Flippin’ clip-in nightmare: Bike fitter’s disbelief at client’s upside down AND backwards cleats; Fixed-gear epic Festive 500…in one England-crossing ride; ‘But cyclists’ Christmas special; 2022 in cycling; Mechanical mishap poll + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Battle of the cleats (POLL)
There can only be one winner… one ultimate cleat mishap — get voting for your favourite (maybe favourite’s the wrong word)…
Best heart rate monitors 2022 | 6 of the best
And for all the info…
> Best heart rate monitors 2023 — optimise your training with useful fitness data
Fixed-gear Festive 500... in one England-crossing epic ride
Chapeau…
With checkpoints such as Partridge Lane & Pear Tree Close in Bedford, Turtledove Close in Coventry, Goose Green in Leighton Buzzard, Pipers Close in St Albans and Drummer Street in Cambridge, Joseph Kendrick made this fixed-gear Festive 500-completing spin as 12 Days of Christmasy as possible…
“I have no words for this right now. Will do a debrief soon. I need to dry off, warm up and get myself on the next train to London!” he told his Strava followers after finishing the epic more than 31 hours after he rolled out on Boxing Day.
> Aussie cyclist knocks off Rapha Festive 500 in one go – by riding 1,369 laps of a velodrome
'But cyclists' Christmas special
It’s those pesky red light-jumping cyclists at it again…
CAR ploughs into two residential houses on Roundhay Grove in #Leeds this morning. The ongoing incident saw emergency services scramble to the scene at 9:30am after a car left the road on ice crashing through three gardens and into the houses. https://t.co/POxPzwkDi2 pic.twitter.com/lZ3i6xV16I
— YappApp (@YappAppLtd) December 27, 2022
From Highway Code changes to Active Travel England – the big cycling campaigning stories of 2022
As a turbulent year in politics nears its end, Simon has taken a look back at some of the highlights for active travel, as well as Grant Shapps going spectacularly off-brief…
> From Highway Code changes to Active Travel England – the big cycling campaigning stories of 2022
Greater Manchester Police removed Uber Eats cyclist from busy motorway on Christmas Eve
An Uber Eats delivery cyclist was “safely removed” from the M602 in Salford on Christmas Eve, Greater Manchester Police’s traffic unit has revealed. The force joked on Twitter that the takeaway might “be a little cold but at least it will get there in one piece now”.
The rider was seen making his way down the M602! Safely removed from the motorway by #RPTF patrols TOR issued. To the person who ordered their takeaway… it might be a little cold but at least it will get there in one piece now 🤦 @NWmwaypolice pic.twitter.com/aXiu1EyUnw
— GMP Traffic (@gmptraffic) December 24, 2022
Uber Eats commented on the incident: “The safety of our customers, couriers and the general public is a top priority for Uber Eats. We expect couriers to adhere to all applicable laws and regulations, including the Highway Code and we have measures in place to help ensure couriers use appropriate vehicles.”
The year in review...
Naughty Drivers, a year in review.
Clearly there’s an issue with distracted drivers in London!
I’Il see you all in 2023✌️@roadcc @MetCycleCops @MikeyCycling @theJeremyVine pic.twitter.com/hEsNghHqXT— Naughty Drivers (@NaughtyDrivers) December 26, 2022
How to overcome World Cup heartbreak? Ride 658 kilometres at the Cape Epic
Spanish newspaper Marca reports national team boss Luis Enrique is to fill the void left by World Cup disappointment by tackling the Cape Epic, a seven-stage 658km off-road event with 15,775m of climbing.
The former Barcelona manager visited the MMR factory this Christmas alongside ahead of riding the brand’s full suspension Kenta SL model, also used by the MMR Factory Racing Team, at the South African event.
Giant postpones payments to suppliers due to falling demand, rising inventory levels, and market "headwinds"
Flippin' clip-in nightmare: Bike fitter's disbelief at client's upside down AND backwards cleats
“Yeah not sure what’s going on, having a few problems with my pedals…….”
“Hmmmm, yep, that’s not meant to go like that…………”
Sometimes I don’t know quite what to say to a client. These are cleats are upside-down and back-to-front. They worked MUCH better in the correct orientation. Oh, MTB cleats on road shoes too. pic.twitter.com/cUzWG96DVN
— scherrit (@scherritk) December 26, 2022
Scherrit went on to point out obviously it’s fine to use MTB cleats on road shoes, just so long as you use the pontoon adaptors… oh, and fit them the right way up and around…
Twitter was helpful as ever…
Ozzie pedals?
— scherrit (@scherritk) December 27, 2022
Good job they didn’t fit them inside the shoe!! 😂
— James Bikelover (@Mad_1nventor) December 27, 2022
Or maybe this guy was the rider?
> Two backwards cycling world records broken by Aussie
Anyway, we love a cleat mishap here on the live blog. Remember this?
> Can it be real? Mechanic shares double cleat horror set-up
How to burn someone without producing any emissions
yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com https://t.co/V8geeVvEvg
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 28, 2022
As Greta Thunberg appears in our new celebrities who cycle listicle, we thought it was only right to finish today’s road.cc live blog with this brutal exchange, being touted as a late front-runner for tweet of the year.
We admit that we needed to google who the recipient of Thunberg’s lethal reply was; and while we’re still not entirely sure, cyclists and all other sensible road users alike can unite in thanking Andrew Tate for keeping his other 32 gaz-guzzling vehicles off the roads, as numerous people pointed out in the replies…
28 December 2022, 09:10
28 December 2022, 09:10
28 December 2022, 09:10
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Latest Comments
@andystow yeah, apparently four needed, two for each pedal: one visible from rear, one from front. (Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations I believe). For several reasons I'm technically stuffed on the recumbent. Although I guess I could strap an extra pair of pedals with them to the sides (they'd be like epaulettes). I'm guessing amputees who opt not to bother with one of the pedals also don't legally have a leg to stand on...
@andystow Illegal if sold without a bell, but quite legal to use without said bell, I understand.
I would assume Starbucks have video cameras. Although it will just show someone in a grey hoodie.
@flowboy just keep cycling! And if you're not cycling and still have time, online there are the blogs / videos of bicycledutch, notjustbikes (also "urbanism" and general transport), "a view from the cycle path" (David Hembrow), or more locally to you hedgehogcycling (from Harrogate, posts here)... oh, and road.cc! If you prefer a book, check out Peter Waker's "Bike nation - how cycling can save the world", Carlton Reid's ouvre (dives into particular cycle-related points in history eg. "Bike boom", "Roads Were Not Built for Cars" etc), or there's Laura Laker's "Potholes and Pavements" about the UK's NCN. If you want to be social IRL your city / region may well have a local cycling campaign group...
@chrisonabike only illegal at night without them, right?
I work in the city and go home from Paddington, east to west. I used to go through Oxford street years ago but it was a nightmare of buses and oblivious pedestrians. Then I found the cycle superhighway and never went that way again. It’s really easy not to use Oxford street. Why are the council being such twats?
@andystow and was it sold with pedal reflectors?
@Mr Blackbird ah, but you've no idea how badly decapitated they would have been if they hadn't been wearing a helmet!
@mark1212123 "you’ll have to dispense with thinking your small thing is a massive thing while cycling to work in the winter?’" I find things tend naturally to shrink in the cold... Having "the big debate" with any given person is almost always pointless. We've all got our to-do list for that day/week/year that we're struggling to get through, using the familiar transport tools we spent time and money to acquire. And if we could really introspect we might find out that a shocking amount of life is delegated to autopilots or essentially reacting to external prompts. But - *given* that someone is at a point to actually discuss (rare!) - I think the Chris-Boardman-style works eg. "are you happy with (the congestion / your kids not being able to get themselves to school / all the cars parked all over your road and the pavement / hearing that the local authority can't afford to fix stuff)?" And "if you are, fine - your area, you own the consequences, good or bad (but ... it likely won't get better). If you're not, tell us about one of those pain points and let's work together to explore some solutions". (And no, those aren't going to be a personal bypass which takes you in your car past all the other traffic and yet doesn't cause your nice street to become a motorway. Because everyone else wants that *their* way not yours and anyway we can't afford it).
One definite conclusion to be drawn from the lab tests is that no cycle helmet can protect against decapitation.
22 thoughts on “Flippin’ clip-in nightmare: Bike fitter’s disbelief at client’s upside down AND backwards cleats; Fixed-gear epic Festive 500…in one England-crossing ride; ‘But cyclists’ Christmas special; 2022 in cycling; Mechanical mishap poll + more on the live blog”
The double cleats, while
The double cleats, while horrific, at least serve a purpose and you can kinda see why the owner did that. The upside-down and back-to-front cleats on the other hand must be from pure ignorance.
The cleats are horrific but
The cleats are horrific but not sure bike shop guy is right about the pontoon adaptors as the shoes are already drilled for both SPD and SPD-SL. Suspect these are very old shoes that did have glued rubber bumpers around the sides that have peeled off. Doesn’t quite explain the upside down and back to front though…
Yeah so it’s nerdy, it’s Twixtmas, not much else to do!
Rendel Harris wrote:
I used to have a pair of Shimano shoes that had both sets of holes and a flat bottom. They looked similar to the ones above. They were my first pair and I thought it was just normal.
Same – I still have some
Same – I still have some shimano road shoes with both cleat fixing options in my box of bits
I have a far more shameful
I have a far more shameful story: when I got my first pair I was so ignorant I didn’t realise there were different sorts so I bought SPD-SL pedals by mail order (it was that long ago!) and SPD shoes from the LBS, I had to do a walk of shame back and ask to exchange them and explain why. They were very kind but still my most embarrassing moment in a bike shop (and I’ve had a few!).
I’m sure you are not alone
I’m sure you are not alone there. Given how interchangable Shimano products are (e.g. 105 and Dura ace being fully interchangeable) and the similarities of the names, I would have done the exact same if it weren’t for a friend explaining what to get.
Rendel Harris wrote:
I bought a road bike 11 years ago not having owned one since the mid 1960s.
It was from Halfords and I collected the bike as it was and rode off. After struggling for a few hundred yards I took it back to complain that the brake levers were loose and they had forgotten to fit the shifters onto the down tube.
Re the “car” (not driver!)
Re the “car” (not driver!) that crashed into the house in Roundhay Grove, Leeds.
I know that street well, as it is on my patch. It’s a quiet, narrow, residential street, although it does lead to some wider, faster roads. Somehow I don’t think that this is a considerate driver, driving at normal speeds, only to be undone by pesky ice.
Edit: IIRC, also a 20mph speed limit. Clearly those walls are very fragile if a car travelling at under 20mph can do that much damage…..
Audi S3, prat mobile. Say no
Audi S3, prat mobile. Say no more. Only ever driven by dickheads who ‘think’ they can drive.
0-60 in 4.3 seconds.
0-60 in 4.3 seconds.
Prat mobile as you say.
Says over 3 gardens and hit
Says over 3 gardens and hit another car. How fast was the driver going to ‘achieve’ all he did ?
Roundhay Grove – car left
Roundhay Grove – car left road on ice? Driver left senses on snow, more like.
Still at least they weren’t doing something risky and selfishly tying up the emergency services, like going cycling…
A year in review… Naughty
A year in review… Naughty drivers.
They are addicts.
I can’t tell what is wrong
I can’t tell what is wrong with either of the cleat set ups, but then I do ride 3 bikes with these.
Those things really are
Those things really are archaic and useless. Explains a lot really.
Surprised you haven’t
Surprised you haven’t mentioned your shoehorn.
BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP wrote:
I’ll give you archaic but they are definitely not useless. Full marks for the clever dig though.
With pedals it’s what works
With pedals it’s what works for you. And with three bikes with that set up it must really work for you.
I always wanted double or even triple beartraps back in the day, I thought they looked good.
Single cage platforms were pants, I added Power Grips to keep my foot planted. Then I discovered the DMR V12.
Yeah, I originally bought
Yeah, I originally bought them many years ago because of the looks and found they give great grip and support to my size 12’s so I’ve used them ever since. The only downside is the damage they’ve done to my leg when walking the bike a couple of times.
My Carrera came with generic DMRs which seemed pretty good but my favourate strapless clips didn’t fit so I didn’t keep them on for long. I imagine the proper versions would be great.
Does plasticiser cause benign
Does plasticiser cause benign tumours?
I would use the cycle lane,
I would use the cycle lane, but I couldn’t keep out of the door zone.
Although earlier I did use a
Although earlier I did use a shared pathway near bushy park, then some trail through the park. Quite pleasant not to be in the traffic.
And I discovered indoor bike racks at sigma sports for customers – should have asked if you could leave your bike and pop to town.