Clips and straps are a useful combination even in this era of perfectly functional clipless pedals. While clipless shoe and pedal combinations feel great on the bike, walking around in cycling shoes is pretty well for the birds. It can be done, but is far from ideal in terms of comfort or style. Casual cycling shoes that accept a cleat may seem like a solution, but as walking comfort goes up, the clipless benefits of such shoes typically go down. For city riding, commuting and even touring where more time is spent off than on the bike a decent pair of sneakers and old-fashioned toe-clips are a godsend. And double-straps are even better.

For reasons of marketshare and overall demand, quality double-straps are prohibitively expensive. Back in Urban Velo #2 we published a technical article on DIY double-straps, a money saving solution using commonly available single-straps and a bit of ingenuity. Recently I had a friend with a sewing machine create a set of these doublers for me out of some nylon webbing, similar to seatbelt material, since that’s what he had available. I must say, the security and pedal feel of double-straps is worlds better than those of singles. Through significantly increasing the surface area of the straps, the webbing to the side and on top of the cage spread the holding force of the straps across more of the foot and minimize the stretching and occassional slipping I’ve experienced with singles. Even with the straps loose enough to allow relatively easy entry and exit, the doublers provide a much more solid engagement with the pedal. Two straps are better than one.

This entry was posted by brad on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 12:02 am and is filed under Product Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.