I did it! I'm clipless now too!

[Kano]

Wait, I was before, too, since I had no clips of any sort on those pedals either...

And now I'm thinking, what was all the fuss about!

After our hilly ride today, which was probably not much to those of you who ride up the sides of mountains on a daily basis, but for me was more than a minor foothill....

Oops, digressing!

We had the bikes on the back of the car on the way home, and stopped at the bike shop (but not my favorite one) and bought pedals for our bikes! We're now "clipless" at my house! Mine are Shimano pedals (M520) -- DH chose a different model. They installed the pedals and cleats for us, setting them up to "easiest to get out of" -- is that extra floaty? And explained clipping in and out, then sent us on our way...

Fast forward to bikes at home, and we played with our new toys, practicing the in and out of those "non-clips." Harder to match the clip and cleat, but indeed like putting ski boots into bindings, just like they told us! We played in the driveway first, then rode around a bit, surprising ourselves with an extra three miles! It was just going to be down the block and back, but then I said to DH, let's go find a little hill -- one that we're familiar with, and see how they feel on hills. I don't know if it was a purely psychological thing, or if it really DID make a difference, but I should have been "tired" after my morning ride with the big hill!

The clipless pedal things are way cool! What a clever invention they are!

Karen in Boise

[colby]

Awesome, Karen! And no falling to be spoken of... Glad you got over the mental hump and joined the dark side (light side?). It'll be fun to retrace your familiar routes with the new pedals!

[emjae]

Good for you! One day I might be posting the same news. Still see them as a little "scary" -- I guess it's a "loss of control" thing. Every time I hear that someone has tried and survived, I inch a little closer to thinking, "well, maybe..." Anyway, congratulations -- sounds like a fun and successful ride!

[terpin]

Congrats on your conversion to clipless! You'll grow more comfortable with each ride. I actually felt more confident with clipless AFTER falling. Everyone kept telling me I was going to fall at some point. And then I did, and it wasn't so bad. Now I have no fear!

[Kano]

Colby -- no falling today, anyway! anticipate those stops was my mantra...

Terpin -- I'm kind of expecting sooner or later, it's gonna happen. I have to admit, I'm hoping it's relatively painless!

Emjae -- I was a bit surprised, I felt stronger and more in control, though I think I had the lack of control thing in the back of my mind too -- so much easier to just wup that foot off the pedal when needed than to think a moment before doing!

I had talked with "my" bike guy a few days ago about the pedals, said I was going to wait a few days since we had a challenging ride this weekend, and I didn't want to make that change until after, when my first few rides could be on easy terrain. He first said, do it, no need to wait, then asked where we were going. THEN he said, no, wait until after. There's stuff there that you don't want to be learning them on! Again, he could have sold 'em to me then and there, without worrying about what mischief I could do myself, but that's service for you!

Karen in Boise

[morsecode]

We just got a nice package from Nashbar today.
I won't be able to try out the new clipless pedals for awhile b/c we're going to Washington, DC for a week and hubby thinks we'll probably need to take the bikes to shop to get the old pedals off
I'm really excited though!

[Pascale]

How ridiculous would I look with clipless pedals on my specialized comfort bike? Looks like I'm not going to be able to upgrade to a road bike until next spring - trying to figure out what I can reasonably do to this comfort bike to improve performance even a little (changing the seat has already helped). But I don't want to look like a complete moron either....

[oxysback]

How ridiculous would I look with clipless pedals on my specialized comfort bike?

I had clipless pedals on my hybrid/comfort bike. They didn't look bad at all! If you want them...go for it!

[Pascale]

I had clipless pedals on my hybrid/comfort bike. They didn't look bad at all! If you want them...go for it!

Oh cool! Thanks

[morsecode]

How ridiculous would I look with clipless pedals on my specialized comfort bike?

Who cares what anyone else thinks? Besides who is going to be looking that closely at your feet anyway. Get them!

[Pascale]

Who cares what anyone else thinks? Besides who is going to be looking that closely at your feet anyway. Get them!

Umm, my husband does, LOL

[KnottedYet]

Congratulations on the clipless!

I found the cleated clipless pedals to be much easier and safer for me than the clips I'd been using for years. (I have Speedplay Frogs.)

[Kano]

Pascale -- my bike is a comfort-beast too! I figure this is the one to learn all that challenging stuff on while I figure out what kind of road bike to buy someday.

What's made my beast look a bit silly is the new tires she's sporting! The stock tires on our bikes -- I remember you said yours is a Specialized Crossroads -- are the same, mine's the Expedition. You might have bigger tires, though, I think that one has the 700c tires, and mine's 26-inch. Anyway, I just put Specialized Nimbus tires on mine. DH thought I'd gone as far as new wheels too, she looks so much different! (nope, they fit!)

Karen in Boise

[Pascale]

Kano, that's awesome - I am definitely going to replace my pedals then - nice to have company!!!!!

[fatbottomedgurl]

Still see them as a little "scary" -- I guess it's a "loss of control" thing.

Clipless pedals add control.