Bill Thomsen Speedplay Toe Clip Adapter

Speedplay-02-PINP.jpg

When technology jumps forward in one’s lifespan, certain things are forgotten. Back in the 80′s and 90′s track racers rode quill pedals with cleats and straps. With the advent of clipless systems, many abandoned their straps and toe clips for clipless pedals. Speedplay quickly became the pedal system of choice for track racers. Maximum output and speeds often pose dangerous conditions for clipless pedals and that’s why Bill Thomsen, a track racer and furniture craftsman, opted to machine his patented Speedplay Toe Clip Adapter.

Check out another photo below, along with ordering information.

Speedplay-01-PINP.jpg

These adapters, covered in depth at Fixed Gear Fever, run $100 and are gauranteed to offer optimum security for sprinters, even when topping out behind a derny. If you want to place an order, email Scott.

Two Tone ATL also has a nice little piece up on how much of a bad-ass Bill Thomsen is. Check it right cheah. Thanks for letting me photograph your pedals homie!

11 Comments »
by prolly |
Products


  • josh

    but whats the point of having clips/straps if ur gonna hav cleets on anyways

  • Lian

    I am all for innovation, but this is really excessive, basically doubling the price for no-float track specific pedals. Speedplay clean design has some of best, most secure and rigid road style tech in the market. This is like I created a brake with an extra brake on it so that if my first brake fails I have another brake right behind the first one.

  • Kosh

    Is it really necessary to put cages on spd pedals? Are regular spd pedals on a track bike reliable? skidding/stopping are really my concerns

  • R120

    Most of the top sprinters run straps as well as cleats, as you can still pull out of clipless pedals.

    Look at Chris Hoy in this picture

    http://blogs.sun.com/lyon/resource/341px-Chris_Hoy.jpg

  • Rui

    @Lian, I dont agree with your analogy. Spriter dont use straps with clipless in case the clipless fails. They use straps to prevent the clipless from pulling out in the first place. Its a re enforcement, not a back up system.

    I do agree with the BS raised proce for no float. I mean come on, speedplay pedals are so papular because of their float. Not they make a pedal without the key feature that distiguished them early on and charge more for it? It like McDonald’s offering a vegetarian BigMac with not meat paddies and charging you more for it.

  • http://www.ridetheblackline.com K

    if only the first two commenters could see how many track sprinters have popped out of their Speedplay pedals. why else do you think Bill developed these in the first place?

  • http://prollyisnotprobably.com prolly

    yeah seriously, have any of you guys seen a big hoss race at the track? It’s frightening to see what their bike does!

    this is the difference between skinny kids thinking they’re fast and dudes who squat 500lbs and eat said skinny kids for dinner on a daily basis. Think of them as Gregor and the field is a Norse village.

  • Jerrylikesbikes

    Float isn’t something you’re worried about when you’re doing max-output for 2 minutes…

  • R120

    It does seem to me odd to use speedplays, as their are clipless pedals out there already designed to be used with straps.

    Cool bit of engineering, but better to buy a pedal in the first place thats better suited to the task, and as previous posters have pointed out this mod effectively cancels out the reason many people opt for speedplays in the first place

  • http://www.vp-usa.com erik

    looks ok i think… probably you are more likely to use a look style for track over speedplay because of the platform size and stability of interface… but bill likes speedplays, so there you go…

    i dont see anything that looks like it negates the float.. the toeclip and strap would not negate the float… in fact riders would notch their cleats in the old days to achieve float with clips and straps…

    i think these things are great as they solved a problem for bill… i happen to know that Look and TIME both were producing a track version for sprinters that were damned near impossible to get out of… much more tension than the speedplay “track” pedals provide… but these were never available to the public…

    with a rear catch mechanism, the force in normal pedaling tries to clip you out… for a test to see what its like for big timers, back your Looks all the way off the tensions adjustment and do a few standing starts…

  • dexter

    what is the cost of the toe straps and how much would it cost to ship to Trinidad?


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Prolly is not Probably started in 2006 in Brooklyn, New York. For over 6 years it has thrived as John Watson, the sole author, documents multiple facets of cycling. With the boom of urban cycling, Prolly is Not Probably has grown to be the number one blog for the culture surrounding it. In recent years, a large push for original content has spawned a steady flow of photosets, profiles and portraits.

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