Finally Clipless

[CR400]

Well all I finally did it, I got my clipless pedals put on and went for a ride tonight. I did fine, had no trouble getting unclipped but had some trouble getting in the first time. It seems to take a little more thought on getting in then I was thinking it would. Oh by the way they are speedplay x series. I love them, it was weird to stand and pedal and be able to move my feet around so much on the pedals. Although I suggest to anyone else going clipless for the first time, don't learn at night and on a road unless you have good balance. But I was desparate. I'm going to do a century tomorrow.

[RoadRaven]

Being clipped in to your pedal makes a world of difference... just remember that you have them when you go to stop and you'll be great
Enjoy the century tomorrow, looking forward to hearing about it

[anne_77]

I'm sure you'll love the clipless pedals. Good luck tomorrow! Be careful - at first I had a problem where I would fall on the opposite side of where I unclipped. Now I sometimes unclip both just to be sure if I'm in a dangerous spot.

[bikerchick68]

congrats on the new pedal system! It'll be interesting to hear how the century went... did ya feel like you had more power, more energy, better climbing, better speed due to the change??? Hope you have a great ride!

[CR400]

Well mercifully it didn't end up being a century. In fact not even close. I ended up only doing 30 miles. Which was fine by me because it was cold, I hadn't really rode in two weeks, and I set way to fast of a pace for myself early. I averaged close to 18mph for the first 10miles. Which riding rolling hills with no help that was a little fast, I noramally would average close to 17 for the same trip.

So I think the new pedals helped. Because I didn't have to worry about my feet slipping around on the pedals when I dig in to accelerate. Yes it did feel like I had more power. Also didn't have to worry about the pedals getting away from me when I got into the upper 20's like I used to.

[CorsairMac]

congrats on joining the ranks of the clipless and on your ride! Tell me about the cold - we've got freeze warnings out for tonight which means my commute tomorrow with be a tad nippy!

[Rakekay]

I haven't tried clipless yet -- I've only been riding for about three months. I'm planning on spending a good bit of the winter taking spinning classes at the gym, and I'm wondering if that would be a good place to learn to use clipless -- at least I wouldn't have to worry about falling over if I couldn't unclip fast enough.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Also, what kind of shoes would you recommend? Obviously I want whatever I buy for spinning to also work on my road bike, but that's just a matter of putting the right kind of pedals on my road bike come spring, right?

[makbike]

Congrats on the clipless pedals. I rode for nearly 20 years with toe clips before I made the big leap last year, under the watchful eyes of my boyfriend. He worked with me to make sure I was comfortable with them and once my confidence was "normal" I set out on my own. Well you guessed it, I fell on that ride. I was worried about my wrist (I landed on it) for my wrist had spent 6 weeks in a cast just a few months prior due to severe tendinitis. My wrist felt ok and I wrote it off as a stupid mistake on my part. However, 6 weeks later my wrist was really bothering me so I returned to the hand specialist and quickly learn, after viewing my own radiographs, that my wrist substained a fracture in that fall. Again, I sported a cast and I really felt stupid. As it was explained to me, falling is part of the rite of passage with clipless pedals and some fall harder than others.

Enjoy your new pedals and remember to unclip a foot before you stop!

[kiwi girl]

I haven't tried clipless yet -- I've only been riding for about three months. I'm planning on spending a good bit of the winter taking spinning classes at the gym, and I'm wondering if that would be a good place to learn to use clipless -- at least I wouldn't have to worry about falling over if I couldn't unclip fast enough.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Also, what kind of shoes would you recommend? Obviously I want whatever I buy for spinning to also work on my road bike, but that's just a matter of putting the right kind of pedals on my road bike come spring, right?

You'll get a bit of practice clipping in and out in spinning class, but co-ordinating stopping and unclipping and balancing is a bit different.

In terms of shoe types for spinning and getting clipless on the road bike it depends. You'll need to check what sort of pedals your gym has. The bikes at my gym have spd on one side, and clips/straps on the other side. I've heard other people on the site say some gyms have spd on one side and Look on the other side. You'll need to buy some cleats to use for spinning but then your pedals will probably come with cleats as well so you could always go for a different type. At this point the main decision you would need to make (if your gym has both pedals) is if you are going with a two hole or three hole drilling system - or get some shoes that are drilled for both.

I prefer spd type pedals on my road bike anyway - I have small feet and have problems getting out of look pedals or shimano road pedals. I've put spd's on my new road bike. The road bike snobs will probably scorn - but I see no point in putting something on my bike that makes riding less fun.

[CR400]

As far as going clipless first on a spin bike it's up to you. The other ladies are right though, you will not get the full lesson on clipless just by unclipping from a spin bike. It seems that the unclipping isn't hard, its the stoping and not falling over before you get out of your pedals. So even if you work out with the same pedal system all winter you plan to use on your road bike come spring you still might fall over stopping.

As far as pedals it is up to you really, my experience is limited. Plus I don't have to worry about clipping into a spin bike because I put my bike on the trainer for the winter, most workouts are done at home.

As far as shoes I bought Adidas which is compatable with just about any major pedal on the market. It seems most shoes are drilled for Look and SPD
It appears you have to be more careful buying shoes drilled for Time and Speedplay systems.

[CR400]

Makbike,

Ah sorry to hear that. Sounds like it was painful. Major bummer to have to wait six more weeks to get another cast off. Good to hear you survived and now can share that wisdom with others.

[On_yer_left!]

congrats, clipless wonder! They do make a huge difference, I think. And it's considered a time-honored rite of passage to do the I-forgot-to-unclip-slo-mo-crash at the intersection. A friend of mine warned me about that somewhat gleefully before my first road ride then proceeded to do just that midway through the ride. "Must be something wrong with my pedals..." was what I heard her muttering for the rest of the ride....

[short cut sally]

CR400, hope you continue to enjoy the clipless pedal system. When I first heard about the shoe/peddle system- thought to myself, how can that help me go up hills..(I am PATHETIC going up hills, I walk them and am proud of it).. What a world of difference they made. I bought mtb shoes/peddles d/t price and the fact that I still planned on walking up hills..after all, the salesman said, they were made a little bit more for walking than actual road bike shoes. Little did I know that something like that would improve my performance so much, that I am sometimes thinking maybe I should've gotten the road shoes/peddles to be more official but they work well for me. I think they are worth the investment and glad you seem to be enjoying them. Yes, I have had witnessed slow mo falls, not sure who laughs more..friends or myself. Enjoy and be safe on them..shelly

[Treckie]

Going clipless is the way to go for sure. There's a monster hill I climb each day and when I used toeclips, my heart montior would be screaming at me halfway up the hill. Since switching to clipless, it doesn't beep until I'm on the crest. Also, toe clips helps me stay in my target heart zone much longer. Instead of 50 minutes with toeclips, it's now 60 minutes with clipless. Much more efficient!! I've been fortunate (knock on wood) that I have yet to fall. I find them actually easier to get out of than the toeclips. I kept the toeclips so tight that it took a lot of tugging to get out. My mind just knew I would need time to do that, so I instinctively disengaged early on. Same thing goes with clipless. Just repetition...

[alpinerabbit]

My heart rate goes screaming whatever...

q: After trying boyfriend's spd's I think my looks are set too hard to unclip. I really have to wrench my foot sideways to get out. Do you think that may be a factor in my knee pain that I wrote about someplace else?

the spd experience was on his hybrid which I borrowed for some hill climbing training. Of couse it's got three rings in the front - I think I need that or, on his recommendation, a "compact" two-ring system. Hope yall know what I'm talking about. I think part of my knee pain comes from having to use the gears I have on climbs, which are just not small enough. (I think it is 39/27 max.)