Anybody Seen These?

[dirtdigger88]

http://www.sidemountpedal.com/

Interesting idea- I dont see them ever taking off but you just never know with this crazy sport we all love-

You have to lower your saddle and bars by 1.5 inches!!!! WOW!!!!

I read about these in Roadie International- its a new magizine out by one of the MTB rags- not a bad read actually

Jason

[BumbleBeeDave]

. .. in a shameless “buy a big ad and we’ll review your product” story in “Roadie” magazine at Barnes & Noble. (Most of the stories in the mag seem to fit that definition) On the downstroke I can see how they would work fine, but there appears to be a spring loaded ball bearing in the middle of it that is all that’s holding your foot in on the upstroke. I would think the tension necessary to hold you in the cleat on the upstroke would also make it very difficult to clip in.

Plus what if you miss the insert when you clip in? With regular pedals, there’s at least some sort of platform to hunt around and hold your foot up on while you find the locked in position. But with these--and the tension I assume is necessary on the ball bearing to hold you in on the upstroke--if you miss on the first try, then WHAM!--your foot goes straight into the ground.

Or am I missing something?

BBDave

[dirtdigger88]

yeah and you get "float" by loosening one of three screws holding the cleat to the shoe?

Jason

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . they might work fine for triathletes like the ones who have testimonials on the site because they clip in ONCE at the beginning of the bike leg and then never (or rarely) clip out until the end. But I see many practical problems for anyone who uses them and has to clip in and out repeatedly, such as when stopping at traffic lights, etc. In other words, exactly the kind of riding that most of the folks on this forum do.

BBDave

[g3neration]

Wow those things look seriously dangerous. What if you hit a bump or something ( which NYC has tons of )? There goes my dancing on the pedals. Think I'll snap them if i stand up on them. :bike: Thats like an accident waiting to happen.

[Brian Smith]

....DynaDrive.
This seems like the contemporary remake.
DynaDrive was a Shimano pedal/crank system for those who haven't witnessed it....

-Brian Smith

[g3neration]

Ok I just thought up of a seriously cool name for these things:






































































"WILL-BREAK-UNDER-MY-250LB-BODY-AND-SIZE-13-FEET"
So what do you think? Cool name? :D

[dave thompson]

Interestingly, I talked to the owner of SMp today about these pedals. They are of interest to me for several reasons. First they do place you lower on the bike, the seat has to be lowered corresponding to the lower stack height. In the case of Speedplay X series pedals like I use, there is a 2cm difference. Second, as explained to me, because the cleat is slightly below the axis of the pedal, a rider naturally makes more of a 'circle' while pedaling. Then there is the claim that the lower leg muscles are used more, and the quads slightly less than would be with standard pedals, given the same effort put out. There is 7* of float and clip in/out is different, but not harder than with other pedals.

I think there are some very good ideas incorporated into this system and I am considering trying a pair. They won't be available for about 3 more weeks, so I have the time to seriously consider whether they will be of use to me.

[Trouble]

Let's say these really take off and who knows what can happen when you step outside the box.
Will we all have to get new bikes because of the dramatic difference of position on the bike?
Will we all have to retrain our old muscle memory to a new, and improved, pedal stroke?
What's it like trying to walk in those cleats?
I'm sckeeeerrrred.

[g3neration]

O thats a good point, will we have to get new bikes?!?! I dont have money anymore. :mad:

[dirtdigger88]

no new bikes- this is the cure for the bikes with too many spacers under the stem!!!! And those goofy sloping top tubes :p Slap these babies on and drop your bars and saddle by a cool 1.5 cm-

Really- Dave- there is a detailed article (long ad?) on these in Roadie International- they have a lot of though in them- Im not sure I would ever use them- but who knows

Jason

[g3neration]

Well if the saddle is lower doesnt it mean that all the other measurements they took during the fitting change? I'm no fitter but I remember something about center to center or some such? :confused:

[dave thompson]

no new bikes- this is the cure for the bikes with too many spacers under the stem!!!! And those goofy sloping top tubes :p Slap these babies on and drop your bars and saddle by a cool 1.5 cm-

Really- Dave- there is a detailed article (long ad?) on these in Roadie International- they have a lot of though in them- Im not sure I would ever use them- but who knows

Jason
Interesting info on their website: (http://www.sidemountpedal.com)

[dirtdigger88]

Well if the saddle is lower doesnt it mean that all the other measurements they took during the fitting change? I'm no fitter but I remember something about center to center or some such? :confused:

you lower the saddle and the bars by the same distance- thus your fit triangle has not changed-

Jason

[kyledmil]

I tried these at a bike store in LA just a couple of weeks ago. Interesting. Only negatives- for the short "ride" I took (stationery bike)- were that I felt pressure right below my big toe and I think it would take time to learn to get unclipped quickly. You can adjust the release and float--the pedals were dialed differently and I could tell the difference.

[saab2000]

The theory behind this is quite solid IMHO. Unfortunately there will probably be issues here which will cause it to not be successful. May be will work for triathletes, but for average road riders I bet it won't last.

There have been other attempts at such systems, none of which have caught on. I do think that the idea of having the foot as close as possible to the axle makes a lot of sense. That is why I went to Times years ago.