I had tried a pair of Smarty pedals that had come with a Specialized mountainbike. They were awful, it took me a real effort and a lot of patience to clip in, and then I almost couldn't clip out. So I decided they weren't good for me and went back to my SPDs. SPDs are easy to use and they make me feel safe. Never had a problem with them. They worked well for me right from the start (= my very first day with clipless pedals).