amrmatt

I recently bought a new Specialized Spctuer. I love the bike. I decided to make the jump to clipless. So after an hour of trying on shoes I walked out with a pair of Giro Junctions and Shimano m520 pedals.
I was a bit scared of falling after the horror stories I have read. So my method was just to get on and go. Rode 5 miles first. No falls and no issues on the flat ground. Had some lunch and hit the road again. This time the 15 mile ride from hell ( thats my pet name for this particular route due to hills). I shaved alot of time off my best ever, and added 3 mph to my avg. The best part is the hills didnt hurt. I wheeled in the driveway and had plenty of go left. In fact the wife just called me to dinner. After dinner im doint the same route again. If you are considering clipless, just do it. You will love them.

Erwin8r

Great feedback, thanks! Now, pics, please...

jsigone

ditto

amrmatt

My bike.



My boys bike.


Us leaving out.

TrojanHorse

Ah, good for you getting your son out there with you! What kind of bike is he riding?

As for the clipless... the way people seem to fall is when they have to stop suddenly and their attention is 100% on something else. After a while, your leg will automatically know to pop out but you need to think about it for a few years.

The other way is you just get distracted and don't think about it and then semi-panic when you stop and you wrench your foot the wrong way and your cleat won't release.

The easy solution - always unclip with the same foot at lights/stops and always do it before you need to. If the light turns green, it's easy enough to clip back in and go.

Oh, the other problem people have is when the cleat doesn't positively click in and then you stand up to power through an intersection or something. Trust me, it's painful if your foot slips off the pedal. The easy fix there is always lift up to verify that your cleat is fully engaged.

Your fork looks very similar to my roubaix fork (does it have a carbon steerer? I wonder if it is the same fork) but the seat stays look very different.

Good luck out there and happy trails.

amrmatt

His bike is an Allez Elite comp. Very nice bike for the price I paid. Bought it new for 400. The shop gave it to me for what was left on the over due lawaway. My bike should have the same fork as yours. The Secteur is kinda aluminum copy of your bike. I wanted carbon but only had a grand to drop at the time. Only had it since thursday last week. I have over 130 miles on it now. Rides real nice. I did have the wheels gone over by a wheel builder here locally. I start a new job tomorrow so I will be limited to 20 mile rides during the week. So my milage will drop.

copswithguns

I am also just now into clipless pedals and shoes. 5 days on them and no falls yet. 1 almost fall, but I disengaged just in time to not fall. Night and day difference in my rides.

Podagrower

The proper term (coined by me) is "Clipless death pedals". I've fallen twice since I started using them last year, but I really do prefer the way they feel. I bought a pair of road shoes to go with them, but wound up with a pair of mountain bike shoes so I can walk around in them.

Jarrett2

My experience is the same. After riding without them due to fear for 1300 miles, I've clipped in the last couple hundred miles and like it much better. Yes, I've already taken a spill at a stop, but that inspired me to come up with a plan to not do it again I pedal in circles when I don't want to clip out, or if I need to stop, I clip out my right foot and turn my bars to the left as I stop and it leans me over onto my free right foot.

FrenchFit 

Clipless are useful, but there are negatives and I'm not talking about falling. I ride clipless on two bikes, other retention systems on others. For me, the negatives include that inescapable fact that your foot is locked into one position over the pedal for the duration of your ride, and I seem to move my feet on long rides to avoid hot spots. If your system doesn't offer much float, your knees may start complaining. And, I seem position my feet a little differently for climbing and sprinting, and with clipless you get one position.

Enjoy the experience, just don't think you need to be a slave to clipless. You might find a different retention systems works even better on a tourer, rando, commuter bike.

mprelaw

Something a lot of riders don't realize.

ClydesMoose

I got hot spots on the Shimano SPD pedals I used, and the LOOK Keos. They went away when I switched to the TIME iClic/Xpresso. For me, it had to do with the width of the cleat base on the pedal.

Now, if only TIME would toughen up their cleat material a bit.

jim p

I think that your kid is giving you the look. Like he is ready to leave some one in the dust.

I don't think that clipless is for X game riders but until I start X game competition I think that I will continue to use clipless road shoes.

I find that if I am getting a hot spot all I need to do is start pulling up with that foot a little more and the bottom of the foot cools down quickly. If I was extremely strong and was really putting the power to the pedals this might not work.