Been clipless for 3 months, a little adjustment initially but overall It's been great. Went out for another training ride and reminded myself to 'unclip early' but most times I still wanted to pedal some and found myself clipping back in. IN- OUT- IN- OUT...ended up doing a Marty Shaw 1 mile from home. (Marty Shaw= dirty old man on "Laugh-In" that kept falling over on his trike. Seriously anyone have hints on how not to re-clip in when you don't want to? It's gettin to feel natural

Been clipless for three weeks. I forgot to clip out today - another advantage for spd-sl's - you can get out as you are falling. Emabarassing but ultimately not painful. I was so use to them that I forgot about them for the first time. I'm glad I had the release tension dialed all the way down, trying to put my foot down unclipped them, and I was able to save myself.

I was thinking about this during my ride today, and paid close attention to how I handle the pedals. To my surprise I found that my right foot, running on auto-pilot, doesn't really do what I had written earlier. It turns out that what my right foot does is get into position to unclip when approaching a possible hazard, but rarely does it actually unclip.

What I mean by this is my right foot comes to the top position, and I coast for a half second while passing the hazard. If I actually have to stop, I unclip my right foot while bringing the bike to a stop, then step down off the seat with my weight on the left foot, and then put my right foot down on the ground.

I'm, sure everyone develops their own style of riding and may not do what I do. The main point to remember is to be aware of what is happening on the road around you, so you are not caught off guard.

Have I been unclipping at the wrong point? I see that you unclip when your right foot is at at the top whereas I have been waiting until my right foot is at the bottom where it seems to be easier to twist out by pressing down slightly and then to the right. Looking for some guidance.

I think that's entirely up to you - I've never heard that there is a right or wrong way to do this. In my case I find I can unclip more easily at the top. Then I can shift my weight to the left foot which is already at the bottom, then step off the seat and down, straddling the cross bar, while my right foot makes contact with the ground. But don't try to do what I do - just do what feels right for you! Actually this might make an interesting poll: Where is your foot when you unclip - top or bottom? I'm guessing we might find more people do it your way.

It seems to me that after unclipping on one side, say the right, you would then have to rotate your pedals until your left foot is at the bottom before you could step down on the right side.

Exactly.

This thread is starting to sound way too complicated than it should be..... You'll all develop natural release points and unclicking will simply become second nature where you don't have to even 'think' about it.

Agreed. I haven't tried to figure this out in detail before precisely because the whole thing is normally done without any conscious thought or effort.

No, but I swear the critter made a sound like laughter.

Anybody used toe clips for a while and care to compare the relative performance of the two? I've used clips and straps for a year and they greatly improve power transfer over plain pedals, as far as I can tell. And if I wear a stiff shoe, a bit more even. Though sometimes when riding fast and I get my blood pumping, the strap pressing on the top of my foot is uncomfortable.

I've been thinking of trying clipless, was gonna go with some cheap Nashbar SPD pedals and shoes...

I guess if you cinch the toe straps tight as they're meant to be, the performance between the two pedal systems would be very similar. But in a sudden stop situation, it's much easier and faster to click out of the pedals than to reach down and loosen the straps so you can pull your feet out.