Hey all, couple of newbie questions. Firstly, Im on an extremely tight budget so please try and avoid suggesting I get xyz pedals at £100 a set :-)

1. The bike I purchased had strap pedals, they were awefull, I quickly swapped them for non strap pedals, but now need to looka t clipless ones. I ended up going cheap and purchased Exlistar EPS-R pedals, they came with the shoe clips. My question is, I know how to clip the shoes in and how to get them back of with enough speed to not fall off the bike, but is there a tip as to how to clip them back in fast, I find it a little fiddly to get them back in at first push off?

2. I think my bike only has the standard basic 18 gears. I dont want to go to the extreme expense of a new rear hub, wheel, etc to increase the gears, is it possible to change the front derailer instead, mine has 2, would 3 work? what would I need to change and would this be cheaper than doing the rear.

Many thanks all. I am sure I have missed out some important information.