RTL Who's Who (please read if you were there)

[joemarshall]

Originally Posted by David_Stone

I just can't imagine that clipless pedals are too safe. I guess I'd havaea to try them first, but you'd think that if they made a big difference but were safe, the Germans and the rest of the speedy riders would be using them.

I know Sam Wakeling used clipless for a bit, but I think he stopped due to some maintenance issue (lost a cleat bolt or something) and never got round to switching back.

I think half toeclips (without straps) are safe enough, I've not crashed any worse since I had them on, and I'm convinced they've saved me from crashes on several occasions. They are fantastic in rain too, no difference at all compared to the dry. I think the reduction in crashes is more of a safety advantage than the possibly slightly worse crashes you might have.

I don't get on 100% with clipless on my bike, so I've never tried it on the unicycle, but I can't see why it'd be too bad, most good road riders don't fall off very often if at all anyway.

Joe

[nathan]

Originally Posted by siafirede

I know that Joe Marshall (Goonies), Sam (Smile), and Frank (Venture) all had toe clips. I am not sure if anyone else was running clipless pedals like Joe Myers though.

Dustin Kelm on Team Unicycle.com used SPD clipless pedals for the whole race as far as I know.

---Nathan

[maestro8]

Originally Posted by nexty

http://ghuntley.smugmug.com/gallery/...11123827_hBrNH

This was the post I was waiting for... fantastic effort, Geoff! Thanks!

Where shall I mail the ice cream?

[jl0r]

Joe Lind
Team Flirt

[David_Stone]

Originally Posted by joemarshall

I think half toeclips (without straps) are safe enough,...

but I can't see why it'd be too bad, most good road riders don't fall off very often if at all anyway.

Joe

Right. There were very few UPDs and even fewer bad ones (aka, 'falls') during the millions of wheel revs of the RTL.

BUT...

The issue I have is that if you DO hit some weird divot or whatever and you DO happen to fall, I'm concerned that the ensuing fall could be catastrophic. Generally, however, UPDs aren't an issue for decent riders.

[nathan]

I calculated the between Beau and I, we did just over 300k revolutions. Multiply that by the 35 teams and you get over 10 million revolutions. (That's a LOT!) The two of us had no UPDs at all.

While I like the idea of the huge amount of extra control you get by clipping in, I don't like the risk, as David says, of a simple accidental UPD becoming catastrophic.

---Nathan

[siafirede]

Originally Posted by David_Stone

Right. There were very few UPDs and even fewer bad ones (aka, 'falls') during the millions of wheel revs of the RTL.

BUT...

The issue I have is that if you DO hit some weird divot or whatever and you DO happen to fall, I'm concerned that the ensuing fall could be catastrophic. Generally, however, UPDs aren't an issue for decent riders.

I did see Frank (venture) fall a few years back when he was using toe clips on his 29er and it looked nasty. He hit an unexpected root and fell down attached to his uni and slid for a bit. He only had a few scrapes though, nothing too bad as a result.

I have fallen attached to my unicycle before (because of shoelaces getting caught)...and I know it is something I try to avoid! I don't think I will ever go the route of toe clips. I see the use for them though because there have been times where I have had a UPD because my foot has come off the pedal. These UPDs (like most of the UPDs I have) result in me flying off the front of the unicycle and landing on my feet, which is a lot better than sliding on the ground attached to the unicycle.

[Angsthase]

Arne Tilgen - Team German Speeders

Thanks to the unknown Photograph!

theme Click Pedals:
Johannes Helck used SPD Click-Pedals some years ago. He broke both wrist, because an uncontrolled dismount with that system. He lost one year unicycle experience. I don´t want to try it.

[hell-on-wheel]

Frank Brown, Team Venture. American Mojo nicknamed me "The Silver Bullet". I was actually wearing full clips with loose straps during the fall James mentions above. I fell two other times with that set up with similar results, nothing more severe than skinned knees and palms. Now I ride without the straps, and have always been able to disengage from the pedals during UPDs. Really, I think half clips are all you need, since they perform the simple function of stopping your foot from sliding forward. Honestly, for me, it feels unsafe to ride without them, especially at 18+mph downhill in the rain.

[mscalisi]

Michael Scalisi, team "Totally Doable"

[Into the blue]

The fellow in the blue shirt seems to bear an uncanny resemblance to Ivan.

Are they by some chance related?

[keg]

Keith Griffiths - Team Old Peculiers
on right, taken in Halifax airport

[genbirch]

Dan Hansen (left) & Michael Sabourin (2nd from right, who never posts here)
Surly Speed Goats (#39)

http://ghuntley.smugmug.com/photos/3...45_hXmH5-M.jpg

all these nice images - posted again to get my mug on this great thread . . .

[rolandisimo]

Roland Kays, Team Personal Rollercoaster (87)

I'm on the left, followed by our team crier, Steve Relles, and Vincent Lemay.



another one of us from the finish, in reverse order