Uncleating very tight - suggestions?
 

My wife has been using MTB pedals for years. Just started on road pedals as she got a pedal based power meter. She finds the uncleating difficult even at the lightest setting. Any suggestions? Some oil on the cleats?

Hard to turn the cleat to unclip or hard to turn the cleat FAR ENOUGH? If you are using a cleats/pedal combination with a high amount of float, it can be hard to get the cleat far enough around to engage the unclipping mechanism. I use the gray Look Keo cleats and have no problem, but I can't readily unclip when I try the red cleats with twice as much float. So is it the tension or the float causing the problem? At the loosest setting, the tension should not be an issue.

If her pedals are SPD, buy the M cleats.

Which pedals?

The Powertap P1 pedals. They have their own cleats. Not sure if they have float. She says it's not an issue with excessive float but the clipping in and out is very tight. More so on the left than the right, which is fine.

Anyway, this was on a trainer. First road ride in an hour or so.

Put her on the trainer and repeatedly clip in and out. It should smooth out and get easier as they wear in.

Worst case, you could add some 'accelerated' wear with a file or Xacto knife. Lightly trim away any sharp edges on the pedal clips or cleats where they overlap. It'll happen naturally through use anyway. Shimano SPD-SL pedals get noticeably smoother clipping in and out after they have been cycled a few hundred times. I imagine any other pedal system that uses plastic cleats is similar.

What JonnyV said about the trainer. Do it until it becomes second nature. Then practice on the street by your house unclipping and clipping in every few feet.

Try unclipping by rotating heel INWARDS. Much easier IMO. Just be sure to unclip this way at top of pedal stroke.

Also agree with practice on trainer.

Are they SPD-SL pedals? There was a tip floating online that one should drop the heel a bit then disengage.

There is a small hex screw on the pedal. You can adjust the tension there.

If the cleats have float, rotate the cleat clockwise on the left shoe (counter clockwise if upside down, duh). This will allow less rotation of the foot before unclipping, helped me considerably. Or, try cleats with less/no float.

Yep. The obvious was missed - the tension on the left pedal likely is greater. Probably setting tension to minimal on both pedals for starters is a good idea.

Perhaps he meant something else but it sounds like the tension screw has been located and adjusted to the lightest tension setting. In my experience, road pedals (SPD-SL at least) are considerably more difficult to clip in to and out than MTB (SPD, Crank Brothers, and Look in use at my house). But, they do get easier with some wear. I think most replies have been right on the mark.

Yup, both sides are on the lowest tension setting.

I've had stiff action with the latest pedal/cleat combo.

My theory is that the cleat is bent/distorted fastening to the curved shoe sole.

Haven't fixed it yet....

Ooh clever I will try this. The mechanism on the right pedal of my speedy bike is tighter than I have been able to wear in with use. After a long ride where I am really beat (~100 miles) it is more likely that my knee would dislocate than my shoe would unclip.

are the pedals wellgo spd clones? I found that my wellgo cleats worked fine with the shimano OR wellgo spd pedals, but when I put actual shimano cleats on my shoes, the wellgo pedals were very difficult to clip into and out of while performance with the shimanos was the same. Weird.

Took her pedals for a ride. My shoes have Look cleats, pretty worn, and they seem easy to clip in and out. I think I'll give her my used cleats, and put on new cleats on my shoes :-)

New cleats often are tight. Sometimes one is more difficult probably due to inconsistencies in manufacturing. Actually with Look pedals I can tell when cleats are worn and ready for replacement by how easy they unclip.

Glad you found the problem for her.