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Exiting clips heel out...

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Exiting clips heel out...

Old 07-09-08, 06:58 PM
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monkeyevil
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Exiting clipless heel out...

Is the correct way? It's way more natural for me to go heel in (and my Candy C's allow this) except in panic situations; instead of releasing I typically just fall down

I am trying to teach myself the heel out method, but it's odd to make my left leg twist that way, and I am left side dominant so that is the foot I want to put down. It is supposed to be WAY harder to release at 12 o clock as it is at 6?

Sorry I'm a total noob to the clipless thing.
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Old 07-09-08, 07:01 PM
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Yes, heel out (both sides). Heel in can be disastrous - heel into the spokes can cause plenty of damage to the wheel or your foot/leg.
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Old 07-09-08, 07:07 PM
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Heel out can be done at any point in the pedal stroke. Heel in can only be done in some spots. Try to always release heel out so it will be automatic in a panic situation.
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Old 07-09-08, 08:23 PM
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Put-put up and down your street just focusing on clipping in and out until heel-out unclipping becomes instinctive.
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Old 07-09-08, 08:47 PM
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I do heels in almost all the time. My wife fell after she jammed her heel into the downtube bottle cage (perfect storm scenario - heel got caught, couldn't release, couldn't move foot). I don't consciously do anything special, just release. It seems I release when the crank is forward and I basically tap my chainring spider with my heel.

I got into the habit with the impossible to release SPD-Rs and after about 10 years of that it became automatic.

When in a panic situation my foot comes out on its own volition. I've seen guys stomp on the pedal and their foot slides sideways off the pedal due to the somewhat similar motion as unclipping to the outside. Once it was the nut holding my seat down, and that was with SPD-Rs (highsided at 35 mph).

cdr
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Old 07-09-08, 08:51 PM
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some pedals only allow heel out. So if you switch to another clipless pedal your muscle memory won't interfere.
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