bhop

I was one of those people that thought clipless was dangerous on the streets, that it would make it harder for me to ride in traffic, not being able to get my foot out easily and stuff. My friend got a set of pedals and shoes for his mtb and then his road bike, so when I went for a ride with him, yesterday, I got to see how it all works, up close and personal, and after watching him get out of his so easily, I decided to give it a try.

So I picked these up from REI. Shimano M324 pedals. I wanted the platform side because I think there will be times when I don't want to put on my special shoes just for a beer run or in case my coworkers want to try popping wheelies in the office.. (it's happened). Today was my first commute with them and I think it was a good choice.

I guess I finally understand what all the fuss is about. I am still getting used to the feel, and my legs hurt in different spots than usual, but I suppose it'll all work itself out.





Shimano mountain shoes.. passed on the roadie style. Being able to walk is nice.

Epicus07

congrats! After switching a year and half ago i've tried to ride without them a few times and it is like night and day. I can't imagine riding without them. you will love the use of those accessory muscles.

Welcome to the club

remember that the cleat should be under the ball of your foot (the base behind your toes and in front of your arch) and that you can angle the cleat.
The benefit of turning the cleat off of center is that it can make it much easier to clip out. You don't need to turn your heel out as far to get it to eject.

Yan 

I have those identical shoes D:

bbeck

congrats I just ordered mine as well.

Boudicca

You realise you are hooked when you twist your ankle to unclip from regular platform pedals on a borrowed bike.

JeremyZ

So clipless pedals effectively give one more power, because one can also pull up, instead of just pushing down and pulling back?

How much more power would you guys say is availble, once the muscles are developed? (compared to just flat pedals without clips)

wildergeek

Not just push-pull. After a while, your legs will learn to spin your feet in circles, exerting force through the entire crank rotation. You have to concentrate to do it at first, but once you get it going, you'll immediately feel it.

Glynis27

OP, clipless is great. You will love it.
Part of the reason your legs hurt in other areas is because the pedals hold your foot in one spot and make you use one part of your muscle. With platforms, you can move your foot slightly forward or backward when part of the muscle gets tired. Also, when I switch between platforms and clipless, I need to adjust the seat height a bit. Make sure you have the cleat in the right spot too. When I first started with clipless, the LBS put the cleat WAY too far forward. It gave me toe/foot cramps and I lost some power. I rode like that for a year before I found out I could move the cleat back. Moved it back 1/2" and it made all the difference in the world.

njkayaker

Cause:

Effect:

===============

I like the clips on both sides.

tjspiel

Someone once described clipless to me as giving you a 10% boost when you need it. That wasn't based on any scientific measurements, just his feeling. It seems sort of correct. I don't notice much benefit when I'm just cruising along. Accelerating hard, sprinting, or climbing is when it helps me the most but as far as getting to work faster it doesn't make a real difference (for me). I like them enough that I wear them commuting but if I were forced to go back to platforms it would hardly be the end of the world.

sggoodri

I feel safer using my SPD shoes and pedals (same as OP's) because my feet seem to be less likely to slip off the pedals, particularly when riding over unexpected bumps while pedaling.

I've become so used to pedaling in circles that I have to deliberately pedal more carefully when I ride the platform side in sneakers so as to not slip a foot off. So perhaps another way to look at it is that my SPD use made my platform cycling less safe....but my preference is always to ride clipless.

atmdad

Exactly, once you get used to the spinning technique and get all your muscles used to working through the entire cycle you will find you can go just as fast or faster in a lower/easier gear keeping up a higher cadence. There will be less fatigue than mashing along in a higher gear.

It's good for SCR. Spot your prey, spin along to catch up, gear up and mash on the pass and breakaway, then gear down and spin away at a high cadence. They will never no what hit them.

Word +1, when I go from bike (n) strictly clipless pedals, to bike (n-1) combo platform/clipless in sneakers I catch myself doing the same thing.

Edit......

As for clipping in and out I haven't really had any problems, not to say I haven't looked completely silly falling over a couple of times. I keep the spring tension at the lowest setting. Never had a problem coming out while riding or clipping out at a stop. Just the few times when I was getting used to them have I fallen, oh yea and a few weeks back on a ped busy mup when I should have been unclipped and I got stuck with nowhere to go but flat

hairnet

hehe, when I rode platforms for the first time in a while I kept pulling my feet up off the pedal, at the top of the circle. But I don't think clipless makes platforms less safe. It took me 5 minutes to get used to platforms again.

I don't think you should angle the cleat for that reason because it can force your foot into an unnatural position. You angle the cleat so your foot sits on the pedal most naturally and comfortably. My right foot tends to point outward so I have to angle the cleat inward to have my foot point the way it likes to.

AndrewP

Do you have any trouble getting the right side of those pedals? I think they should come with movable reflectors which you can switch around according to style of shoe. Then the right side would always be facing towards you.

Seattle Forrest

I went clipless a week or a week and a half ago. Like you, I'm finding soreness in muscles I didn't even know existed, although that's more or less gone away. My story is a bit different, though; I've been using toe clips for at least ten years. Suddenly, a couple months ago, I started getting this awful pain in the side of my left knee, so bad that I almost couldn't twist in and out of a car for the next few days. Turns out my foot was at just the wrong angle, and after cycling 75 miles like this, I probably gave myself a bout of tendinitis. So, now, the clipless hold my foot exactly where it should be, and my knee thanks me for it. Having used cages for so long, clipless is very intuitive.

While this has never happened, I've always been worried about hitting a bump or something, and one of my feet slipping sideways off the pedal, which might crash me. The clipless setup ( and even good cages ) prevent this. But you need to strap yourself in tight to the clips, and if you do that, getting out of them can be a lot more difficult than clipless. Honestly, the biggest problem I've had adjusting was getting my feet in.

Oh, yeah, and as atmdad said, they're great for Silly Commuter Racing. Even if they advance you on the food chain.

There's a bit of extra power always, but the strongest boost is more like "brake glass in case of emergency." Hills that used to be annoying are barely noticeable. ( Ass-Kick Hill is still going to take a lot out of you, though. ) Flats can be about the same as without them if you're trying to go at a slow, relaxed pace, but I'm finding that I get to and from work ( and other places I go ) more quickly with them.

My quick and dirty number is that I seem to go about 25 % faster at the same heart rate, now that I've got clipless. That's not based on an exhaustive survey, though, only on having an HRM and speedometer on my handlebars, and getting pretty used to how I ride.

bhop

Well, almost crashed today but my feet came off the pedals without even thinking, so i'm convinced clipless are just as safe as regular pedals. A van was stopped in front of me, so after slowing to nearly a stop to make sure it was safe, I stood up to go around, i guess my back tire hit a wet patch as I was leaning and off the saddle.. so no weight on the back + wet patch + leaning while accelerating + bald, nearly finished tire = the back tire slid out.. my feet came off by themselves, and I didn't fall, but my pump mount broke somehow..

It's been easy for the most part. I usually unclip at the same spot, relative to the rotation of the chainring, so when i put my foot back on the pedal, the clipped side seems to be there. In the few times that it's not, the platform side makes it easy to get up to speed, then when i'm ready I take my foot off the pedal for one rotation and the clip rotates around to the top again. That's the best I can explain it..

Epicus07

Last may my front tire found a hole while i was bombing down a hill on my mountain bike. I flew over the handlebars and broke my shoulder. The cool thing was that my cleats popped right out so i didn't bring the bike down on top of me ;P

gholt

You may want to change the bald tire. Also, it is good with clipless to practice in the park (so when you fall, it is on softer grass than the asphault / cement) where you speed up really fast and then slam on the breaks and see if you can clip out, so that you may be better prepared on the road.

The times I have seemed to fall have been when I stopped and for some reason the bike becomes unbalanced and because my foot is still cliped in, I go down.

Breathegood

I never really understood the "clipless peddles aren't safe" arguement. I was hooked from the first instant I tried it 15 years ago. I feel much safer and more connected to the bike with clipless. I use my legs and feet to manuver the bike as much as my arms and upper body. I have a real hard time riding on platforms. I feel like the only emergency manuver I can make on platforms is to bail.......that doesn't seem like a much safer option to me. I tried the dual purpose peddles on one of my older bikes and found that I never rode the open platform, ever, so there wasn't much point. If I am going to ride one of my bikes, I put on the appropriate shoes.

As for power and efficiency, imagine the transmission in your car only being half connected to the flywheel of the engine, and only being able to make use of every other revolution of the engine. Not very efficient. Work = Force x Distance. The energy used to propel you and the bike a given distance (Work) is the same, you are just spreading the force over an entire revolution (Distance) so half the force is needed.

echotraveler

Im still getting used to being stuck onto the bike...today i asked about loosening my clipless pedals..it seems when i installed the things i tightened them, when i was trying to make them looser...

Here's what i asked "to loosen do i turn the allen towards the +?" and they reply "no, turn it to the -" WHOOPS!

atmdad

Rule of thumb:

Turn the allen bolt all the way one direction. Clip in, if it is really hard or you can't clip out and fall over you turned it the wrong way.

Yea, for my various Shimano SPD's "-" direction loosens the tension

Seattle Forrest

So, how many people (who stop at red lights, at least when necessary) come to a light and balance, and how many come to a light and unclip a foot to stand on until you have a green?

neil

I often wonder - I see a lot of people comparing clipless to platforms, but I'm wondering what people who've gone from toe-clips to clipless feel about it. I've always used toe-clips, and they seem to offer the same benefits that the proponents of clipless mention. Also, I think that having to bring an extra pair of shoes everywhere I go would be a pain in the ass. So has anyone done that switch and thinks the benefits are worth it?

sggoodri

I unclip my left foot (the one I plan to put down) as I approach a red light or stopped traffic. I may slow down to a crawl to keep my balance without actually stopping if I think it is about to turn green. When I do stop, I make a decisive turn of the handlebars to the right just before I stop moving and need to put down my foot. This ensures that I lean turned my unclipped left foot. Afters stopping I move my right foot to the forward/up position and leave that foot clipped in.

To restart I stand up on the right pedal and sit down as I start moving forward. I clip in the left foot when it feels right, sometimes on the first revolution, sometimes later after I have passed through the intersection. The SPD/platform pedals are more forgiving than single-sided pedals for stepping on the wrong side of the pedal when starting.

tjspiel

Most people don't use the right shoes and don't cinch the toe clip straps down tight enough to see the same degree of advantage that clipless gives you. However, I'm the wrong person to ask because I never liked toe clips and clipless addresses my main pet peeves about them.

Toe clips have the advantage in that you can often use whatever shoe you'd wear anyway but some shoes don't work very well and you can forget about sandals. There are SPD compatible sandals and there are combination SPD/platform pedals that allow you to wear whatever shoe you like.