Dessert

Well, I thank everyone for your comments. There are too many good ones to quote them all. I have done the required leaning on the wall and practice. I have ridden an hour in the driveway and a little ways down the road clipping in and out too. I have the hang of it and really like the feel of pedaling while clipped in. I just need more time in the seat and hopefully it will become second nature.
LBS didn't carry shimano pedals and since I wanted them to get me started with the fit and pedals I agreed to the Mavic pedals. They are not adjustable and LBS says that no one changes the adjustment anyway so it wasn't necessary for pedals to be adjustable.
I have nothing to reference them to so I will just try and learn to clip out as well as I can. Hopefully there will be no zero mph falls.

cfcdjb

I'm 61 and just started riding late last year. Had Speedplay lites installed on the bike when I bought it. Took a couple falls, feels really stupid. Like one poster already said, don't wait till the last minute to unclip, you might be too late. Would not go back to anything else at this point.

Nightshade

One of the hazards of free speech is that some important viewpoints get repeated.

Steve Sawyer

One other piece of advice - one that I often don't follow as often as I should, and at least once I regretted it. Coming up to a stop, do NOT just unclip one foot. It's so easy as you come to that complete stop for you to shift your balance slightly toward the foot that's still clipped - and down you go (feeling stupid as you go down).

fietsbob

I cannot tell if you got a good fitting shoe..
theres a big difference if your feet are happy in a shoe , or not.

loose and comfortable ,vs tight and performance focused ..

never had a need for road race style shoes I couldnt walk in (Think that is the OP Topic)

I have clipless (Time ATAC)pedals and several shoes , I havent put them on a Bike in Years.

Ergon platforms & Faux Keen sandals .. & no Ambitious high mileage daily goals..

YMMV..

noglider 

So you have no advice but just wanted to post anyway?

Dessert

Now this is good advice. I had already figured that one out. I was practicing releasing one foot when I came to a stop and almost leaned the opposite direction.
Said to myself "clip out both feet until you have this mastered"!

Steve Sawyer

And there are those who take advantage of a free and open forum to repeatedly insist that everyone else conform to their personal tastes, and mocking others when they exercise their freedom of choice by doing (and recommending) what feels right to them.

Steve Sawyer

Even AFTER you have it mastered!!

Dessert

You're right.
Hey I see you also have a Secteur Elite. I haven't gotten on the road yet with mine but it sure feels good so far. I have owned two road bikes that I purchased used and they didn't fit quite right so got rid of them and decided on the Secteur because I just enjoy riding and this bike is built for that. I wanted the right fit and clipless pedals and shoes so I'm ready to take on these back roads around here since I'm retired.

DnvrFox

I have never unclipped both feet in 15 years and don't plan on starting now. I know no one besides you who does stop this way.

Walpurgisnacht

I've noted @Nightshade 's crusade-like campaign against clipless pedals over their safety, and don't really agree with his approach... but I find myself also arguing against clipless, in a sense.

It seems like the cycling world pressures people into clipless. Look into pedal options and you're either getting clipless, those plastic starter pedals, or huge BMX-style pedals marketed toward BMXers and mountain bikers. In other words, you're either stuck at the beginner stage, you're mixing the wrong pedals with the wrong cycling application... or you're clipless. Add to that the fact that clipless is said to have many benefits to cycling performance, and it makes for a very obvious upgrade path.

I tried clipless for one long ride and decided it wasn't for me. I posted about my experience here (on the hybrid forums) and was interested when someone mentioned that my notions of the benefits of clipless were largely untrue. Mind you, the notions I held were things I'd heard repeated throughout websites and other people talking. There's a fair amount of convincing evidence to dispute many of these benefits; you just don't hear about it, and have to do some light searching for it.

My view (and why I'm posting) is that clipless is a personal decision, but there's a lot of hype surrounding benefits that aren't real. If someone wants to try it or if they find that they prefer it, that's wonderful and they should keep at it. If anyone has even the slightest apprehension about it but feels pressured into it by the cycling community and market, know that it's OK to stick with standard platforms, and that you're not missing out on earth-shattering performance gains. I felt pressured based on the talk of the performance gap between clipless and platforms, and it seems that the OP was pressured into it when his LBS installed clipless pedals onto his bike. In hindsight I can say that it's silly - just do what you're comfortable with, and what makes you happy. If it's clipless, that's fine, but know that it doesn't have to be clipless.

Steve Sawyer

Amen.

It is a personal preference. Do what you're comfortable with, and let others do the same.

camelopardalis

When I started using clipless pedals, I practiced on the spinning bike in the gym. A lot easier than trying to balance on a doorway or risking falling on an actual bike.

dachshund

I agree with you! There's definitely peer pressure. If someone showed up in tennis shoes and flat pedals in the group I used to ride with, we would assume they were beginners, or not serious. I've held myself back when the forum discussions roll around to "yeah, you'll fall, we all do....". To me that's complete BS. I shouldn't put anything on my bike that will make me fall. If you're an experienced rider, then you have a good chance of knowing where the cleats should be, and whether or not they improve pedaling. And if they feel good, then great! Putting a new rider on clipless pedals could prevent them from developing a proper pedaling technique, and at worst can cause problems if they're set up wrong. There's enough to get used to riding for the first time, adding clipless for a new rider is an awful idea. It does benefit the bike stores, though. :-)

Rowan

Unclipping just-in-case is good for getting some one-legged pedalling going, as well, to maintain momentum.

And toe overlap on the front wheel can also be a bit disconcerting when slow manoeuvring, and especially on a fixed gear!

Jim from Boston

A neat trick I learned from Miss Kenton who observed and queried Bike Forums about it was that on the Tour de France, the riders extended their knee outward going into a turn on that side, seemingly counter-intuitive to maintain balance.

At the end of my commute at my destination, I have to do a 90° left-hand turn followed immediately by a right hand hairpin turn of 180°. So as I slow down for the first turn, I unclip my right foot, and widely abduct (laterally extend) my right leg, which notably stabilizes me on my slow rightward hairpin turn. Then I glide right up to the entrance without dismounting until I arrive.

It's a smooth graceful ending, and as I arrive I sometimes kiddingly ask other pedestrians to hold the door open so I can roll right in.

Steve Sawyer

I've never felt that, but I started using clipless when I rode a SWB recumbent (in which case they're almost mandatory - don't know how you'd ride one of those without being clipped in!), so I wouldn't be aware of any "pressure" to go clipless.

I know I'll recommend that people try clipless as I find them to be a benefit in my cycling. I'm not a racer, but I like the extra power for climbing, accelerating and the fact that my foot is always positioned correctly on the pedal. Others (my brother, for example) don't care for them. I agree that they're not for inexperienced riders (not even toe-clips IMO). I have pedals that can be ridden with non-cleated shoes (they have a "platform" side) which I'll use on occasion for a casual ride or a trip to the store, but I really feel weird without being attached to the pedals, so I have to get "comfortable" riding without clipless on occasion!!

Jaeger99

Amen to that.

GravelMN

My experience is limited but here is my 2 cents worth:

I started with Shimano SPD dual sided pedals and MTB shoes with single-release cleats. It took me a couple hours of intentionally clipping in and out frequently while riding around quiet residential streets to get the hang of them and I had a couple of failed clip outs over the next few weeks. BUT I have come to blame a lot of the (minimal) problems I had on a lack of knowledge on my part rather than on the clipless system.

I have since gone to multi-release cleats and learned to set my pedals' retention springs to the lightest release setting that prevents accidental clip outs. I position the cleats to ensure intuitive clip-ins so I never have to look down to position my feet. I found the sweet spot in the retention setting so that I never have an unintentional clip out but can easily step off the pedal, without intentionally clipping out, in any direction except straight forward or back. I can even clip out pulling straight up but with a bit more force than I generate on the upside of a pedal stroke. There is absolutely no way, short of a freak mechanical failure, that I would remain clipped to the bike in an accident. When I come to a stop all I feel is a slight click as I put my foot down sideways and when I start again, my first downstroke results in a slight click back in without any fiddling around.

IMHO, most people who have tried and hate SPD clipless probably never adjusted or at least properly adjusted the retention springs, leaving the middle of the road factory settings, and/or used single release cleats that used to come with just about every SPD shoe. If I had known then what I know now, I probably would have adjusted to clipless in much less time and avoided a couple of Arte Johnson style tip overs.

You can certainly ride without any form of pedal retention, and I do so often, but I can say that properly adjusted SPD provides some advantages with virtually no downside.

When you first get SPD pedals, read the instructions and understand how to adjust them, same with the SPD multi-release cleats (which thankfully are being included with many shoes these days). Like any newly installed equipment, take a bit of time practicing and dialing in the adjustments with the bike sitting still and supporting yourself with a hand on a fence or post. Work with cleat position and retention adjustments until you can clip in and out smoothly and intuitively, this shouldn't take a lot of time. If you need someone from the LBS to help you they will usually be happy to do so. It really is a short learning curve until you will clip out easily without any conscious thought at each and every stop or even if you get into a situation where you have to dab a foot down quickly.

I can't speak to any other retention systems as I have only used SPD with dual sided pedals and MTB shoes.

Nightshade obviously doesn't like ANY clip system, which is his choice and he has every right to his opinion. But I disagree that clipless retention systems are ONLY for racers or wannabe racers. I find advantages to them for everything from no-drop group rides, charity centuries, fitness/training rides, commuting, MTBing/Gravel Grinding, or just plain pleasure riding. I'm happy to ride the flats of my dual sided pedals in athletic or light hiking shoes, but certainly don't find that any safer or more comfortable than clipping in.

Dessert

Thanks for the comments. I appreciate all of the variety of comments on this thread. I have been riding bikes a lot in my lifetime and since my retirement in 2011, I have been riding more frequently for exercise and enjoyment. This is my third road bike since retiring, that I wanted fit to me and I requested the clipless pedals because I understand that they improve the riding experience and add to the pedaling efficiency etc. I posted my questions because this is my very first experience with clipless pedals and I was wondering if others had experienced the same thoughts when they started out with the pedals.
My concerns were really about the Mavic pedals because I was having trouble clipping out of them. I was wondering if this was normal compared to other brands. I have no reference on that. I have since discussed this with the LBS and they say that this in normal learning curve for clipless and with more time in the saddle I will become more comfortable with clipping out.

capejohn

Desert: You started this post two days ago and my guess is that your pretty comfortable now using clipless. Don't put too much into the mechanics of using them. Clipping in and out will just be something you do naturally and looking back at this post will bring you a chuckle or a head shake. Now go out and race like it's 1999. 8>)

Jim from Boston

I've gotten into similar tussles about using rearvew mirrors (I'm markedly pro-mirror).

So am I a good guy, or a bad guy?

Dessert

OK, thanks capejohn

Terrierman

Comfort and safety both come to mind.