new shoes

[dan_the_man]

i got some shimano sh-r085 shoes today with wellgo pedals to suit

i am going to fall off on the way home tonight i just know it


nice knowing u all

[McPete]

Now that's confidece for you! You sound like me before my driving test

I kinda get what you mean though, which is why I went for toeclips rather than cleats.

[dan_the_man]

whats the difference?

[McPete]

http://www.globalbikesonline.com/catalo ... eclips.jpg

Toeclips, or I usually call them footcages are an extension bolted onto the front of the pedal that lace back through the pedal, and put one's feet in just the right place. The serious riders do them up quite tight, so they can't remove their feet, but I leave mine loose, so I get the utillity of a normal, open pedal, some of the efficency of cleats and the luxury of normal shoes!

[dan_the_man]

ahhh i c. perhaps i chose wrong then

[LuckyPierre]

Back the pedals' tension right off before you ride and your foot will come out easily - remeber, you twist your foot to unclip, not pull it up!

[dan_the_man]

hahah ok i'll try

if i dont reply tomorrow it means i've gone through an intersection and have been cleaned up

[dan_the_man]

ok came to a railway crossing... couldnt get feet out.

down i went. was grass near by so i fell towards that.


then i nearly hit a car when i couldnt stop at an intersection. the lady screamed her head of at me

[AUbicycles]

The trick with clip-ins, if you are new, is to always click out before you come to any obstacle. With most clip-in systems it is possible to pedal without being clicked-in. I ride mtb (both with and without) and when riding with clip-ins will be either ready to click out on one side or be already clicked out and alert (I have nice fat flat pedals) when approaching any situation that means slowing down (eg, traffic crossing) or other traffic obstacles.

[dan_the_man]

ahh ok

yeah i think the clips r too tight atm the moment will have to take it bak to the bike shop to fix :/

[tinstaafl]

G'day Dan,
Clip ons are far less dangerous than toe cages.
You can back the tension on the clip ons right back and they still work quite well. As soon as you loosten toe cages you lose virtually all benefit other than foot position.
The luxury of street shoes baffles me for riding a bike. The soft soles hurt my feet and the poor foot position hurts my legs.
I have come a buster quite a few times from stuck toe cages or even worse is the trick of pulling the foot out only to have the toe catch a strap.
You will notice that all of your initial problems are with ultra low speed falls and this only takes a few rides to iron out.

You did well with the shoes and I'm sure that you'll have a ball if you persevere.

Robert

[Mulger bill]

Dan, it'll probably take you up to half a dozen stacks, usually of the very low speed, hyper embarrassing (sp), in front of a large crowd type

Been there, done that. It's all good fun learning a new skill, don't sweat it. Your foot will soon find the easy way in and out of the clips. One tip for entry though... DON'T LOOK at the pedal.

You'll soon learn when to ride clipped in and when to be loose on the pedal, your stack rate will drop and your confidence will soar. I'm sure within a few months you'll be saying the same sort of stuff to newbies


Shaun

[sogood]

Don't ride with motor vehicles until you are familiar with your clipless. Falling on the wrong side could be fatal.

[MJF]

Hate toe cages (tried those many years ago), love clipless (in my case, Shimano SPD pedals for the last three months). However, in a panic situation, I still try and pull the feet off the pedals before remembering to clip out to the side. Multi-release mode cleats for the SPD pedals are supposed to be safer for the newbie, but I found I kept on pulling one foot out of the pedal all the time so I switched to single release.

For normal road use, you should plan ahead and unclip well before you come to a stop. I also unclip for slow maneuvering as it is much harder to maintain balance when you can't move your feet - the danger here is that I sometimes end up clipped in again without realising it. So far, I haven't come off once... but I had a few close calls in the first week.

[tinstaafl]

So far, I haven't come off once... but I had a few close calls in the first week.

You're doing well.
I found out that they do release if you pull up hard enough when me and a FuckWitDriverhad a dead heat. I went straight up and out of my clips which are standard Shimano.

Robert

[europa]

I've ridden for donkeys years with toe clips and straps and they aren't a problem, even when tightly strapped in which I usually do. They are currently on the Sow's Ear which is the bike I use to tow my daughter on her tag-along, that's how unconcerned I am about them (though when I've got the spare cash, I'll be getting some spd pedals like my other bikes).

I ride with spd pedals. They are set reasonably loose. My attitude is that they will stay that way until I have unexpected clipouts. As it is, I've probably saved a couple of falls when I've been able to wrench out of the clip in an emergency. For normal riding, there is no need to have them super tight, just 'tight enough' to do the job.

The thing about spd pedals is that when your foot is out of the pedal, they rotate with the crank so when the crank returns to where you clipped out, the pedal is in the upright position. So, if you learn to clipout at one point (I do it at the top of the stroke) and return your foot to the pedal at that same point (the top of the stroke for me), the pedal will always be the right way up and it's just a matter of farting about for the next ten kilometres trying to get that damned cleat into that miniscule flamin' clip

Richard

[dan_the_man]

hey thanks for all the great replies!

I rode to work today and clipped out well in advance. As you said. And i did find it helped alot. I didnt fall off this time...

I did find riding to be much easier with these shoes. is that about right?

[commi]

Some MTB pedals are flat on one side and have clip system on the other, is that right? So means I can choose whether to wear bike shoes or normal shoes.

Would it be much of a hassle have to find the right side of the pedal without looking down?

This is the system I'm thinking of getting soon for my Avanti Blade Sport.

I just bought a trip computer and I'm going to record a few times just wearing normal shoes and pedal, then see if I improve using clipless.

P.S. I've had a mountain bike for about 5 years and I never took much notice about cadence or riding position e.g. wear foot should be pedal

Since I got the Blade I've been really conscious of placing my feet on the right place on the pedal. But I've found that my left foot starting to hurt the last couple of days. I wonder what it is? I haven't done any other excersise like walking in that time, pretty much just riding.

[dan_the_man]

making a guess i'd say its because ur muscles in that position are not usually used before...


i got the avanti sprint. just a basic racing bike

[moosterbounce]

When I first got cleats to fit a calf cramping issue, i went straight home, put the bike on a wind trainer (you can hang on to a door or something similar too) and spent half an hour clipping in and out.

That was so valuable that I haven't fallen...yet!! I also make sure I clip out when approaching an intersection in plenty of time which helps too.

One thing that I did find though is that I'm a bit different. Instead of twisting my ankle "out" away from the bike to clip out, I actually turn in. I make sure i only do this at either the top or bottom of the stroke otherwise I will go AOT!! With a history of playing hockey on synthetic surfaces, I have dodgey knees, ankles, and shins and found this movement much more natural.

No-one in my LBS has EVER seen anyone clip out this way before!!

Moo...

[dan_the_man]

yeah i can clip my right foot inwards to get it out. left food i cant though. man its scary when u panic and think u wont get ur clips out in time

[europa]

Would it be much of a hassle have to find the right side of the pedal without looking down?

The thing about spd pedals is that when your foot is out of the pedal, they rotate with the crank so when the crank returns to where you clipped out, the pedal is in the upright position. So, if you learn to clipout at one point (I do it at the top of the stroke) and return your foot to the pedal at that same point (the top of the stroke for me), the pedal will always be the right way up and it's just a matter of farting about for the next ten kilometres trying to get that damned cleat into that miniscule flamin' clip

Richard

Richard

[commi]

I just thought the MTB flat/clipless pedals might be weighted differently and might rotate by themselves (especially at the traffic lights when I tend to use one foot to rotate the pedal to a good starting position while the other foot, usually the left, is tip toeing to stand the bike up).

[europa]

You'll find it's basically a non-issue Commi. Sure, sometimes you'll be on the wrong side of the pedal, sometimes you'll have trouble clipping in. It's like gears where until you get used to them, you find yourself trying to take off in too higher gear because you forgot to change down as you stopped. It's not even compulsory to fall off while learning to use clipless, although it does seem to be fashionable

Richard

[MJF]

The Shimano M520 has clips on both sides, as opposed to the M324 which is clips on one side and standard pedal on the other.

I started off with the M324's then ditched them for the M520's so I don't have to try and flip the pedal over to clip in. The M520's can also be found for about half to two-thirds the price of the M324's - so get the M520's unless you really like being able to ride in normal shoes.

Re tinstaafl and pulling straight out - I think you will find you have multi release mode cleats instead of the single release mode cleats. The M324's come with multi-release as standard, the M520's come with single release mode.