LynnH

I have the good fortune of having a Specialized Tricross bike to try out for a few weeks. It is my sister's and she was not going to be riding it for the next while (actually she is not all that happy with it), it has eggbeater pedals, so my shoes and cleats should be coming any day. I am thinking the intensive practice for a half hour is the way to go. I am very excited, but very nervous, too many stories of the biker ending up on their back, with the bike on top of them, very buglike!

gcottay

My wife learned in about sixty minutes and has had only one zero speed whoops since then. We set her pedals for low resistance and she practiced practiced practiced with me holding the bike until getting upclipped became easy and natural.

Way back when I first learned, I was not so clever but all the wounds are long healed. My only gripe with clipless is that I feel like a rookie when confronted with platforms.

maddmaxx 

Don't worry so much................most Club Tombay incidents don't make it all the way to your back..

donheff

I have been riding clipless for a few weeks now. I followed the defensive unclipping hints here and so far so good. I did have a couple of close calls including one where I unclipped right and then started to tip left like the garage incident posted further back. I have SPDs so I just use the platform side of the pedal when I unclip. In extremely slow, stop and go situations, I unclip both sides and ride on the platform sides of the pedals. I am glad I went with SPDs since they sound a lot more forgiving than some of the more advanced setups.

stapfam

Have the A520's and the M520's. Just got the A's on the new bike and I find them fantastic- but realised tonight that My right pedal rides cleat upwards and the left- Cleat downwards. I always clip in on the right and when I put the foot onto the left pedal- It is automatic that I catch the rear of the pedal with my toe- Push forward and turn it the right side up and clip in. It is Instant but a couple of occasions I have missed and had to pedal with the cleat downwards. When this happens- I lower my heel and this keeps the foot on the pedal.

I do still fall but this is mainly offroad but will happen on the black stuff some time. Years of experience I know but if you are going over. Keep the hands on the bars and feet in the pedals. Saves breaking an arm or leg in trying to save yourself. AND- I always wear a helmet and If I know I am falling- hands inboard on the bars- Knees and elbows tucked into the frame and Hope I do not slide too far.

barryflht

I took off a little early last evening in order to take advantage of one of the last beautiful afternoons before daylight savings time ends. I spent 20 to 30 mins riding in the neighboorhood, clipping in, stopping at each stop sign and unclipping, clipping in etc. Then I took off on a 45 min ride with no problems whatsoever. Once I got the hang of it, the efficiency of pedaling while connected is really very nice. It still takes a minute for me to clip in the second foot on some stops, but if I miss, I just keep pedaling on the spd's until I can coast enough to look down and get the proper alignment, then clip and go.

I knew I was making it a tad more difficult than it needed to be. Just a little quality time spent practicing by myself cured my ills. Thanks again to all who offered helpful suggestions.