Battered and Bruised...

[Nick]

Feeling battered and bruised after two tumbles trying to disengage from my new clipless Candy 3 pedals. My first falls of the season. On both falls I was near standstill, in the parking lot -- the first fall wasn't bad - my butt and hips took the drop, but in the second the bike handlebars bounced up and hit me hard in the chest (and my right leg stayed clipped in with me on the ground). Waah! :( Now I'm not sure about going clipless with the Candy... For some reason I'm having a really hard time engaging and disengaging the right foot (no problems with the left, it engages instantly). If I'm feeling OK tomorrow I'll give it another whirl...

[Catrin]

Feeling battered and bruised after two tumbles trying to disengage from my new clipless Candy 3 pedals. My first falls of the season. On both falls I was near standstill, in the parking lot -- the first fall wasn't bad - my butt and hips took the drop, but in the second the bike handlebars bounced up and hit me hard in the chest (and my right leg stayed clipped in with me on the ground). Waah! :( Now I'm not sure about going clipless with the Candy... For some reason I'm having a really hard time engaging and disengaging the right foot (no problems with the left, it engages instantly). If I'm feeling OK tomorrow I'll give it another whirl...

Yikes! Are they adjustable? Did you consider Frogs at all? They are so easy...

[Nick]

Hi Catrin, I did consider Frogs. I probably should have gone with them! The LBS mtb specialist uses Frogs and won't use anything else... I'm going to give the Candies another try, and if they continue to be a bear, I'll either switch to Frogs or go with a dual Shimano for now...

[Catrin]

I tried Shimano before moving to Frogs - I need very, very light tension on SPDs and the only pedal we could adjust light enough for me was the "campus" pedals - which frankly I hate. The platform side are just metallic bear claws and I find, for me, I can't keep my feet on them. So it is either full clipping in or good BMX pedals for me.

[blue_angel]

Hi Catrin, I did consider Frogs. I probably should have gone with them! The LBS mtb specialist uses Frogs and won't use anything else... I'm going to give the Candies another try, and if they continue to be a bear, I'll either switch to Frogs or go with a dual Shimano for now...

That's too bad! I have Candies on both of my fixed gears and the 10 speed I keep at my dad's house--love them!

[tzvia]

No pedals are worth a few crash-sessions to get used to them. The Candy SLs on my commuter require a long side-movement to get out of them. They are just not a twist-and-snap feeling like SPDs, but are more like I am twisting my foot in thick half dried rubber cement. There is no exact 'feel' to them and I really have to twist quite a bit. My SPDs and Time MTB pedals need only a short throw of my heel out and snap- done. I've been riding the Candys for a year now, and still don't like them. Been contemplating the Frogs... Maybe I will break down and buy a pair provided I can walk in the cleats at work. (I wear Specialized shoes that look kinda like designer sneakers and work is casual professional so that works for me.)

I found that they are easier to get out of if you clip out well before your momentum slows down enough to cause you to fall if you start twisting your foot.