My feet are becoming attached to my bike

[marna]

Yesterday I got SPD pedals and shoes, and this morning I tested them out by cycling to work with them on. Possibly foolish - I had meant to take them to the park and fall over a lot there, but I was too excited about the New Toy to wait until this evening. And I didn't fall off!I'm sure this comes later when I get a bit more complacent about them, but before they've become properly instinctive. I still feel like some slight sort of fraud when using them - like I am dressing up as a Proper Cyclist, or somesuch.

I might have to get the sandal version soon, though. Shoes in daytime in summer feels *wrong*.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Sandals. You need the sandals.

Sandals+wool socks+overboots = warm, non-sweaty feet in winter.

[Notsototalnewbie]

Yay, well done! The FNRttC last month was my first outing in the buggers, due to the fact that a partially stripped crank thread meant I couldn't chop and change pedals, so I just had to go for it once they were on (with encouragement). I found getting up the hills just that bit easier, and going around on my new bike with flat pedals feels a bit wrong now and I have spds on order for it.

They're not *quite* as much fun on my commute as they are on longer rides, because I have to clip in and out seemingly every few yards due to the lights etc, but still better than the mini toeclips I was using before.

[marna]

Yay, well done! The FNRttC last month was my first outing in the buggers, due to the fact that a partially stripped crank thread meant I couldn't chop and change pedals, so I just had to go for it once they were on (with encouragement). I found getting up the hills just that bit easier, and going around on my new bike with flat pedals feels a bit wrong now and I have spds on order for it.

They're not *quite* as much fun on my commute as they are on longer rides, because I have to clip in and out seemingly every few yards due to the lights etc, but still better than the mini toeclips I was using before.

I was really enjoying the novelty of the clipping in and out this morning, but I suspect that won't last very long. I've been working myself up to getting them by, every time I meet a hill (not all that often in London), thinking about how I'd be at the top already if I had SPDs. I'm not sure they'll be *that* magical.

My feet look *really* small in the shoes, though! I'm not sure if they do actually look smaller, or if it just takes me a while to get used to my feet in new shoes. It's disconcerting.

[Notsototalnewbie]

Well, I do still find the 'click' quite satisfying nearly a month on! What's annoying is having to anticipate sudden stops even more - I commute through ped-heavy areas like Bond Street where they wander around in a daze. More often than not my left foot is unclipped and resting on the pedal...

[fuzzy]

You could try the combination SPD pedals for the commute- one side SPD the other flat.

[Ian H]

Interesting this. I have never had problems with sudden stops and clipless. I don't usually unclip until I've stopped - unclip and foot down in one easy movement.

[urban_biker]

Well done. Moving to clipless is probably one of the best things you can do to improve your cycling experience.

You don't necessarily have to fall off when you start using clipless. I've been using them for 4 years now and I still haven't had any problems.

After a while clipping and unclipping becomes so automatic that you don't have to even think about it. I shudder to think how I would manage on normal pedals now.

[Notsototalnewbie]

I thought about combination pedals, but thought I'd find the flipping even more annoying as it was one of the things that really annoyed me about the mini clips, I could never flip it to the right side properly. The tread of my shoes rests quite well on the pedal as long as I'm not really going for it.

I am still unclipping early because if I unclip at the last second, I panic and yank it and then it doesn't seem to work as well (front of the clip gets caught). Whereas if I know I have loads of time, it comes out first time.

All part of being a Nervous Nelly unfortunately. I am leaving it later each time, I might get there some time next year...

[Regulator]

Interesting this. I have never had problems with sudden stops and clipless. I don't usually unclip until I've stopped - unclip and foot down in one easy movement.

Funnily enough, despite having used clipless for some time, I tend in certain situations (e.g. around crowds of pedestrians or when in stop-start traffic) to ride with my left foot unclipped so that if I have to stop suddenly then it's easier.

[mattc]

This reminds me - on The Cobbley Ride last Sunday I finally saw someone completely stuck to one of their pedals. I think the conditions in the previous 10 miles may have been a contributory factor . It was quite a comical scene, with his mates "helping" him off the bike.

I wish I'd had the chutzpah to ask him what make/model pedals they were.

[Notsototalnewbie]

I sometimes spray that teflon spray on mine in the hope of keeping them working smoothly (keeping it away from the bearings of course).

[gonzo]

I know of a guy who got a prosthetic leg. Not long afterwards he got a 2nd prosthetic leg with cleat holes drilled!

[TheLurker]

<snip> ... I didn't fall off!I'm sure this comes later when I get a bit more complacent about them, but before they've become properly instinctive. <snip>

*Harrumph* Yes. 

[Mrs Pingu]

I was doing allright when I first used spd's. That is until I saw a buzzard sitting on a fence post right by the side of the road. I was so shocked it was so close and so keen to get a photo that I forgot to unclip. I had a soft landing on the verge and was surprised to see it still there!
It had buggered off by the time I got the camera though. Git.

[Valiant]

I can confirm that SPD do automatically unclip at unholy angles when doing a summersault.

[TimO]

They'll unclip from pretty much any angle if you wrench them out hard enough... not that I've ever tried to pull them out in panic or anything...

It's a good idea to periodically check how tight the cleat bolts are, especially after first bolting them on.  I checked mine yesterday, since they've only been on there for 400 miles or so, and they were decidedly looser than I liked, now corrected.

I've managed to loose a bolt on one occasion, although thankfully the cleat would still release.  I've also had a cleat shift when uncliping, resulting in a "moment", not good.

[andygates]

Good advice, Shifty.  Trigirl had similar first-time cleat moving problems and ended up with her cleat too mobile in the shoe to clip out, resulting in a Clipless Moment *and* for extra value, me having to fettle her by the roadside like a horse that had thrown a shoe. 

[redshift]

Good advice, Shifty.  Trigirl had similar first-time cleat moving problems and ended up with her cleat too mobile in the shoe to clip out, resulting in a Clipless Moment *and* for extra value, me having to fettle her by the roadside like a horse that had thrown a shoe. 

...reading my mind, Andy?  I nevva sed suffink, honest! 

But I did have a moment once, when I was trapped in the trike because the cleats moved.  I had to take off the shoes to get off the trike!

[mattc]

You could try the combination SPD pedals for the commute- one side SPD the other flat.

I found these more trouble than they're worth.

[ian]

You could try the combination SPD pedals for the commute- one side SPD the other flat.

I found these more trouble than they're worth.

I use combos, they take a bit of getting used to, but you learn to gauge where the pedals come to a stop so it's easy to clip in or not. I like them because for short rides I can just pop on any shoes and not have to faff about dressing like I've entered the TdF.

Never really had a clipless moment (I can fall off quite adequately without being clipped in) but the first time I tested them I left the tension way too tight. Started out in Crystal Palace park, got to top, couldn't unclip. Came down the hill to Penge. Couldn't unclip. Prayed to the gods of traffic lightery. Pedalled on to Beckenham. Still couldn't unclip. Kept pedalling. Offered human sacrifice to traffic light gods. Finally, on the hill up to Bromley I managed to wrench my left foot free and stop.

[mattc]

You could try the combination SPD pedals for the commute- one side SPD the other flat.

I found these more trouble than they're worth.

I use combos, they take a bit of getting used to, but you learn to gauge where the pedals come to a stop so it's easy to clip in or not. I like them because for short rides I can just pop on any shoes and not have to faff about dressing like I've entered the TdF.

Well that's why I bought some. But in reality, for short rides you can ride on regular SPDs in "non TDF-stylee" shoes. (I took my trailer 8 miles to the tip like this).
And it will ALWAYS be easier clipping into the proper pedals.

[gonzo]

Finally, on the hill up to Bromley I managed to wrench my left foot free and stop.

Could you not just remove your foot from the shoe?

[ian]

Finally, on the hill up to Bromley I managed to wrench my left foot free and stop.

Could you not just remove your foot from the shoe?

The velcro is tough stuff. Invented by astronauts apparently as an antidote to teflon.

[TimO]

People complain about how tight the release is on their SPDs, but since I only use mine for commuting and leisure cycling, neither of which require sprinting or similar, I have the release tension set (at least on the current ones) to the lightest setting of all.  It doesn't take much effort to release my foot, which is good since I'll probably have to do that 20 times each way on my commute.

On the other hand, that's probably also helped by not having much in the way of hills around London.  If I was still living in Gloucestershire, and had some miles of hills to go up, I may well ramp the tension up a bit so I could honk up hills with less risk of a foot coming flying out.