clipless pedal woes

[emily_in_nc]

Lisa,

Your picture is fabulous! You sure look great on your lovely new bike! However, I do think you have some misapprehensions about clipless pedals and the shoes that go with them.

I'm a purely recreational cyclist these days, enjoying short trail/fire road rides on my mountain bike for fitness and fun, not speed or distance (been there, done that back in my roadie days), and I love, love, love my Speedplay Frogs! They are incredibly easy to clip into and out of, and the shoes I have are VERY, VERY comfy. Mountain bike shoes come in all types, from a Cannondale pair I have that look remarkably like your hiking boots, to sleek models that look like road shoes (I have a pair of those too), or the cool Keen Commuter sandals my riding buddy has and loves with her Eggbeater pedals. I got both of my pairs on sale, so they were not very pricey ($39 and $65) and have held up well. My shoes aren't so tight that I can't wear a variety of socks, from thin summer socks to thicker wool winter socks, and having the recessed cleats, walkability is not an issue as it is with road shoes/clips. Sure, I probably wouldn't want to walk in wet mud with cleats, but I don't really ride in it either!

The cleats definitely give me more power and speed on the hills, and they are so easy to clip into and out of that doing so at stops is just no big deal at all, no bigger than it would be to get into and out of Powergrips, I'd imagine.

I definitely believe in live and let live, so I respect your choice of Powergrips over clipless. It's definitely the more frugal choice. I just wanted to point out that some of your ideas about clipless pedals and cleated shoes are not necessarily accurate. I've heard a lot of complaints here about various pedal systems (and I've had my own issues in the past with Speedplay Zeros and Eggbeaters Candies), but I've yet to meet anyone who's tried them who doesn't like/love Speedplay Frogs.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa,

Your picture is fabulous! You sure look great on your lovely new bike! However, I do think you have some misapprehensions about clipless pedals and the shoes that go with them.

I'm a purely recreational cyclist these days, enjoying short trail/fire road rides on my mountain bike for fitness and fun, not speed or distance (been there, done that back in my roadie days), and I love, love, love my Speedplay Frogs! They are incredibly easy to clip into and out of, and the shoes I have are VERY, VERY comfy. Mountain bike shoes come in all types, from a Cannondale pair I have that look remarkably like your hiking boots, to sleek models that look like road shoes (I have a pair of those too), or the cool Keen Commuter sandals my riding buddy has and loves with her Eggbeater pedals. I got both of my pairs on sale, so they were not very pricey ($39 and $65) and have held up well. My shoes aren't so tight that I can't wear a variety of socks, from thin summer socks to thicker wool winter socks, and having the recessed cleats, walkability is not an issue as it is with road shoes/clips. Sure, I probably wouldn't want to walk in wet mud with cleats, but I don't really ride in it either!

The cleats definitely give me more power and speed on the hills, and they are so easy to clip into and out of that doing so at stops is just no big deal at all, no bigger than it would be to get into and out of Powergrips, I'd imagine.

I definitely believe in live and let live, so I respect your choice of Powergrips over clipless. It's definitely the more frugal choice. I just wanted to point out that some of your ideas about clipless pedals and cleated shoes are not necessarily accurate. I've heard a lot of complaints here about various pedal systems (and I've had my own issues in the past with Speedplay Zeros and Eggbeaters Candies), but I've yet to meet anyone who's tried them who doesn't like/love Speedplay Frogs.

Hey I hear what you are saying Emily. I know there are lots of combos of clipless pedals and shoes that people find to be comfy and easy to use. I have indeed heard that Frogs are much easier than many other types, and that mtn bike clipless shoes are comfier too.
For me, it's been a personal decision. I work at home and I'm often hopping on and off my bike at any given time of day to do errands, shop, perhaps spontaneously combining errands with a 20 mile road ride, meet someone for lunch on my bike, go to the PO, dentist, etc. I always ride directly from home, I don't drive to a destination in order to ride like many bikers have to do- so the idea of having to change my shoes or boots when I want to jump on my bike (and then possibly having to haul the change of shoes around on my bike too) is a real turn off for me- especially when it's dreadfully cold out. I see many of my friends spend an awful lot of time on their various clipless 'issues' and changing shoes constantly. More power to them!
For me all that seems needlessly fussy and just doesn't fit into my particular lifestyle. I am totally happy and comfortable wearing my favorite everyday shoes and boots on my bike. In fact, on most days literally half of what I wear for the day is already bike-ready...wool leggings, merino turtlenecks and Ibex Shaks....most times all I need to do is pull some padded shorts on right over my wool leggings and throw on a hi-vis vest to be instantly ready for a ride. I like it that way, I just don't feel I want to add changing into special biking shoes to the preparations of getting on my bike. I know you must understand.
Sometimes I feel I should never contribute to clipless discussions, since it always winds up with people assuring me I would embrace them joyfully if I'd only try them. (not meaning you here)
My name is Lisa and I rejoice in being clipless free!

[emily_in_nc]

Hey I hear what you are saying Emily. I know there are lots of combos of clipless pedals and shoes that people find to be comfy and easy to use. I have indeed heard that Frogs are much easier than many other types, and that mtn bike clipless shoes are comfier too.
For me, it's been a personal decision. I work at home and I'm often hopping on and off my bike at any given time of day to do errands, shop, perhaps spontaneously combining errands with a 20 mile road ride, meet someone for lunch on my bike, go to the PO, dentist, etc. I always ride directly from home, I don't drive to a destination in order to ride like many bikers have to do- so the idea of having to change my shoes or boots when I want to jump on my bike (and then possibly having to haul the change of shoes around on my bike too) is a real turn off for me- especially when it's dreadfully cold out. I see many of my friends spend an awful lot of time on their various clipless 'issues' and changing shoes constantly. More power to them!
For me all that seems needlessly fussy and just doesn't fit into my particular lifestyle. I am totally happy and comfortable wearing my favorite everyday shoes and boots on my bike. In fact, on most days literally half of what I wear for the day is already bike-ready...wool leggings, merino turtlenecks and Ibex Shaks....most times all I need to do is pull some padded shorts on right over my wool leggings and throw on a hi-vis vest to be instantly ready for a ride. I like it that way, I just don't feel I want to add changing into special biking shoes to the preparations of getting on my bike. I know you must understand.
Sometimes I feel I should never contribute to clipless discussions, since it always winds up with people assuring me I would embrace them joyfully if I'd only try them. (not meaning you here)
My name is Lisa and I rejoice in being clipless free!

Totally understood, Lisa! I am very envious of your lifestyle and wish I could bike so many places right from my home! I hope to live in such a place someday when I am retired and be able to be car-free or as close to that as possible. I agree that your shoes and Powergrips make total sense in your situation.

And I don't think you should stop contributing on clipless threads, since you offer an option that a new rider might not even be aware of. I think Powergrips could be a good interim step for someone who wants to go clipless but is fearful initially, just to give them the feeling of being attached (kinda!) to the pedal.

There are, as we always say here, different strokes for different folks, and none of them wrong.

[kfergos]

I second (third?) the Crank Bros. pedal option. They don't have a tension adjustment, but they're extremely easy to clip in/out of to start with, and as you ride, the loosen up a bit. I also agree that practicing while stationary is good; I spent quite a while just sitting on my bike, clipping in and out, before I tried going on the road.

I also have found that I feel safer and I enjoy riding more with the clipless pedals than with toe clips, for the following reasons:

1. Your clipless shoes don't usually have laces, so that eliminates the whole "did I tuck my laces in?" concern
2. My Crank Bros. eggbeaters are actually easier and more intuitive to get out of than regular toe clips. The motion -- twisting your heel out -- is one you're going to make anyway when putting your foot down, whereas pulling your foot backwards to remove it from the cage is an extra step.
2.a. They're also easier to get in to from a stop. Just press your foot down and in, rather than having to flip your pedal upright and get your toe in real quick.
3. You get better control and more power when clipped in. If hills play any part in your riding, seriously consider continuing to give clipless pedals a try. They give you that ability to pull up and make a full circle with the pedals that is lacking even with cages.
4. The stiff sole supports your foot better than, say, a flexible tennis shoe sole. This means you don't waste energy keeping your foot stiff, and it also means when you stand up on the pedal, it's supporting your whole foot securely.

[DMB]

Talk about dumb. Took me a while to figure out how to get back here. More great posts and suggestions, thank you all so very much! Well, I guess my biggest fear of going clipless is an injury. I'm enjoying this way too much and an injury would probably send me into a deep depression if I couldn't ride every day. I'm also old, and an injury would take forever to heal. Seriously. Riding has become an addiction, and I don't care - as far as I'm concerned it's a good one to have.
Anyway - many of you are mentioning "clipless is especially good for hills" - well, I'm in southern CA, Canyon Country........and you might as well call it Hill City. My rides have been limited to where I can go because of my bike and the hills. I've been test riding a lot of bikes but because I'm small (5'1, 115#) they're giving me all these WSD bikes to try and it's like....WHERE'S THE BIKE?? they're tiny, squirelly, wiggly - and these are the Intermediates, not entry level bikes. I'll just have to keep looking. So - I'm thinking of putting narrower, slicks on my Raliegh Venture 7 speed bike for now - and going to clipless - hopefully, less friction, more speed and easier climbs, no? Going to REI to see if they have the frogs and the Cranks? that were mentioned. I'm pretty sure I can return the shoes. thanks again everyone!

[VeloVT]

Don't assume that you automatically need a WSD bike because you're small. If you have a relatively long torso, you may be better on non-WSD bike if you can find one small enough.

I have noticed that a lot of WSD bike come stock with very tiny stems. (80mm and smaller sometimes). This can make a bike twitchy feeling -- you might pay attention to that and ask if you can try a bike with a stem that is 90mm or so (I would guess most of the bikes in your size won't come stock with anything much longer than that). Remember that this is something that is easy and inexpensive to change. What you might find on WSD bikes that might be important for you -- short-reach shifters and shorter cranks.

But otherwise, fast bike + quick handling = good ! With the 5-10 lb weightloss and lots of extra gears, you'll fly up (and down!) those hills!

[DMB]

thanks Liza, so much to think about and learn..........what an adventure!