Just got a sweet new road bike...trying to get used to clipless is killing me though!

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Originally Posted by thekarens

She said they were just spd, not the sl. Not sure what the difference is, but I didn't find the SLs hard to learn.

Once I learned I was an oddball and had to unclip from the right foot first my life became infinitely easier.

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Oops, I managed to quote myself up there...not sure what I was doing (loose nut on the keyboard).

The SLs are road pedals. The SPD (non-SL) mtn. pedals always have seemed a little stiff to me at first, then after a month or two of regular use I generally find I have to tighten them a crank or two. Never could get my SLs (105s) to loosen, even after riding at least 500 miles in the damned things. I got tired of falling multiple times/week, even after having ridden thousands of fall-free miles. I couldn't get either foot out on numerous occasions, even with the bike on the trainer. I had a few other friends with the same pedals and the same issues.

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Originally Posted by dayva

Wow @thekarens I think that is part of my problem! Getting clipless made me realize that I am only comfortable stepping off with my right foot. I have been trying to train myself to be able to do both but the muscle memory is deeply engrained. I think I just have to accept that I'm a right first unclipper too. :)

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Yeah, don't try to change feet if you find you gravitate towards putting a particular foot down. I'm solidly a left-foot-down gal. DH also puts his left down. That makes it easy when we ride our tandem, too. I notice at stops that if I'm with a group of any size that it's about a 50/50 split.

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Originally Posted by zoom-zoom

Oops, I managed to quote myself up there...not sure what I was doing (loose nut on the keyboard).

The SLs are road pedals. The SPD (non-SL) mtn. pedals always have seemed a little stiff to me at first, then after a month or two of regular use I generally find I have to tighten them a crank or two. Never could get my SLs (105s) to loosen, even after riding at least 500 miles in the damned things. I got tired of falling multiple times/week, even after having ridden thousands of fall-free miles. I couldn't get either foot out on numerous occasions, even with the bike on the trainer. I had a few other friends with the same pedals and the same issues.

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That's really interesting. My SLs are the cheap ones, a step below the 105s. Now I'm wondering if they've changed them or if the cheaper ones are just easier or both. My partner has eggbeaters on her Madone so she's no help as far as opinions on the SLs. Most of my club uses Speedplay.

You did make me realize that we will never ride tandem. We had talked about it, but I can only unclip right first. She does left. That could be a disaster....or America's Funniest Video. :-)

PS I only know one other person in the group we ride with that unclips right first.

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Originally Posted by thekarens

That's really interesting. My SLs are the cheap ones, a step below the 105s. Now I'm wondering if they've changed them or if the cheaper ones are just easier or both. My partner has eggbeaters on her Madone so she's no help as far as opinions on the SLs. Most of my club uses Speedplay.

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I know about 3 of us bought 105s within about a week of one-another and we all had issues, which makes me wonder if there was a bad batch. I'd love to try Speedplays, but we live in a really sandy area and a lot of folks have had issues with sand finding its way into the pedals or cleats and making release difficult.

I know the conventional wisdom is to be able to clip out on both sides, but I am a left side person. I can unclip my right foot, but I just cannot lean right and put my foot down. I've tried a few times coming home, in the driveway, but got too scared (I really don't want to fall after all these years of riding). Of course, I am not so great making right hand turns, either. Definitely a spatial thing, as I get the same feeling in certain positions on a multi-lane road in the car. I've been using SpeedPlay X pedals for over ten years; I just don't ride that bike in any beach areas. I have Frogs on my other bike. While I am used to them now, I did have a problem unclipping when I didn't mean to, especially while climbing. It still happens a little with my winter shoes for those pedals. I think the problem is that they are so easy to clip in/out of, that it's hard to hear and feel the click. I do in my regular shoes now, and I have to make an effort to remember to keep my feet in a certain position.
Weirdly, I could unclip and put my right foot down when mountain biking. I did it thoughtfully, and slowly, sort of practicing for the type of emergency stop more common on the trail. It wasn't natural, though.
Never, ever, ever will you find DH and I on a tandem. We enjoy riding together just the way we are :). I once said this to the spouse of a co-worker of DH who rides a tandem with her DH. When I said I would never be under the control of my DH, it didn't go over so well... of course, I know the reason they ride tandem is because he is really fast and she is really slow. It works for them. For me, I'd be screaming the whole time. DH likes to speed down hills at 40+ mph and I don't. He also has no fear of any type of traffic situations and I am more cautious.
However, I enjoy seeing SheFly and her DH zooming along on their pink tandem!

That's funny Crankin. I just told my partner last night a tandem with her would be fun in certain situations. She asked which situations. I told her any that didn't involve downhill. She also likes to fly.

A pink tandem sounds awesome :-)

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Originally Posted by thekarens

That's really interesting. My SLs are the cheap ones, a step below the 105s. Now I'm wondering if they've changed them or if the cheaper ones are just easier or both. My partner has eggbeaters on her Madone so she's no help as far as opinions on the SLs. Most of my club uses Speedplay.

You did make me realize that we will never ride tandem. We had talked about it, but I can only unclip right first. She does left. That could be a disaster....or America's Funniest Video. :-)

PS I only know one other person in the group we ride with that unclips right first.

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I'm a right-footer. Seems more natural to me.

The R540s on your bike are different from the 105 version. They use the older-style mechanism. There WAS a bad batch of the 105 version out there that was next to impossible to get out of. They seem to have corrected that.