Patent ID: 7174807

Claim:
A pedal/cleat assembly comprising: a cleat assembly configured for attachment to the underside of a rider's shoe, the cleat assembly including a first cleat body defining a forward projection and a rearward projection in a prescribed, fixed relationship to each other, a second cleat body configured for attachment to the underside of the rider's shoe and further configured to be secured to the first cleat body for limited rotation relative to the first cleat body about a cleat rotation axis, and a stop mechanism carried by the first and second cleat bodies, for limiting rotation of the second cleat body relative to the first cleat body; and a pedal assembly configured to releasably secure the cleat assembly, wherein the pedal assembly includes a spindle, a main pedal body mounted for rotation on the spindle and having an upper side configured for engagement with the cleat assembly, and forward and rearward cleat retainers projecting upwardly from the upper side of the main pedal body, on opposite sides of the spindle, wherein the forward and rearward cleat retainers are sized and configured to be forcibly retractable apart from each other, so as to receive and retain the respective forward and rearward projections of the cleat assembly, to secure the cleat assembly to the pedal assembly; wherein rotation of the second cleat body about the cleat rotation axis, beyond the limit provided by the stop mechanism, when the cleat assembly is secured to the pedal assembly, forcibly retracts the forward and rearward cleat retainers apart from each other, to release the cleat assembly from the pedal assembly.