Well, I finally took the plunge and bought a set of clipless (SPD) pedals and shoes over at Performance yesterday, and I can't believe the difference these things make when riding -- it's like I just gained another 30% of leg-muscle mass. Hills I was sluggish on I can just power through...wow.

Total cost was slightly under US $100, and that's including a set of streetable shoes.

Remembering to un-clip is important! My second crash for the month happened yesterday, on my way home from the bike shop, when I unclipped the right foot only at a stop sign. Came to a halt, looked around, and tried to get up on my left leg, which was at the bottom of the pedal travel. Felt the bike tilting, and couldn't really do much as I was clipped in on that side. I just toppled over like a deformed dredel. Only skinned a knee, and landed squarely on my pride.

Gave some peds a good laugh...

Ay-yi-yi. That's why I'm afraid to try either the clipless or the cages. I'm not the most graceful of bipeds and at my age I've noticed I don't exactly spring back up from a fall anymore. Call me a coward, but thus far this coward's epidermis is intact.

-Rob (shuddering at memories of non-cycling road-rash incidents)

There is no reason to fear clipless pedals. I remember thinking I'd fall over a million times, but guess what, I never did. I got in and out the first time and never fell. Of course it could still happen- sometimes pedals jam and you fall over. It probably even happens to Lance Armstrong. Somehow i've avoided that so far, go figure. And if you do fall over, so what/ It's not like you'll break anything- it's no worse than falling on the ice.

Matadon, congratulations on the new pedals! I'm glad you like them and can feel the difference.

RobCat, don't let your little fear keep you off of a new set of pedals. Once you get used to them, they're like second nature. And, the advantages are great, as Matadon said.

I know. I'm a big baby. I also have an abiding fear of looking like an eejit. I'll get over it and I'll eventually try them. Have to pace myself; at this rate I'm up to five trips to the shop and soon I'll have exceeded the price of the bike with the combined cost of bike junk!

-Rob (who used to say "I hate shopping." Hah!)

These pedal take a little getting used to. In my experience I have had some silly tumbles from being stationary. Once you get used to them they are really worth the effort. My wife took ages and even had me remove them and put back on conventional pedals. One day I forced the issue, put the looks back on and she persevered. Now she would not go back.

BUT!!! wear a helmet and if you don't buy one straight away!

hAVE FUN

A little encouragement here.

If uncoordinated yours truly can learn to use clipless pedals at age 59, most anyone can. And, yes, they are worth the effort to learn. I have had them on my road bike, and have had just two spills from them, both within the first month. Since then, no problem.

I learn to ANTICIPATE, ANTICIPATE, ANTICIPATE, and unclip quite early prior to getting into a difficult situation. I.e., if I am on a bike trail around children, I unclip, approaching intersections, going where I might catch some sand, etc.

If I can learn YOU can learn. Good luck.

(P.S. - I use toe clips on my mtn bike all the time, also. The reason for toe clips rather than clipless is that I want to have a bike that I can jump on at at any time without having to wear any special shoes except the tennies that I always wear).

.

Sage advice. I thank you sir, and all others who've taken time to respond to my fraidy-cat mewlings. Much appreciated!

Of course you'll all here about it the first time I shred face...

-Rob (Great...yet one more reason to visit the shop. If all the employees and patrons start yelling "Rob!" when I come through the door I'll have to seriously re-evaluate my spare time...)

The key to clipless is unclip before you lose to much momentum. I've seen several new clipless riders fall over because they wait until they are almost at a dead stop before unclipping. So to get one foot unclipped they lean to the opposite side to help balance the bike, but then when the foot does unclip, to much of the weight is on one side of the bike, and unfortunetly that is the side they didn't unclip.

That's pretty much exactly what I did.

As to having a bike that can just be jumped on to ride, I got a set of pedals that have platforms on the reverse side; it's a little bit harder to find the clip, but gives the best of both worlds (that, and I'm going to need to get used to one-sided clips anyway...)

I did my first zero mph (0 kph) clipless crash.

I already had my right foot unclipped and on the ground, but I leaned left and what do you know.... you come unclipped when you hit the ground.

I would like to hear from more folks who have both snap-in ("clipless") and strap-in (toeclips) foot retention systems. Do you have any difficulty remembering which bike you are on and how to disentangle yourself from it? Everyone tells me I should get a clipless system for the Bianchi, but I really want to keep the conventional clips on my commuters and probably on my mountain bike, as well.

John:

I have both though the (large) majority of my miles are clipless. You won't confuse the two. The absence/presence of the clip pushing into the top of your foot is a constant reminder of what you're pushing. For comfort and performance clipless is light years ahead (remember I hang out with you over at OldRoads so I don't automatically subscribe to new=better). The comfort part is obvious and if you want your clips/straps to be as secure as a decent clipless system you have to snug them up pretty good. As I'm sure you'll agree tight straps are not always easy to pull out of either. In fact it's quite a bit harder to get out of than a clipless system.

Clips/straps on a commuter make sense as you can ride with any shoe though Looks are large enough to ride in sneakers if you really want to.

The advice about unclipping early is very good advice.

Yeah, if you want an endorsement from another clutz--clips (or probably clipless too) are the way to go! I've fallen over three times from not unclipping fast enough, but falling from a stopped position doesn't really hurt more than your pride (unless you do it in heavy traffic and a truck runs over your head!)

Getting your feet in the clips takes practice, too. (Living on top of a hill, I was often a quarter mile from home before I managed to get the other foot in the cage.)

But it soon becomes second nature, and the benefits are great! Not only does it keep clutzy feet from slipping off the pedals (ahem) and improve your ability to pedal efficiently, but there's just something so John-Wayne about pulling your foot out of the stirrup as you dismount your trusty steed.

Well, I fell over at a dead stop using the straps. It is not a natural move to pull your foot back, then out to the ground. No falls yet (2 years) with clipless. My LBS recommended a brand that was easier to get in/out. It was a MTB TIME alumin. On my new bike, its just an entry level SPD. I do unclip both feet at planned stops, then clip in one before the light changes. I love clipless....it's like tying your snowboard or surfboard to your ankle, your bike is not going to leave you in the dust.

Rob, age is no excuse. DnvrFox already gave his 2 cents. Now here's mine.
I started riding with toe clips and straps in the mid-80s. Only fell over a couple of times. Both times I had the straps too tight and couldn't get my foot out.
When I started riding again in 1999 I started with toe clips and straps and upgraded to SPD (Shimano M535 two-sided clipless) about 6 months later. Upgraded to Look pedals a little over a year ago. I really like clipless pedals!!
Now I have the SPDs on my commuter and the Look pedals on my Litespeed.

I'd recommend two-sided pedals (like SPD) to start with. Practice clipping in and out with your bike on a trainer before heading out to the asphalt.
And as Fubar said, unclip while you have enough momentum. Make sure you unclip the foot that you put down on the road when stopping.

If you unclip early you can get a nasty surprise when you stop, and you find your shoe has clipped itself in without you noticing.

When I attached the clipless pedal 14 years ago, on my bike at the bike store where I bought it, I tried it and down I went on my side but I was being encourage to just ride it normally and to just swing the heels of the shoes away from the bike (have look Pedal), but I was swinging the heels of my feet towards the bike and from the bike store to my house is a good 10 Kilometers, I think I fall down on my side like 4 times, but after that 4th fall i have gotten used to the pedal its like become a second nature to me, Now after those embarrasing situation I was riding w/ my son and I was showing off that I can clear a /or jump over a pop can, and my son was pretty amazed and asked me a question Dad How can you do that its easy becuase the Bike is now attached to myself I can easily do it