Originally Posted by dutret
Were you using the multi release cleats? They are designed to pull out of in pretty much any direction but straight up. Even a slight lateral motion with your pull and BAM. I borrowed my dads shoes and used them with my pedals once.... bad idea.
Do you have keos or arcs? I had arcs and could pull out directly up at will and often when I did not will it too even with new cleats and the tension maxed.
My SPD cleats release in either direction. But I can pull hard enough to pull them out straight up.
My look pedals are deltas. I've never unintentionally pulled out of them. Even up to 1200W, as measured by my powertap. In my experience, that level of exertion in the SPDs frequently leads to unintentional pullouts. I was at my LBS trying to solve this problem. The shop owner gave me brand new SPD pedals and shimano cleats, and I could pull directly up and out some considerable fraction of the time when I tried to.