Originally Posted by midgie
I had Time atac pedals and afterabout a mile, it was very difficult to unclip.At times I didn't think I would get out(needless to say,that scared the hell out of me) They have alot of float and no adjustable tension. Moved to Ritchey pedals not as easy to get into as the Times, but much easier to get out of. Problem, hotfoot and/or numbness. On to Ultegra road pedals, much bigger surface and less numbness, still practicing, definately easier to get out of. So yes, for me the amount of float had alot to do with clipping in and out.
I've never had a problem unclipping with Time ATACs. I use them on my MTB on technical terrain. I can release with inboard twist in addition to outboard twist. Note that with ATACs, the tension is unrelated to release angle. The ATACs have a free-float region (both angular and lateral) which is preset. After you leave the free-float, you hit spring tension which will try and bring your foot back to the free-float region. After exceeding a certain angle (13 or 17 deg depending on how you have positioned your cleats), you will release. The new generation of ATACs allow you to adjust the spring tension. However, adjusting spring tension does not change release angle. That's still done via cleat positioning.