Bike Pedals

This was done by a toe clip and strap, the toe clip went from the front of the pedal over the toe and then the strap went round the foot and the pedal, you needed a shoe plate on the bottom of your shoe to stop your foot slipping out and to hold your foot in place, this was great until you had to stop at traffic lights and if you didn’t loosen the strap in time you fell over.

The French ski binding company Look, in conjunction with Tour de France winner, Bernard Hinault invented the first clipless pedal, with this your foot was held in with a special shoe plate which clicked into the pedal, much more secure and easy to get your foot in and out, but cycling shoes had to be stronger and more comfortable to take the strain of being connected straight to the pedal.

Now there are many clipless pedals on the market, Look is still probably the most popular, but Shimano and Campagnolo do there own systems, also there are Speedplay, Time, VP and some other strange systems.