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ritchey micro road pedals

ritchey micro road pedals

hundreds of years ago (at least, that's how it feels), when the comic was not as it is now and featured several pages of adverts at the rear, adverts that attested to the myriad of components and accessories on which one could spend one's hard-won earnings, i bought two pairs of what were described as sidi podium shoes. these were built like the proverbial brick outhouse; if proof were required, i'm still wearing a pair today for my early morning walks. aside from a perceived need for such footwear (though i confess, podiums -podia? - did not feature in my reasoning), the seller was, in fact, closing down their business and two pairs of the sidis was something of a bargain at the time.

i have never stood upon a podium, so i am somewhat unaware of the requirements attached to such footwear, but i can tell you that the pair currently aiding my morning perambulations could reasonably be described as 'chunky'. and grey. and heavy.

that they bore the word 'podium' in their title would rather suggest heir design was intended to aid the motion of the stage victor while he threw the bouquet amongst the paparazzi and clung onto a cuddly lion while two attractive young ladies smeared their lipstick upon his cheeks. oh, that i should have been so lucky. logical reasoning easily justifies the means, for on the few occasions when i have visited the ancestral home at ardbeg distillery, ascending the metal staircase to the toilets is fraught with danger, especially on the downward part of the trip.

ritchey micro road pedals

three-point road cleats will do that to a cyclist. though there are a number of differing systems on the market, the majority feature large plastic cleats that exist proud of the invariably carbon sole, enforcing a 'duck-like' quality to the stride of even the hardened roadie and an unenviable ability to skite over smooth flooring. it's perhaps the one time in a roadie's life that they have cause to envy the offroad or cyclo-cross community, provided, as they are, with tiny cleats that sit level with the chunky bits along the edge of their shoes.

granted, there is a certain lack of finesse attaching a pair of crank brothers candy pedals to a colnago or pinarello before clambering aboard in embarrassingly chunky shoes but, as my elderly mother has always been fond of reminding me 'pride bears no pain'. even with that in mind, considering the technological developments that have featured in pretty much every aspect of contemporary velocipedinal life, is it not time that the pelotonese adopted such potentially teensy-weensy pedals and adapted their footwear accordingly?

tom ritchey, a man not noted for his following of tradition without questioning every aspect of it, currently offers a pair of remarkably small micro road pedals, weighing a scant 208 stainless steel grammes, but necessitating a two-point cleat fixing such as that featured on the offroad shoes described above. ritchey's website describes these as 'the perfect gravel bike pedal', countering that mountain bike pedals are generally a tad on the heavy side and offer less cornering clearance. according to the same portion of text, these are tom's favoured pedals.

all that's really missing, to complete the circle, is a pair of carbon soled road shoes with only two fixing points. you do kind of wonder why that is.

ritchey micro road pedals

no doubt the offroad community would immediately point out that the pedals are single-sided, potentially adding unnecessary faff when time came to clip-in under mud-confused necessity. but then, these were hardly described as suitable for offroad and those of us with road-going aspirations are not unfamiliar with flipping the pedal in order to clip in. practically speaking, however, the pedals (when new, at least) frequently remain pointing upwards, easing the situation entirely.

the other potential complaint that can be successfully headed off at the pass, is the thought that such tiny pedals with their correspondingly tiny cleats, could possibly offer the same leverage as the standard and much larger three-point cleats. granted, it was not i who crossed the line in first place in innsbruck, so it's perfectly possible that professional riders harbouring far greater power output than yours truly, would laugh heartily at the suggestion that tom's micro pedals could achieve victory in the face of adversity. but then, they have a soigneur on hand with a pair of chunky podium shoes, proffered at the moment of dismountation after yet another impressive victory. you and i, however, have to negotiate the shiny and possibly wet lino floor in debbie's when ordering froth and cake.

i am slightly confused as to why ritchey found it necessary to paint the cleats black, given that even a short trek to the bike shed wore most of it off, a job effectively completed by the pedals after only a solitary ride. still, point of sale is, as point of sale does. having bolted the micro pedals to the carbon campagnolo chorus cranks on my steel ritchey logic, i fitted the cleats to the soles of a pair of giro empire knit offroad shoes. style is, indeed, my middle name.

ritchey micro road pedals

aside from a slightly annoying squeak from the left pedal/cleat combination (one that i intend to eradicate with a spot of grease), i'm struggling to find any compelling reason to return to the more traditional style road pedal. not only do i not have to walk funny when entering shops or cafés, but on meeting motor cars along any of islay's singletrack roads, i bear no fear over dabbing a foot on wet grass or gravel. the ditches ought surely to remain washingmachinepost free. and while moaning and complaining at the individual who suggested we ascend the north face of the storakaig hill-climb, though my legs may have felt like putty, i'm confident that it is they who are failing in their duty and not the minimal foot contact.

weight-weenies of the world can grin ear to ear, particularly on learning that even ritchey's carbon echelon road pedals would add an extra and surely unacceptable twelve grammes to their lighter-than-air carbon construct (the standard wcs pedals weigh 250 grammes). unless you are under strict enforcement to stick rigidly to carbon-soled road shoes and three allen bolts, you perhaps owe it to yourself to examine the next stage in road pedal technology, all the while wondering if any perspicacious shoe manufacturer might like to give tom ritchey a quick call.

ritchey wcs micro road pedals

monday 15 october 2018

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