I almost left without telling you, the California Mountain Unicycle Weekend
official pictures are finally up! I’m going away for a few days, and wanted to
get something up before then. What you get, then are four pages of photos. A
major drain on bandwidth, and no captions yet! I’ll finish it all up when I get
back, as well as link it to other pages with MUni Weekend photos.
i tried my first ‘rough terrain’ ride with Richey Mountain Logic Comp pedals. I
think this is the way of the future.
Pro’s: positive foot placement. Can’t trip pedal. Can pull on the back stroke,
softens the deadspot (cranks vertical) by allowing push/pull without tripping.
Can hop without clasping seat between thighs, all the wear is on the cleat and
not the shoe. Should give substantially increased hill climbing power ( but
this has yet to be proven for the unicycle ), the more petite pedal allows for
more radical sidehilling, a bonus feature for Moab. May reduce surprise body
launches by allowing the back leg to pull the body back enough to recover (yet
to be proven), pedal spline under ball of foot rather than heel allows for more
power. Provides a consistent contact to the cycle, not dependent of wet, cold,
or type of shoe.
Con’s: trickey to get into and until it becomes a reflex, not likely to release
in a quick, unexpected fall. WEAR ROLLERBLADE WRIST PROTECTORS. Small surface
area may aggravate a lot standing. Clip under ball of foot rather than heel may
cause morevfatigue ( or not ?). If you like to hike on a ride, those funny shoes
don’t do well.
I have just ordered a set of Shimano Deore DX636 which is a platform pedal with
the clip system inside so you get the best of both worlds. The MTB downhillers
and BMX’rs use them, so they might be ideal for MTU’ing.
George Peck wrote about trying clipless pedals off-road !
George :
You’re a brave man !
I tried LOOK clipless from my racing bike on my 28 inch unicycle a few years
ago. They proved totally exhilarating to use until the first time I crashed.
Ouch !
At least when your lace winds around your pedal axle at 12 mph you have a second
or to to brace yourself for an impending impact still attached to the
unicycle.(or a second or so to regret not tieing double-knots in your shoelaces,
not wearing gloves etc.)
I’ve since settled for BMX flat pedals (thanks Roger) or MTB pedals with ‘half
clips’ for a bit more power when using shorter cranks.
I agree with all the benefits you mention AND the advice on wristguards
!!!
My local Bike shop assures me that SPD’s are easier to release than than the
LOOK system I tried before. They also said that the Shimano SPD inserts come in
two flavours Normal and Multi-release (the latter sounds more sensible!) Wellgo
do a very similar pedal to the Shimano DX 636 its cheaper but I can’t remember
its code (VP10??)
To any mere mortals contemplating SPD suicide I suggest learning to fall at low
speed on grass first.
Good Luck to all, Leo White
I think I’ll try it again too someday just for the thrills - not the spills.