I got my ‘Side Mount pedals.’ The ‘cleat’ is really the pedal and mounts to the shoe. The ‘pedal’ is a knob that attaches to your crank. The ‘cleat’ has a cup like piece that is next to your first metatarsophalongeal joint. The cup has an indentation that engages the’pedal’ by a spring-loaded ball bearing. They have a negative stack. The pedal axle is at or above the sole of your foot and over a cm above the sole of your shoe. I had to lower my saddle (and the beam on my SoftRide) by about 3.5 cm.
They’re definitely different. The ‘Q factor’ is about 1.5 cm more on each side. The pedals are tilted inward 2 degrees, as well. After an hour or so the sensation had nearly disappeared. The disengagement is VERY different. I’m getting used to it.
I’m not sure if thy’re better. I’m still wheezing from my cold and couldn’t really push it. I’ll lower my aerobars 3 cm and see how that feels, too. I’ll try to get back to you.
Here’s the web site. Steve, the owner of an LBS in Pasadena (the next city over) invented them. I have no business connection with him. I saw a woman riding with them, at the Rose Bowl, a few months ago. I had seen a prototype in his shop last year.
I saw a prototype of these earlier this year. Jim Donaldson, a local race director and very expirienced triathlete was trying them out. Jury was still out at that time. I saw him on Sunday but completely forgot about the pedals, I will have to ask him how they worked out for him next time.
I road the prototype and just couldn’t get used to the disengagement. The Q-factor wasn’t much of an issue to me. I saw drawings of the the whole thing integrated into a shoe and THAT was cool.
The official way is to lower your heel while at the top of the stroke and lift straight up (and a little out.) The guy at the LBS, where I bought them said he found that a hard kick forward up, and a little out, worked well. (LIke you’re kicking someone in the groin. I’ve tried them both.
You can also loosen the set screw for the ball bearing and it releases more easily. Steve, who doesn’t seel them in his LBS, recommends that you set them quite loose at first. (This made for some surprises on one-leg drills on my trainer.). I tightened them a little for today’s ride.
A few more rides on these things. I’m a little better at getting out of them. It’s going to take a little time.
The increased Q is pretty weird. I get used to it after about an hour, but I’ve mostly been on my road bike. I’m wondering if lower Q cranks like Truvativs (I think?) would relieve that.
The changed pedal trajectory seems to really help the top of my stroke, which has been a problem due to my chronically lousy hamstrings. I’ve been able to lower my bars even more than my saddle and I can go lower still. I’m going to have my FIST fitter take a look.
RoadBikeRider e-newsletter reviewed them and said they felt they were unsafe for the average user and could not condone riding them. They said getting out in an emergency was just too risky.
What has your experience been regarding “emergency exits”?
I got my ‘Side Mount pedals.’ The ‘cleat’ is really the pedal and mounts to the shoe. The ‘pedal’ is a knob that attaches to your crank. The ‘cleat’ has a cup like piece that is next to your first metatarsophalongeal joint. The cup has an indentation that engages the’pedal’ by a spring-loaded ball bearing. They have a negative stack. The pedal axle is at or above the sole of your foot and over a cm above the sole of your shoe. I had to lower my saddle (and the beam on my SoftRide) by about 3.5 cm.
They’re definitely different. The ‘Q factor’ is about 1.5 cm more on each side. The pedals are tilted inward 2 degrees, as well. After an hour or so the sensation had nearly disappeared. The disengagement is VERY different. I’m getting used to it.
I’m not sure if thy’re better. I’m still wheezing from my cold and couldn’t really push it. I’ll lower my aerobars 3 cm and see how that feels, too. I’ll try to get back to you.
Here’s the web site. Steve, the owner of an LBS in Pasadena (the next city over) invented them. I have no business connection with him. I saw a woman riding with them, at the Rose Bowl, a few months ago. I had seen a prototype in his shop last year.
I would think the main advantage of these would be two:
Because everything is lower a large rider can use a smaller, stiffer frame.
The rider will be closer to the ground where the winds are less. It won’t be much but worth more than saving a few grams. The advantages of saving weight is way over rated, aerodynamics is not.
As I said earlier a swift kick up, forward and slightly outward works well. When I changed my stem, I rode down the road and into my garage, got nervous about the exit, as I could not turn around. I gave the swift kick and out it came. I definitely would practice a lot on a trainer and then in an area where you almost never HAVE to get out of the pedals until you get used to them. I only have them on my Tri bike. I ride it at and around the Rose Bowl, where I rarely exit my pedals except to use the toilet. I think I can ultimately put them on my road bike, but I’ll reserve judegment on that.
I’m not sure, but since the over the top part of the stroke is shorter, I am less constricted there and am pretty sure I can get more aero. My deep ribs and previously injured and tight hamstrings have limited that. I’m curious if anyone else has a better feel for that. It is a little harder to quantify on my SoftRide.
I’m not sure, but since the over the top part of the stroke is shorter, I am less constricted there and am pretty sure I can get more aero. My deep ribs and previously injured and tight hamstrings have limited that. I’m curious if anyone else has a better feel for that. It is a little harder to quantify on my SoftRide.
the top part of the stroke is not shorter. You simply have changed your positioning not lowering the handlebars as much as you have lowered your pedals. since I think most people are too aero and hurting their power this is probably a good thing, so add a third good thing to my list.
Actually I dropped both my saddle and bars by 3 cm. I feel like I could go 1-1.5 cm lower, but I would have to get different aerobars. I’ll wait until next year, when I intend to try S-bends, to get some that have pads that are lower on the bullhorns.
i know that the track should follow a circle with a lower center and of the same circumference, the push over the top feels like a narrower radius and the bottom like a greater radius. I don’t if the slight changing of foot orientation during the stroke does this, or if it is purely a placebo effect. the only other person I’ve met who uses them feels the same.
Maybe YOU have the facilities to do some video tracking of foot, ankle and knee with the same relative positional geometries with traditional and SMP designs.
The first big advantage to my system, is a wider Q factor. Contrary to popular belief, wider is better. Narrow Q factors make the bike work better, ie. better chain line, stiffer bb, but they do not make the body work better on the bike.
Remember when you used toe clips and straps? You would every once in a while loosen the strap, and readjust your foot back inward. Biomechanically, the human body wants to apply power, from the waist down, in a down and out motion, not down and in; ie, running, skating, etc. Now of course, too wide can also be a problem, but Q factors have become so narrow and rear wheel spacing soo wide, that many people hit their heel on the chainstay during their pedal stroke, and go to systems with a lot of float to move laterally every pedal stroke. Thousands of strokes per hour, and they wonder why they have knee pain. With the bikes of today, it is almost impossible to set your cleats, toe out, and not have to move your heel out during the back part of the stroke, except with the SMp.
I would like to add that the person who made the Q factor such an issue, with a bike line named Bridgestone, now has another line, and these bikes have some of the widest Q factors in the industry!
Steve,
I’m getting better at the exit. The forward up and out kick suggested but Velo Monrovia works when I panick. I’ve gradually been tightening the ball bear retention screw with no untoward effect.
I did the Rose Bowl circuit today not feelin that energetc to boot. with 3 of them being 5 k time trials. I was doing 21-23 on the uphill side and 25-31 on the rest. That is faster than this 54 year old crappy cyclist has done before. I was kicking myself that i didn’t use my stop watch.
I have cranked down the float screw. I do better without any.
You would recomend a whole different pedal system for a wider Q factor ?? Most pedals have plenty of adjustment for a wider Q factor just by moving the cleats, or by using axle extenders or if you have keywin pedals they come in six different axle lengths.
(The older model time came in two axle lengths, for me the shorter ones felt so much better, the new time only come in the shorter axle length)
A wider Q factor is hardly a good justification for a change of pedal system.
Also don’t good runners land with their foot under their centre of gravity very close to the centre line effectively a q factor of only milimetres?