Clipless on half, tennis on the other?

I just got clipless pedals and shoes yesterday and am going out tomorrow to practice clipping in and out, and stopping and going. I did do some practicing in the bike shop and the hallway at my house. It definitely isn't as easy as I thought it was going to be... Last night I biked over to my Grandmother's house (one mile away) and decided to try riding with one road shoe and one tennis shoe. That way if I was going to have any problems, I would still be able to catch myself. (plus I would be returning in the dark...) Part of the reason I am wanting to be super careful is because I am still recovering from the wreck with the dogs, and don't want to screw up anything that is still trying to heal up. I haven't noticed that it screwed up my riding position at all. Fashion-wise I am sure it is hilarious. But fashion went the wayside once I started wearing bike shorts... Anyway, I am tossing around the idea of alternating shoes tomorrow to gain confidence, and then try both at the same time. What do you gals think??? Have any of you tried this? Pros, cons?

Hey, I say do whatever works for you! Of course I can say that because I am STILL riding around with the clip-on cheater pedals that they use in the bike store for people who don't have bike shoes. I talked them into letting me have a set "until I got used to the clipless" pedals and I still haven't taken them off (despite dh's eye-rolling.). I had a fall about a week into riding and got scared. Now I often ride with only my right foot clipped in when I'm going uphill. I am terrified that I'll drop the chain when I'm going slow and fall again...

Liberty - I've read post upon post of going clipless before I took the plunge. I've only heard of one or two people using the one shoe theory. I considered it, but for me, the best option was to "poop or get off the pot" and go all the way the first time. It was two weeks before I feel. The fall wasn't so bad.:o

Honestly you have to do whats best for you and what you feel comfortable with. Try it your way the first couple times. If it feels awkward or you simply don't like it, you can always try it with both shoes.

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I've read post upon post of going clipless before I took the plunge

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yep...I did the same thing.....read a gazillion posts. I got some shoes this week....finally. Then 2 days later...on my way home from work, I decided to stop in at my LBS and get some cleats fitted. Before I left I said "I'm not riding home clipped in though!" He said, "Why not?" :rolleyes: well duhh.....
Anyway....less than half way home..and on a quiet bike path....curiosity got the better of me.....ok...clip...in goes the right shoe. Not long later, clip...in goes the left shoe. Getting out was a little more effort! However, I was more daring than I thought I'd be. All the while wondering how the heck one is sposed to clip out when going up hill....coz when you stop pedalling uphill....well....the bike kinda doesn't keep going, does it?!
As the bloke in the LBS said.....practice, practice, practice. and we all know how monotonous practicing anything can be. So I guess I'll be doing what everyone else does/has done - practice. The one shoe theory is an interesting idea though. Some people just try clipping in with one shoe for a while till they feel good enough to clip in with the other shoe.
And I still spect that one day I'm gunna fall.

I think as long as you don't do it very long...

It wouldn't have worked for me. I need the all or nothing approach.

I fell down all over the place the first day. That's not as big a deal as it sounds though. In fact, I think it may be a useful skill to have, falling with minimum damage.

Well, no falls! I spent 30 mintues working on each side,with tennis on half and road on the other, and then biked with both road shoes on for about an hour. Every time I came up to a person walking I would unclip one foot. Practiced starting and stopping. I think it did help having ridden for awhile with toe clips on my other bike. I was used to being aware of the need for getting the foot ready to stop. All that said, I was finishing my ride and coasting up to my car when I realized about 3 feet away that I was going awfully slow and hadn't unclipped yet... Grabbed onto the car and unclipped. Disaster averted. All in all, it isn't such a big deal. But I am glad that I did ride with one tennis shoe and one road shoe for the first hour. It helped me relax and treat the whole issue as a non-event. Sometimes the build-up makes it seem more than it really is. The only 'con' I found was in having to switch shoes around. But that could be a 'pro' too, as you are forced to practice stopping at your car, getting off the bike, and doing the whole thing over again.

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Originally Posted by postiechic

All the while wondering how the heck one is sposed to clip out when going up hill....coz when you stop pedalling uphill....well....the bike kinda doesn't keep going, does it?!

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Yup, my feelings exactly!! I went on a long MTB ride which was great for the first 10km downhill... but then... what goes down, must come up. 10km of STEEEEEEP uphill! I almost died when I saw it!! I ended up walking most of it, but I clipped in for a few sections that looked okay. One of them clearly looked easier than it was - I clipped in, rode up, the bike just stopped mid-motion and I couldn't clip out!!!! So, of course, I toppled over and slide down the hill bike n all... got a nice graze and a cut on my arm from it... After that, I only clipped in my right foot, and was fine. :)

One advantage of the one-shoe-off-and-one-shoe-on technique could be that you get to practice spinning full circles with one foot and old-fashioned mashing with the other. Even with cleats and clipless pedals on both sides, I sometimes have to ride for a few yards with one or both feet unclipped, for instance because there's a bit of traffic and I'm maneuvering a curve -- not a good time to "grope" around to get the pedal turned up the right way and the cleat centered over the clip spot.

I was standing still today with my left clipped in and right on the ground. I shifted my weight a little and...oops... started leaning to the left, and even though my weight wanted me to go over I put mind over matter and forced myself back over to the right. I ended up gouging my right calf with my chainring. Not sure what would have been worse...but at least I didn't fall over.:(

I don't know what kind of clipless you have, I just got the SPD's. I've heard the Looks are harder to pop out of. My LBS made the SPD pedals as loose as possible, and they are easly to pop out of, just turn the ankle and I'm out. A good friend who has been using clipless for years advised me to decide which foot to put on the ground and stick with it -- always put the same foot on the ground. That wasn't hard for me, because even with the old fashioned pedals I found myself putting my left foot down first. So, that is what I've been doing, unclip the left foot as I approach an intersection or something else that could cause me to stop.

The only thing I'd say about doing the one tennis shoe thing is that maybe you shouldn't switch them back and forth, but keep the same foot in a tennis shoe so you'll not get confused about which foot you're using.

Good luck! I haven't fallen yet, but people tell me it isn't as bad as you think it's going to be. (Gulp!)

Hi, I'm new to the forum (been reading it for several months but just registered today.) I've been riding for about a year; graduated to a real bike (Trek 5000 vs my old WalMart Special) the first of June.
I was TERRIFIED of the clip ins, seriously really terrified, but decided I couldn't have a cool bike without having cool pedals too. I got the Look ones that have the biggest platform, tried them out on a trainer at my LBS and took off to experience them. I was doing fine, practicing clipping in and out with no problems. I decided it was time to come to a stop and start fresh. My stop was fine, very smooth. I started again--clipped in with my left foot and pushed off a bit. NOT ENOUGH. The wind was strong that day and I was riding against it. I also had to flip the pedals over in order to clip in with the other foot and couldn't do it fast enough. Down I went. I'd been told by an experienced biker that it wasn't a matter of IF I'd fall, but rather WHEN so I wasn't surprised by it. The thing that did surprise me was that my foot did not clip out as I'd been told it would. I ended up really hurting my ankle. I couldn't walk for a week--however, I did get back up and ride 5 miles back to my car the day I did it. (NO, I'm not that tough. I just wasn't prepared to call my husband and tell him I'd crashed and hurt myself on the brand new bike he didn't want me to spend so much money on in the first place!)
I had serious concerns about riding with them afterwards and if I weren't so stubborn by nature, I am certain I'd have given them up. I was terrified of stopping after that and I've fallen twice since then--I did clip out those times without even thinking about twisting my ankle out. Both falls since the first one were when I starting off and I did no damage to my bike or myself on either of them. I now make sure when I start off that I'm at the top of the pedal stroke on the foot already clipped and I push off with my other foot (pushing off was something I never thought about doing--I didn't realize I wasn't doing it until someone pointed it out to me.)
I'm finally to the point where my heart doesn't start to race when I know I'm about to stop. So, it really does get easier and will actually feel natural after awhile. I wish I'd thought to do it your way, though!

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Originally Posted by fatbottomedgurl

I was standing still today with my left clipped in and right on the ground. I shifted my weight a little and...oops... started leaning to the left, and even though my weight wanted me to go over I put mind over matter and forced myself back over to the right. I ended up gouging my right calf with my chainring. Not sure what would have been worse...but at least I didn't fall over.:(

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Yep, I've done that too once. Nearest I've come to falling so far. Was stopped just fine, about to take off, changed my mind and decided to turn back the other way, so all of a sudden my balance was off. Clipped back out on my "other" foot (the one I usually leave clipped in) in a split second and didn't fall, but did gouge my leg a bit on the chainring or pedal or both.