which foot do you unclip? (shoe pic for Zen)

[Bron]

Interesting. It's suprising how many of you unclip your left first. I'dve thought you'd all be righties so you can use the kerb when you're stopped at stop signs and stop lights (and so cars don't ACCIDENTLY run over your feet as they take off from the lights either)

This is why I unclip left (born and grew up in the UK), so I thought I would swap sides in Germany. No way - I dumped myself in the road at a left turn and have gone back to what I know.

We have rubber "kool-covers" to protect the cleats but there is still no way I am going to get 4700 miles out of mine.

[SlowButSteady]

I mount my bike from the left, clip in the right foot first and when I unclip it is left first.

Personally, this is a habit from having grown up riding horses.

You always handle horses from the left, mount from the left and dismount from the left. This convention arose from the days of swordsmen. I guess your average Joe Swordsman was a rightie....had his scabbard on the left leg so he could reach across with his right hand to draw his sword. It was easier to swing the unencumbered right leg across the horse to mount.

My 11 year old son is riding with me some now. I tell him to mount his bike from the left. Old habits die hard. Maybe I need to show him how to really ride and get out a couple of our pasture pets.

[Jo-n-NY]

Clip in most of the time with the left, but sometimes right depending on where the pedal is. However, I always unclip right first.

I noticed on our club rides that the majority of the riders, unclip left first and also found that odd, as they are right handed.

~ JoAnn

[silver]

I'm pretty uncoordinated. When I wore the spd's I always unclipped both at the same time.

But these were really hard for me to adjust to. So I had to learn to just unclip the one. I always unclip the right first and stand on the right leg. I'd probably fall over if forced to unclip the left first.

This next time I really might consider rotating them. These are too far gone. The yellow part is grippier and without it, they are really slippery.

I've got the new ones on now and hate that they are tight. I do have kool kovers, but I hate carrying them around. I'm going to try to be better about using them this time and see how many miles I can get on them.

[li10up]

I unclip with my left foot and start out with my right foot clipped in. There is so much glass and other debris along the curbs I stay as far away from them as possible...I don't use them to prop myself up at lights. I can unclip my right foot but it doesn't feel very natural.

[SadieKate]

Worn cleats cause unclipping at unexpected times (like in a race or a critical emergency manuever) and foot instability which can cause pain in other places (knees, hips, ankles, etc.).

What's a few bucks to save some pain?

I also don't prop myself up on the curb at intersections. Guaranteed way to confuse and anger motorists. You're in the way of the ones who want to turn right -- and you stand a good chance of getting clipped because they'll turn into you.

[OakLeaf]

I unclip right.

Someone actually asked me the other day whether I was left handed (I'm not). They said that most everyone that's right handed unclips left.

I don't know that the horse analogy holds, either, because on a motorcycle, you always put your left foot down first (because your right foot controls the rear brake). If foot-down habits translated from other sports, you'd think that motorcycle habits would translate to bicycles a lot more strongly than horse habits.

For me, I think it's the curb thing. I had years of urban commuting before the ADA. Nowadays, that doesn't hold, especially where I live now. The other riders in my club are mostly (though not all) younger than I am, and most of them grew up in the community we now ride out from... small to begin with, and blessed with miles of bike trails we can use to get out of town and onto the "real" roads. So on the rare occasions when we're even around curbs, there are wheelchair cuts which have probably been there as long as most younger riders can remember.

Interesting....

[VeloVT]

There was a long thread about who unclips how and why a few months ago (I spend too much time here ). Turns out most (though not all) like to start with their dominant foot clipped in. Just like it's more common to be right-hand dominant than left, it's more common to be right-foot dominant. Thus many a rightie who unclips left!

I'm a leftie who is right-foot dominant. So I'm a leftie who unclips left most of the time. Though I can unclip right if I'm in danger of falling .

[Voodoo Sally]

I unclip left. I do believe it comes from years of mountain biking & racing. When you're either going to dump your bike in a bail out / crash, or you lay it down for a rest stop, you lay it on its left side, so as not to damage the derailleur. Leaning left became automatic.

[Eden]

hmmmm I'm right handed and unclip right (I'm left foot dominant though...) I prefer to start with my dominant foot clipped in so the right one is always the one that comes out. I'm naturally right handed though I can be fairly ambidextrous if I try.