Well I did today. I clipped in for spin class. These bikes have dual pedals with adjustable cages on one side and SPD clips on the other. I clipped in and did just fine in the class.

Cycling ended and it was time for cool down and stretching. Except one foot would not come out of the pedal. Twist, turn, pull, push, all to no avail. No one even knew I had a problem. They were busy with their things. Finally, the instructor came over, grabbed the pull tab on the shoe heel and helped me twist. Free at last!

Wonder why. The pedals they install on spin bikes usually suck.

Got me new pedals: 105s SPD-SL. I might need help clicking out. Wonder how many motorists would be willing to help

They now have SPD-SL "Light Action" pedals. They clip in and out a little easier than the standard ones.

I was using SPD's for a couple of years; no problems.
Just switched to Speepdplays because my MTB shoes
wore out. Check your cleats, maybe a screw(s?) is
loose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFyXx...6zPoymgKaIoDLA

My wife is indifferent to any routine maintenance. She once had one bolt take a vacation from her cleat and another one got a bit loose. The result was that no matter how far she turned her ankle, the shoe just rotated on the cleat and didn't release. Fortunately, it was only one shoe and she was able to get the other foot out and deal with it.

I once had trouble getting out of my pedal, but it was an extraordinary circumstance. We had just completed a 135 mile ride from the Central Valley to the Sonoma Coast. As I pulled up into the hiker/biker campground my bike became stuck in deep sand that I hadn't seen. Unfortunately, I was using the original Cinelli clipless pedals. These required the rider to reach down and push a button to allow the cleat to slide back out of the pedal. Needless to say, I hadn't yet pushed the button. I did find out that when one falls down the ground will push the button.

Not my pedals.

My cleats are fine.

I had that happen last night. My gym put in new spin bikes, same deal with SPD cleat one side, platform w/ toe clip on the other.
I wore the same bike sandals I use on my road bike.
I got the Right foot out OK, but on the Left side I was almost ready to take my foot out of the shoe to escape. I had to twist my foot so hard to clip out that it hurt my ankle.
Bikes are Keiser M3 Indoor cycles. https://mseries.keiser.com/m3.html .

Most pedals allow adjustment to how much force it takes to unclip. Bring some very small allen wrenches to class next time. Look on the pedal for a small adjustment screw and back it out as much as you can. Humorously I also had a screw come loose on my shoes once and it took me down...twice. I didn't realize what had happened the first time when my shoe wouldn't unclip. Got back on the bike, took off, tried to unclip but my shoe twisted and nothing happened. Over I went for the second time.
Between the temps, the wind and the snow I haven't been outside on my bike for the last two weeks but I have also been spinning regularly. Glad to hear you're spinning and continuing your recovery.

My personal experience (in my area at least) is that motorists are actually very helpful to bicyclists lying on their sides. (Once they stop laughing at least. ).

Good thing the instructor was paying attention.

I've had new pedals and cleats, that I didn't adjust before using, and found that getting my right foot out the first time was NOT easy. Thought I was going to renew my membership in club Tombay, but remembered I have a left foot - which saved me from the embarrassment of taking a nose dive in front of my neighbors.

Just give me a call on your cell phone. I will be right there!

I always use the toe clips on the spin bikes. Saves on what I carry, as I often do other things after spinning where I need tennis shoes.

Only when I've fallen over and wound up like a road kill armadillo, on back with cranks towards the sky, have I had de-cleating issues. Always managed to get out before help arrived.

So far, no problems with the bikes in my spin studio. The pedal adjustments almost seem too loose to me, and that may be the case from frequent use. That would be an odd feeling...not being able to get out of your bike at the end of the class. Most of our instructors probably wouldn't know what to do to help. They don't road bike it seems.

Aren't they all?

My wife had a problem unclipping, it turns out the her pedals where filthy, which caused the mechanism to not work very well. I hosed them down with WD-40(to clean them, don't get excited), lubed all the pivots, and the worked like almost new. I asked her, did you notice them gettting worse? Of course she started having problems weeks before, but waited till she almost twisted an ankle getting out to tell me.

That's usually a screw loose or missing in the pedal. Very unlikely that someone adjusted one pedal to a very high release. When that happens, whoever's in charge of spin bike maintenance fixes it. Much more common at our gym is dead batteries.

Maybe 20 years or so ago I did a ride with some mismatched pedals and cleats. They wouldn't release no matter what I did. Eventually I found a straight stretch of road so I could reach down and untie my shoes. I don't remember what I had to do to get the shoes and pedals separated.

This past summer I came up to a group that was stopped by the road. I also stopped and asked if everything was alright. I turned out an SPD screw had rusted through on a woman's shoe and she was hopping around in a shoe and one stocking foot with the shoe still on the pedal. After 10 minutes, where we all, unsuccessfully, had a go at getting the shoe off the pedal, one member of the party rode back to get a car and their ride for the day was over for the day. Even simple things can end a ride.

Still getting used to clipin pedals but yes I've been here . At the end of a long climb needed a break, got my left foot out no problems...didn't notice the camber of road was still steeply to the right...down like a felled tree. Took a while to get out. Had a nicely bruised thigh to ride 20 miles back with...sometimes I wonder if it will ever be so automatic that I don't have to worry about this

Good point. I once lost a screw on a SPD cleat and couldn't get unclipped. I had to remove the shoe first.

I see, you have the ground clearance, on the stand, to not scrape toe clips on the upside down pedals,

something rare on over the road bikes,


The adjustment to lessen the release grab is on their pedals..

can you bring a pedal wrench and a set of pedals you use on the street?


if you loosen the release tension , the next user in the spin class may just tighten it up again.
you may have, just inherited their adjustment preference.

Actually it was hard for me to unclip my right foot too but I am much stronger on that side. I don't know if the tension is the same on both sides or if it varies between the various spin bikes. I'll check on my next visit. On my road bike, I have the tensioning set very loose.
Most of the people in the class are not wearing bike shoes .: are using the toeclips side.
There is a sign on the wall prohibiting removing pedals or saddle. I don't know that the attachments and hardware for either are compatible with a "real" bike saddle or pedals anyhow. I would love to have my own saddle.
The pedals are higher off the ground than on a road bike so there is plenty of clearance for the toe clips if the user is on the SPD side of the pedal.

there is that approach .. less likely to do a slip fall on the hard floor too,.. as opposed to like the

SPD-R cleats and the pontoon thing on road shoes . on a polished floor likely quite a slippery situation.

I use my Crank Brother Egg Beaters on my skinny tire bike. Pinned flats for me on the Fat Tires only.

Roadies do tend to give a disparaging glance at the egg beaters. I know they are really just jealous.

On group rides good old spuds are the most common pedals I see. The only reason I'm trying out SPD-SLs is because of hotfoot. Nothing wrong with Egg Beaters. You might be able to beat the egg on my face if I can't click out in time with my fancy new pedals.