RythmRider

You have chosen wisely. I too went with dual sided SPD pedals, 530s on my road bike and 324s on my gravel grinder/mixed surface touring bike. I use the multi-release (silver) cleats and set my retention as low as possible without having accidental clip outs. I too like MTB style shoes with recessed cleats and pick styles that look like ordinary sports shoes. I recently picked up a pair of Shimano Click'r CT40s which are more generous in the toe box than any other shoe in this style and price range.

Now please excuse me for a moment:
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Nightshade, everyone has a right to his/her opinion but you are a panic monger when it comes to clipless. I've read your previous rants on the subject, including your descriptions of your "clipless" crash and your berating of riders and bike shop mechanics for ever even suggesting that there might actually be benefits to clipless pedals. Your comments about being locked to the bike, unable to escape the inevitable doom that befalls all clipless riders, show a lack of knowledge about clipless systems and are absolutely incorrect. I believe in one of your previous posts, you stated that you tried them once and that being "locked to the bike" caused you injury in a crash. Maybe you should have consulted one of those bike shop mechanics and learned to adjust your pedal retention . . . just a thought.

While I have not used every clipless system, with the proper selection and setup of an SPD clipless system You Are Not Locked to the Bike and can easily and instictively release in any direction except straight forward and straight back. The majority of individuals I have met with complaints about SPD being difficult to clip in or out have been using the outdated single release cleats (which are rapidly disappearing) and have had the pedal retention set way too high for their style of riding. Another common problem is not knowing where to place your cleats in relation to your foot and pedal. It takes about 15 minutes to educate them and make the proper adjustments. Every single person I have helped get properly set up has ended up liking clipless and failed clip-outs drop to zero.

I ride both with and without clipping in and can tell you that there is no additional risk from being clipped in when your cleats and pedals are properly adjusted. In some circumstances safety is enhanced by the aid in keeping your feet centered on the pedals. You can certainly ride without clipping in and I do so frequently. I personally don't think I get much performance benefit by clipping in except on sprints and steep hills. IMHO I do get some comfort, security and safety benefits so I choose to use them. If you don't . . . ride on my friend . . . but don't feed everyone inaccurate information about clipless being some kind of death trap.