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Clipless Pedals
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
Had a good ride at Faulconbridge Point, Rid out and back twice. Only fell over 4 times. Twice at home in the driveway and twice at the trail. First time I have used clipless pedals, I got the Shimano caged SPD. I guess only repetition will make it second nature to twist rather than lift.
How many times did you fall over when you first tryed clipless? Do you still fall over?
My elbow is saw
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It's an idea to hang on to a wall or close line and practice clipping and unclipping for 30min before heading out the first time.
Also back your release tension right off. After growing up on the old bear trap type clips I found clipless to be awesome and never really had a spd stack after doing the above.
Another thing to practice is track standing. If you know you can roll to a stop and still have a even just second or two to unclip before you loose your balance it will make the world of difference to your confidence
When trying to coax her onto clips I recently took Pratiwi to ride in circles round a sports field. With the recent wet weather it was very soft and no damage done the first time she stopped (fell over), or second (fell over), or third (no fall!)
When I first moved onto clipless pedals I was living in London. I decided to loosen the tension screws right out and then, unwisely, go for a spin down the road.
Unfortunately, I had turned the screws the wrong way making it almost impossible to unclip. I realised this when I pulled up at the first traffic light and toppled over onto the bonnet of a Merc. The driver was less than impressed.
I now ride with Time pedals that are spring loaded so no longer have to puzzle over which way to turn the screws.
Clipless took me ages to get used to, not only the clicking in and out which took a little while, more the confidence thing when riding technical trails.
First as everyone says, keep them as loose as possible at first and just ride around the park or back yard or whatever and keep stoppoing and put your foot down.
For clipping in and out practice I put them on the "run up the shops" bike first because there were no technical issues and all I needed to think about was unclipping at intersections. Then riding on fire trail type rides which are just a boring slog, the type of place you never need to put a foot down.
You will still forget after a while and do that stop to look at the view and fall flat on your side.
After that came building up confidence through technical sections where I am around 80% there, but if I go somewhere where I am at the extreme of my limited technical abilities I will still use flats... though they annoy me no end once one starts riding uphill. Still I hate falling clipped in.
Track stand is the key to it for me. The only time I have trouble is in the slow techy sections where I stall. If I could track stand better, it would buy enough time for my brain to get the signal down to my foot. So 1-2 seconds would be great!
Hope to see you on a ride sound too!
@Chuck... Interesting you say that. I find it very hard to track stand when trying to track stand just for the sake of track standing... if you know what I mean.
Then, there have been times have been riding some tech and had to stop and wait for a second and just hung there motionless before carrying on. It's only later when thinking about the ride the penny drops: track standing is easier if you aren't thinking about it
BTW, tq333's blog earlier on mentioned focusing on stands, maybe it's a sign
I first started with multi-release cleats (they have a little "m" marked on them). They cost about the same but allow the foot to come out in many more variations of angle. I only had a couple of stacks with these, and have now progressed to single-release clips without any issues.