About a month ago I purchased my first road bike and knew at some point I would want start riding clipped in. After I got my bike I started researching about clipless pedals and ended up going with an SPD style since most everything I heard and read said that would be the easiest to learn with. I then bought a good stiff pair of shoes and installed the cleats, sat on my bike to practice clipping in and out, then road on some grass, and took a couple of short rides. After my practice I went for my first clipped in ride yesterday. What a difference, I felt like my pedaling was much more efficient and controlled. I even felt that I expended less energy on the ride than on previous rides in street shoes. I never thought I would notice such a difference. As I get more comfortable riding clipped in I will increase the tension on pedals. Now I understand what the hype about clipless is. I wish I would have started riding clipless years ago on my mountain bike.

Great job!! Now, you will, eventually experience the dreaded fall over at a stop sign/light in front of EVERYONE. Anyone that has switched to clipless pedals has done it. Once done, you have become a real cyclist.

Almost happened yesterday, but not at a stop sign. I had to stop real quick because of someone stepping out right in front of me. Luckily I was able to unclip and not hit anyone.

You will get to the point pretty quickly where unclipping becomes second nature, and getting your foot down isn't much slower than if your were riding clipless.

It's not a matter of IF.....but WHEN this will happen

On mountain bikes the prime time for a complete inability to unclip and a big fall is when you a) stall out on a big hill; b)get into slick mud or slippery roots. Enjoy! 😉

All my bikes are SPD pedals except the fat bike. Once you get use to them you are hooked.

My first time I made it along the sidewalk to my corner and tried to free myself like I was using cleats and toe clips. Wish I had a video of me grabbing the stop sign pole and sliding to the ground letting out an expletive as a father and his young son walked by.

Check your cleat bolts the end of this week. Most of my three stooges dismounts have occurred because a bolt was loose and I couldn't clip out.

I plan on it. I check them yesterday after my ride and I had to tighten them.

Totally forgot that I once lost two of three from one shoe. I couldn’t unclip one foot. Fortunately, there was a bike shop near. I rode to it. Someone held open front door. I skateboarded up to the service area. A mechanic loosened my shoe so I could get my foot out of it. Pried the shoe out of the pedal with a screw driver and replaced the bolts. Most embarrassing.

Even though the guy at the LBS tried to talk me out of SPD and into something else that is what I did as well. Turns out I think he was right or it didn't matter or something. I'm not sure. But three years later I still have the SPDs even though I tell myself I'm going to get some "proper", as the guy at the LBS called them, road pedals. And don't worry about the skinned knees that are sure to come at some point, being clipped into clipless pedals is worth it as you have seen.

Ok, was this line intentional? 😂

LOL! Thanks for posting this story.

Yes and No you get hooked to SPD because of the efficient pedaling and your shoes are literally hooked into the pedals.

Clipless is great. You will get used to it and as everyone has said, you'll come to a spot somewhere when you lean the wrong way and can't get a foot out and fall over. Don't fight it, just hope it's a soft landing.

If you are desperate, the screws that hold in your bottle cages have the same threading as the cleats. I had to fix a woman's shoe during an Alley-Cat I was working. She was able to finish the event.

Years ago I talked a friend into riding clipless the first time on a 65 mile ride. He was very nervous about it and afterwards said he couldn't imagine riding flat pedals again. I almost fell over last week riding too slowly through a deep puddle with floating ice chunks. That was unpleasant.

Telling yourself that you will eventually fall over because of clipless pedals increases the likelihood that it will happen. Self-fulfilling prophecy.
Doesn't happen to everyone. I've been lucky enough - knock on wood - to have never had a clipless-related fall. Switched to SPD in 1998. Knock on wood.

Congrats on joining the SPD club, sjammer :-)

I am a rookie who bought cycling shoes and SPD cleats about 10 years ago, and only used them a few times before getting away from cycling for various reasons.

I just clipped into brand new Shimano PD-M324 pedals on my new Cannondale this past Sunday for a 12-mile ride. My speed and efficiency was so noticeably improved that I almost felt like I had upgraded to an electrically assisted hub !

Even though I had practiced disengaging from the pedals about 20 times per side before setting out on the ride, I had two instances of not freeing a foot as I slowed to stop signs, and my mini-epiphany was realizing that to get out of trouble, I only needed to pedal a couple more strokes to gain some momentum and try again at twisting my foot out which I did manage to do.

Technically it’s “clicked” in...not “clipped” in. They’re clipless pedals. Ya can’t clip into something that doesn’t have clips.

Dan

Likewise - switched to Looks in '96, practiced clicking in & out propped in a doorway for a couple of minutes, then headed out. Bit of a wobble at an early stop sign, but that was it. The "clipped-in topple" is common, but not inevitable.