes, and shoes, clothes. It was all an elaborate illusion, and they
actually fooled me in those days. But now I know the magic behind the
tricks, and I kept one tape, that I recorded myself, to remind me of how
fake it all was. That is the stage that Landis won, after he covered
himself with t-patches the night before. He looked like a crazed crack
head fleeing the police in that stage, it is so obvious now.

It was all such a waste of time. Still have a couple of CF wonder
racing bikes that I hardly even use because they are so impractical to
ride. Most of riding is now on a Surly LHT, with 35 wide tires, spd
pedals and shoes, and have discovered the real joy of riding.

On Dec 30, 7:07*am, Cicero Venatio wrote:
Doing some house cleaning in the cold weather, and I found a stash of
old cycling race mags, and a stack of vhs tapes on tour de france and
those other races they have in Europe. *I kind of thumbed through some
of the mags, put a couple of the vhs tapes in, and I thought of how
stupid I was back then. *All of it went into the dumpster. *The only
thing remotely interesting was some of the hype on that old equipment,
bikes, and shoes, clothes. *It was all an elaborate illusion, and they
actually fooled me in those days. *But now I know the magic behind the
tricks, and I kept one tape, that I recorded myself, to remind me of how
fake it all was. *That is the stage that Landis won, after he covered
himself with t-patches the night before. *He looked like a crazed crack
head fleeing the police in that stage, it is so obvious now.

It was all such a waste of time. *Still have a couple of CF wonder
racing bikes that I hardly even use because they are so impractical to
ride. *Most of riding is now on a Surly LHT, with 35 wide tires, spd
pedals and shoes, and have discovered the real joy of riding.

You should have sold your mags on ebay.

You are right about the old stuff. It was all a con. Thank god I wised
up. Now, I buy the truly good stuff such as the pinarello carbon
asymmetric frame $3,000+. I now know that asymmetry in frame design
makes a big difference in performance. Only campy 11 for me since the
11th cog makes me ride faster.

On 12/30/2010 8:57 AM, wrote:
On Dec 30, 7:07 am, Cicero wrote:
Doing some house cleaning in the cold weather, and I found a stash of
old cycling race mags, and a stack of vhs tapes on tour de france and
those other races they have in Europe. I kind of thumbed through some
of the mags, put a couple of the vhs tapes in, and I thought of how
stupid I was back then. All of it went into the dumpster. The only
thing remotely interesting was some of the hype on that old equipment,
bikes, and shoes, clothes. It was all an elaborate illusion, and they
actually fooled me in those days. But now I know the magic behind the
tricks, and I kept one tape, that I recorded myself, to remind me of how
fake it all was. That is the stage that Landis won, after he covered
himself with t-patches the night before. He looked like a crazed crack
head fleeing the police in that stage, it is so obvious now.

It was all such a waste of time. Still have a couple of CF wonder
racing bikes that I hardly even use because they are so impractical to
ride. Most of riding is now on a Surly LHT, with 35 wide tires, spd
pedals and shoes, and have discovered the real joy of riding.

You should have sold your mags on ebay.

You are right about the old stuff. It was all a con. Thank god I wised
up. Now, I buy the truly good stuff such as the pinarello carbon
asymmetric frame $3,000+. I now know that asymmetry in frame design
makes a big difference in performance. Only campy 11 for me since the
11th cog makes me ride faster.

When I see someone claiming to be recording on vhs as recently as
2006 I have to wonder if they also have modern conveniences such
as flush toilets. My vhs tapes all hit the landfill years ago with
the vhs player.

No one on rbr rides carbon because of the risk of spontaneous
combustion.

Fred Flintstein

On Dec 30, 8:07*am, Cicero Venatio wrote:
Doing some house cleaning in the cold weather, and I found a stash of
old cycling race mags, and a stack of vhs tapes on tour de france and
those other races they have in Europe. *I kind of thumbed through some
of the mags, put a couple of the vhs tapes in, and I thought of how
stupid I was back then. *All of it went into the dumpster. *The only
thing remotely interesting was some of the hype on that old equipment,
bikes, and shoes, clothes. *It was all an elaborate illusion, and they
actually fooled me in those days. *But now I know the magic behind the
tricks, and I kept one tape, that I recorded myself, to remind me of how
fake it all was. *That is the stage that Landis won, after he covered
himself with t-patches the night before. *He looked like a crazed crack
head fleeing the police in that stage, it is so obvious now.

It was all such a waste of time. *Still have a couple of CF wonder
racing bikes that I hardly even use because they are so impractical to
ride. *Most of riding is now on a Surly LHT, with 35 wide tires, spd
pedals and shoes, and have discovered the real joy of riding.

You should take the leap...to flat pedals. That's the trend in my
circle--Keens and big honkin freestyle pedals or even MKS Grip Kings.
Having one bike that can be ridden without changing a single article
of clothing is liberating.

That said, on a hot day, I got nothing against putting on a lycra
monkeysuit and going for a long haul on my SS roadie bike. It's got
spds--but I'll never ever buy another road shoe.

"landotter" wrote in message
...
On Dec 30, 8:07 am, Cicero Venatio wrote:

That said, on a hot day, I got nothing against putting on a lycra
monkeysuit and going for a long haul on my SS roadie bike. It's got
spds--but I'll never ever buy another road shoe.

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit but I'm wondering what the big
deal is about road shoes.

I have spds on both my bikes (sport tour and road.) I have a pair of
Shimano MTB shoes
that I use with both bikes. My pedals are full pedals with the spd on one
side and grips on the other.

I get grief from roadie buddies but I'm not sure I understand why. I've
used
Look pedals before and I don't see a big difference.

They say that Look type pedals are easier to get into and out of but I don't
see that. They also talk about hot spots on the spd cleats but I don't
notice
that either. Maybe it's because of the full size pedals that I have.

I can actually park my bike and walk into the office with these shoes. The
cleats
are recessed into the sole.

Part of my commute is through a park with gravelly trails. I can unclip
and use the pedal side for when I'm sliding through the gravel.

I can take off from the red light without fumbling with the cleat until I
get
across the intersection.

The cleats seem to last longer and the shoes are $150 bucks.

I can use the same shoes in the spinning classes in the off season.

What's the argument against this setup on a road bike?

On Dec 30, 9:23*am, "Duane Hebert" wrote:
"landotter" wrote in message

...
On Dec 30, 8:07 am, Cicero Venatio wrote:

That said, on a hot day, I got nothing against putting on a lycra
monkeysuit and going for a long haul on my SS roadie bike. It's got
spds--but I'll never ever buy another road shoe.

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit but I'm wondering what the big
deal is about road shoes.

I have spds on both my bikes (sport tour and road.) *I have a pair of
Shimano MTB shoes
that I use with both bikes. *My pedals are full pedals with the spd on one
side and grips on the other.

I get grief from roadie buddies but I'm not sure I understand why. *I've
used
Look pedals before and I don't see a big difference.

They say that Look type pedals are easier to get into and out of but I don't
see that. *They also talk about hot spots on the spd cleats but I don't
notice
that either. *Maybe it's because of the full size pedals that I have.

I can actually park my bike and walk into the office with these shoes. *The
cleats
are recessed into the sole.

Part of my commute is through a park with gravelly trails. *I can unclip
and use the pedal side for when I'm sliding through the gravel.

I can take off from the red light without fumbling with the cleat until I
get
across the intersection.

The cleats seem to last longer and the shoes are $150 bucks.

I can use the same shoes in the spinning classes in the off season.

What's the argument against this setup on a road bike?

Mostly weight. There are some lighter pedal systems. Pros have used
SPD's in road races, there's nothing wrong with them. I don't know if
this is true of the SPD systems today, but when the first road
versions came out, I saw a number of guys have their cleats release
when sprinting.

Op 30-12-2010 17:23, Duane Hebert schreef:

"landotter" wrote in message
...
On Dec 30, 8:07 am, Cicero Venatio wrote:

That said, on a hot day, I got nothing against putting on a lycra
monkeysuit and going for a long haul on my SS roadie bike. It's got
spds--but I'll never ever buy another road shoe.

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit but I'm wondering what the big
deal is about road shoes.

I have spds on both my bikes (sport tour and road.) I have a pair of
Shimano MTB shoes
that I use with both bikes. My pedals are full pedals with the spd on one
side and grips on the other.

I get grief from roadie buddies but I'm not sure I understand why. I've
used
Look pedals before and I don't see a big difference.

They say that Look type pedals are easier to get into and out of but I
don't
see that. They also talk about hot spots on the spd cleats but I don't
notice
that either. Maybe it's because of the full size pedals that I have.

I can actually park my bike and walk into the office with these shoes.
The cleats
are recessed into the sole.

Part of my commute is through a park with gravelly trails. I can unclip
and use the pedal side for when I'm sliding through the gravel.

I can take off from the red light without fumbling with the cleat until
I get
across the intersection.

The cleats seem to last longer and the shoes are $150 bucks.

I can use the same shoes in the spinning classes in the off season.

What's the argument against this setup on a road bike?

There is no argument against it. I don't want single sided pedals so I
use double sided SPD's or Speedplay X serie. I prefer the Speedplays on
my roadbikes because I don't like the vertical play of the SPD's and it
is not likely I have to walk on the shoes I use with the Speedplays. Off
road the vertical play of the SPD's doesn't bother me. On my light
tourer I have the same SPD you have (one side SPD the other flat) only
because I want to use that bike also with normal shoes but it is a
hassle to get the good side up after a stop. Choice is good.

Lou

"Lou Holtman" wrote in message ...

There is no argument against it. I don't want single sided pedals so I
use double sided SPD's or Speedplay X serie. I prefer the Speedplays on
my roadbikes because I don't like the vertical play of the SPD's and it
is not likely I have to walk on the shoes I use with the Speedplays. Off
road the vertical play of the SPD's doesn't bother me. On my light
tourer I have the same SPD you have (one side SPD the other flat) only
because I want to use that bike also with normal shoes but it is a
hassle to get the good side up after a stop. Choice is good.

Yeah I forgot to mention about riding without cleats. I guess I'm
used to flipping the pedals.

On Dec 30, 10:23*am, "Duane Hebert" wrote:
"landotter" wrote in message

...
On Dec 30, 8:07 am, Cicero Venatio wrote:

That said, on a hot day, I got nothing against putting on a lycra
monkeysuit and going for a long haul on my SS roadie bike. It's got
spds--but I'll never ever buy another road shoe.

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit but I'm wondering what the big
deal is about road shoes.

I have spds on both my bikes (sport tour and road.) *I have a pair of
Shimano MTB shoes
that I use with both bikes. *My pedals are full pedals with the spd on one
side and grips on the other.

I get grief from roadie buddies but I'm not sure I understand why. *I've
used
Look pedals before and I don't see a big difference.

They say that Look type pedals are easier to get into and out of but I don't
see that. *They also talk about hot spots on the spd cleats but I don't
notice
that either. *Maybe it's because of the full size pedals that I have.

I can actually park my bike and walk into the office with these shoes. *The
cleats
are recessed into the sole.

Part of my commute is through a park with gravelly trails. *I can unclip
and use the pedal side for when I'm sliding through the gravel.

I can take off from the red light without fumbling with the cleat until I
get
across the intersection.

The cleats seem to last longer and the shoes are $150 bucks.

I can use the same shoes in the spinning classes in the off season.

What's the argument against this setup on a road bike?

There is no rational argument against it. Sidis and a lot of other
shoes differentiate between the road and mtb model simply with the
addition of a few grams of tread. Tread that's really nice when you
walk into a store to get a Gatorade on a waxed Armstrong tile floor.

Shoes are exceptionally stiff these days, so hot spots aren't much of
a problem. I like Looks as well--easy to get into, and a very planted
feel--but not really practical for anything outside of race day,
unless you want to fool with (ugh) cleat covers.

On Dec 30, 8:23*am, "Duane Hebert" wrote:
"landotter" wrote in message

...
On Dec 30, 8:07 am, Cicero Venatio wrote:

That said, on a hot day, I got nothing against putting on a lycra
monkeysuit and going for a long haul on my SS roadie bike. It's got
spds--but I'll never ever buy another road shoe.

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit but I'm wondering what the big
deal is about road shoes.

I have spds on both my bikes (sport tour and road.) *I have a pair of
Shimano MTB shoes
that I use with both bikes. *My pedals are full pedals with the spd on one
side and grips on the other.

I get grief from roadie buddies but I'm not sure I understand why. *I've
used
Look pedals before and I don't see a big difference.

They say that Look type pedals are easier to get into and out of but I don't
see that. *They also talk about hot spots on the spd cleats but I don't
notice
that either. *Maybe it's because of the full size pedals that I have.

I can actually park my bike and walk into the office with these shoes. *The
cleats
are recessed into the sole.

Part of my commute is through a park with gravelly trails. *I can unclip
and use the pedal side for when I'm sliding through the gravel.

I can take off from the red light without fumbling with the cleat until I
get
across the intersection.

The cleats seem to last longer and the shoes are $150 bucks.

I can use the same shoes in the spinning classes in the off season.

What's the argument against this setup on a road bike?

None. It's a matter of preference. I use SPDs on my commuter and
Look Keo on my racing bike. The Look pedals hold my foot more firmly.
With limber shoes, the Looks also provide better foot support and do
not concentrate forces over a small area. This is not much of a
problem for me since both my commuting and racing shoes have CF soles.
The Look pedals are also lighter, to the extent that is a selling
point.

Brad mentions road sprinters pulling out of SPDs, and frankly, that is
a real problem for me with my M520s. Even with new cleats and tension
at max, my right foot pulls out frequently. I have a really mobile
right ankle due to injuries and surgery, and that results in frequent
disengagement that I do not get on my Keos. -- Jay Beattie.