Fear, fear, fear, plain old fear to clip and unclip. Advice please!

[Maye]

L-Bell,
Welcome to Team Estrogen Forums!! I'm Maye, the original poster who created this thread. I totally understand your dilemma since I was so afraid of the platform to clip-less conversion that I almost gave up road biking completely. I hated the feeling of my heart pounding and fear of riding the bike, it was frustrating. In this forum I found a great support system/group that told me that I don't have to use the clip-less pedals until I'm ready and gave the me the advice and techniques that were right for me and that I was looking for. Which I'm very THANKFUL!! In my opinion, road biking is very overwhelming (for me) at the beginning. A lot of things to learn. For example: bike handling, traffic laws, security and safety, how to change a flat, how to shift plus clip-less pedals, phew!! For me that was WAY too much. So after a lot of money spent on pedals (3 pair of Shimano's, one pair of SpeedPlay lights and one of the CrankBrothers one that I returned...sigh...have to sell some, I know) I decided to take it easy and that's when I found these pedals (see picture below). These are the Shimano's PD M-324 clip less/clip pedals. They are mountain bike pedals, I know :-) In my opinion these are the best pedals for somebody learning to clip/unclip. I used the platform side for around 100 miles to get to know the bike and to learn other important things about road bikes. For the last 20 miles I have been using the clip-less side (yay!) and I feel that this are perfect for me and my level of experience at this moment. I unclip when I know that I'm going to encounter people, cars, intersections, strollers, stop signs or other situations that I know I will feel nervous. I'm using mountain bike shoes with recessed cleats which makes easy to use the platform side as well. So no slippery cleats in the shoes when over the platforms or walking , which used to add another level of uneasiness to this whole ordeal. I'm probably an 80% confident with these pedals and I will keep practicing and riding until I feel that I can make the change to a more sophisticated clip-less system. But at my own pace and ONLY when I'm ready. In the meantime, I will keep riding

[L-Bell]

Just a belated thanks for the info, Maye - those look like a great convertible option. I did some practice on my own, in my neighborhood and on a nice newly paved parking lot, and am feeling MUCH better about the clips.

[Catrin]

Just a belated thanks for the info, Maye - those look like a great convertible option. I did some practice on my own, in my neighborhood and on a nice newly paved parking lot, and am feeling MUCH better about the clips.

Glad you are feeling better about the clips Bell! It has to become part of your muscle memory and that does take practice.

Regarding the convertible SPD pedals. My experience could be unusual, but I rode these for a few months last year and have quite mixed feelings about that. The clip side were fine, and were indeed the only SPD pedals I've not had problems getting in/out of.

The platform side however...I strongly disliked. They are metal, of course, and I found that my feet just wouldn't stay on the bear claw design - and that was with regular shoes. If I tried to go back and forth between sides on the same ride with my bike shoes with clips it was even worse as there was nothing there for the harder soles of my bike shoes to get a good purchase on. I moved from these pedals back to a good quality BMX pedal and my feet stay on those.

Eventually I put Speedplay Frogs on the bike I use for road riding and they are perfect for me. My knees love them (far better than SPD), and have never had a problem getting in/out of them outside of one time that I did something very stupid - but that was rider error

I still ride BMX pedals for mountain biking.

[prinessbeca]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for this thread. I too am learning clipless, and I've fallen (tipped over) more than a few times in the past couple weeks. I'm going to see if I can figure out how to loosen the spring thingies tomorrow morning, and go out there and practice practice practice my unclipping with the advise here. <3

[Maye]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for this thread. I too am learning clipless, and I've fallen (tipped over) more than a few times in the past couple weeks. I'm going to see if I can figure out how to loosen the spring thingies tomorrow morning, and go out there and practice practice practice my unclipping with the advise here. <3

Hi Becca and welcome to TE!
I'm getting better by the mile!! And yes, here you are going to find GREAT and valuable information. The forum members here, ROCK!

[Maye]

The platform side however...I strongly disliked. They are metal, of course, and I found that my feet just wouldn't stay on the bear claw design - and that was with regular shoes. If I tried to go back and forth between sides on the same ride with my bike shoes with clips it was even worse as there was nothing there for the harder soles of my bike shoes to get a good purchase on. I moved from these pedals back to a good quality BMX pedal and my feet stay on those.

Hi Catrin! Thanks for always sharing your experiences with us in this thread. I had a little bit of problems with the platform side when I used regular tennis shoes. Once I changed to the Mavic Scorpio MTB shoes, I had more grip on the platform. As you, I'm planning to change pedals once I have more experience with my road bike.

[Catrin]

Hi Catrin! Thanks for always sharing your experiences with us in this thread. I had a little bit of problems with the platform side when I used regular tennis shoes. Once I changed to the Mavic Scorpio MTB shoes, I had more grip on the platform. As you, I'm planning to change pedals once I have more experience with my road bike.

I just learned how to ride a bike 2 years ago for my 50th birthday and learned most things the hard way If my experiences can possibly help someone then I am happy to share them - even the more embarrassing incidents. I will be kind and won't share my initial failed attempt to start clipping in

[prinessbeca]

Well I've loosened my pedals so they're a LOT easier to get in and out of now, but it's definitely still a challenge. I'm still pretty scared to go anywhere near traffic, but I'm getting to be more confident when it's just me in an open area/parking lot trying to unclip. Still takes me a good 20 rolling feet to get BOTH feet out and actually come to a stop, so I have to plan ahead. I guess I just need to practice practice practice until I can someday do it instantly and stop right away?

Anyone else get their foot unclipped and then accidentally reclip it right away again? That's the trouble I'm having with my right foot. I get all excited that I got it unclipped, and then bam! It's attached again. Silly pedals.

[indysteel]

I'd say a lot of us--although this isn't universal--only unclip one foot, and the same foot at that, when we come to a stop. In time, it will become second nature.

[Owlie]

Well I've loosened my pedals so they're a LOT easier to get in and out of now, but it's definitely still a challenge. I'm still pretty scared to go anywhere near traffic, but I'm getting to be more confident when it's just me in an open area/parking lot trying to unclip. Still takes me a good 20 rolling feet to get BOTH feet out and actually come to a stop, so I have to plan ahead. I guess I just need to practice practice practice until I can someday do it instantly and stop right away?

Anyone else get their foot unclipped and then accidentally reclip it right away again? That's the trouble I'm having with my right foot. I get all excited that I got it unclipped, and then bam! It's attached again. Silly pedals.

You really only need to pick one foot to plant consistently, and unclip that one foot. It will become second nature. I used to have to unclip well in advance, but now I can nearly come to a stop before unclipping.
As for the accidentally clipping in:
What pedals are you using? I use SPDs with the single-release cleats (black) that came with the pedals. The way I avoid accidentally clipping back in is to rotate my foot slightly on the pedal so that the cleat and pedal can't "mesh". I can still push the pedal a bit if I need to, and I can clip back in quickly, but not if I don't want to.

[Maye]

Just a belated thanks for the info, Maye - those look like a great convertible option. I did some practice on my own, in my neighborhood and on a nice newly paved parking lot, and am feeling MUCH better about the clips.

Glad you are feeling better now. Let us know how it goes since I'm learning from everybody's experience here