The modern cyclist, as they enter the sport, will find themselves purchasing a set of shoes which contain a cleat that clips into the pedals on their bike. It should come as no surprise, then, that the term we use for the action of engaging shoe to pedal is “clip in”. Obviously, this style of pedals is thusly called the “clipless pedal”. Such a seemingly counter-intuitive name owes itself to the history of the pedals which preceded it.
The name “Clipless Pedal” comes from 1984, when ski binding manufacturer Look invented a style of pedal from which you could release your foot with a sideways twisting motion. Before the Look pedal, riders rode with metal toe clips which were secured to the pedal platform, and lashed their feet to the contraption using a leather strap, named the “toe clip strap”. (Apparently, the same guy who named the toe clip strap wasn’t available when Look was divining the name for the clipless pedal). Since the toe clips were screwed to the pedals, the rider was similarly screwed should they need to disengage from said pedal unexpectedly; Jesper Skibby might have a note or two relating to their safety in the event of a crash on, say, the Koppenberg with cars whipping by.
But somewhere in there lies the secret to the name of these pedals; when Look’s pedals appeared in the peloton on the bikes belonging to Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond, they were missing the distinct metal toe clips – they were indeed clipless pedals.
Some rides were quick to adopt them. I’m guessing Skibby was among this group, but I’m not sure and finding out would require work. Others were more reluctant; Sean Kelly was the most stubborn of these riders, though I’m guessing that lashing your feet the pedals is more critical when you’re able to scare the cranks off your bike by dispatching an icy stare.
Nevertheless, it raises the question of when the tide turned and the new style of pedal became mainstream. Either the last Grand Tour or last World Championship to be won aboard the predecessor is as good a measure as any, so that brings us to 1987 when Stephen Roche dispatched both the Giro and the Tour – in addition to the World Championships – with the sunlight glinting off his toe clips as he crossed the finish line with arms aloft. In fact, he was also the last rider to take the treble of the Giro, the Tour, and the World Road Race all in one season. Coincidence? There are no coincidences. By 1988, the clipless pedal had risen.
You can get a fairly good gauge of how long a rider has been involved in the sport by their comfort – or, indeed understanding of – the term, which upon contemplation is quite conflicting. With the clipless pedal having fallen into ubiquity, riders who have begun cycling anywhere in the last 15 or so years could be forgiven for calling them “clip-ins” or “clip pedals”. But for those of us who lived through the change, there will always be some part of us which is ever aware of the lack of metal and leather lashing us to the bike. For us, the pedals we ride today will forever be the clipless pedal.
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My first "clipless" pedals. All steel and weighed a TON! http://bikerecyclery.com/mavic-clipless-pedals-1980-s.html
@wiscot
In the wilds of Montrose back in the '80's an acquaintance of mine used to race with stiff soled black dress brogues and a cleat nailed in to them. He reckoned that they were as light and stiff as real road shoes and (vitally for someone from Montrose) were around 20% of the price. Actually seeing as no one within 50kms sold cycling shoes the actual price for your black Diadora's (my first cycling shoes) was astronomic once you'd factored in the train or bus fare to go to the shop to try them on.
@frank
Ahh, but how much was the saddle worth? The Saddle may have been the precious... (Sorry, was trying to come up with a euphemism for expensive and failed.)
@frank
According to Wikipedia, 1987.
@the Engine
Bugger off, laddie!
@snowgeek
My father in law ran Onzas for the longest time and loved them for some irrational reason. He was known to be willing to adopt anyone's orphaned Onza pedals and cleats. Only graduated to modern clipless about 5 years ago when his stockpile of cleats finally ran out.
I always think that I "click in" to my pedal. I also liked Alex the Seal.
The saddest (if you are from here) clip/click out - with toe straps - was Shane Kelly at the Atlanta Olympics... Couldn't find a clip of it (see what i did thtere?) on the net...
@Nate
boy, I tried to like them... they were certainly better than clips for the most part, they were light, and they offered rotational float - something unusual at the time... props to the Onza crew for innovating for sure
i cut material off of my shoe soles to clear the pedal body, tried differing elastomer stiffness front/rear, even tried filing sharp or round edges on the holes in the engagement plates to affect the entry and release character...
then i got on a pair of Time ATACs... and was stupefied as to how wonderfully easy and intuitive everything became...
This brings back memories of the detto pietros i bought. It always seemed like the straps that were available were never as long as what i saw on the pros pics. The first spd pedals i had were hand me downs from a colleague who had the first ti bike, first shock fork, etc. we used to do xc-mtb stuff. Several years later hat same set of pedals left me stranded on an mtb ride when slogging up a logging road(good ol tiger mtn)- the cleat pulled clear out o my shoe remaining lodged in the pedal.
@the Engine
Always knew Fife was home to strange folks. The frugality makes sense given the proximity to Aberdeen.
The rider (far right) resembles Andy Hampsten. What happens on the Gavia stays on the Gavia. The Day Strong Men Cried.
Roche's shoes are awesome, what with the V emblem stitched on the tongue. Also, gratuitous coca-cola bidon sighting.