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Clipless Pedals, again
I still have trouble when I need to unclip quickly. The part I hate the most is when I'm out of the saddle climbing and then need to quickly unclip (i.e. a technical climb, I cant get over a rock or I cant make it to the top). My problem is I unclip one side, but have fallen to the other side a few times already. My unclipped foot is still in the air and because I'm not sitting and my weight is on the clipped foot, I cant unclip it. Common sense tells me to lean to the side I've unclipped, but I don't like to through my weight to one side when I haven't unclip a foot yet. I have pulled off a few free stands then unclip when in the clinch. Gets my heart pumping. Should note that they are almost completely loosened off for the ease of getting out.
Also, why are they called clipless when it seems to me that you are clipped in?
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Clipless is because they don't have the old toe straps.
As for falling over, practice to track stand and improve balance. This allows you to have more time and can control which way you go. The other option is to get over the rock and get to the top and then there's no reason to unclip
Climbing is one area that clipless are really useful but they do put you in that awkward position that as you are pulling up hard on them you can't really pull out. Generally it just means more committment. I was sessioning some nasty technical pinches today and for the first few attempts left a foot unclipped until I was comfortable and then clipped and went for it once I knew how it would ride for that extra 20%.
The weird thing I found with clips today I was riding trails I have previously riden in flats a few months back and there was a certain level of technical difficulty I was fine too and never even thought about the fact I was clipped in. Then when I reched my most extreme limits technically suddenly clips entered my mind even though it was a track I had ridden in flats a few months back fine.... at this stage I just couldn't ride them. Just means getting more used to them.
Unfortunately it is just practice and a few more falls until you are used to twisting your foot to get out. I started with toe clips over 20 years ago and even though I could not get out of them at all it was still hard at first learning clipless.
Too loose is not always a good idea as you will find yourself unclipping when you don't want like mid air one footers or even no footers if you are unlucky.
Pedal clips look a bit like this
As others have stated it's all about practice.
Don't feel bad about not being able to unclip fast enough and stacking. I did it twice yesterday morning on the same bit of single track. The second one saw me slide down a small decline where I lay for a tiny bit, having a rest, still with both feet clipped in. At 6am it was quite cold on the ground.
I agree with Brian on this one: when climbing, it's all about balance. The more time you have between stopping and toppling over the better. The more you practice your track-stands, the better you get.
My Tip:
I find that when I try to ride up rocks, and realise that I'm not going to make it, I've got to lock the brakes on straight away. Apart from stopping you from rolling backwards, it also stops the back wheel from spinning and makes the bike stationary, helping you get the proper leverage that you need on the pedals to balance properly. This little bit of control will give you that extra second that you need to unclip properly.
But for me, the greatest concern is when there's a risk of going over the bars (e.g. rolling over very steep, technical drop-offs). I've NEVER unclipped cleanly when going over the bars, and the bike and I usually end up in a tangled mess. So I still unclip one pedal when things up ahead start to look hairy.
But maybe I should practice unclipping during endos....
Moggio, I had the same problem. Riding down the small technical spot near the look out at Knapsack. Done it plenty of times with my flats. But could not bring my self to do it while wearing the clipless, everytime I approached the drop I would stop as I new I was wearing my clipless. The idea of being committed freaked me out to much. Re-approched the drop about five times and still could not do it. Ended up deciding to live and come back another day hopefully with more confidence in myself with the clipless.
A climb that got to me was the Grand Stair Case(the name my friend and I like to call the large rock climb) at Knapsack. Usually on my flats I would just charge at it without a care and just place my feet down when I was unsteady. When I tryed it with my clipless I found myself wanting to place my foot down in spots but was to scared to attempt an unclip so pushed myself to ride further to get to a flat spot on the Grand stairs. I was kind of excited about it but also freaked out at the same time. Unfortuantly I fell when I was at the spot I felt safe to unclip. I unclipped the right foot but fell to the left side.
Stay with it chops, it will give you confidence in the long run, i absolutely love clipless, i love the commitment of it, and with that comes confidence, give it time mate and it will happen!
I rode flats when I first started
Took me ages to get used to clipless
But now i absolutely love them as well
You can ride much lighter clipped in
In fact, now I'm needing to go back to flats for a month
As I'm doing the Cannonball for the first time in November
And I don't feel confident at all in flats
Especially if you want to bust off stuff
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this already, but you can loosen up the clips using a 3mm alen key (Shimano SPD clips that is). This makes unclipping much easier....
Yeah, Mine are loosen right off. But in the clinch I still forget to twist.
Don't worry about going to flats just for that. You wont find anything too much more technical on the cannoball than you find in the Blue mts.
It's just longer.
Best tip is to work on you forearms. Grab your self a tennis ball and spend every spare moment squeezing it to eliminate arm pump.
Riding again today on clipless in technical terrain a big realisation was that when things get a little gnarly with a bit of speed it really doesn't make any difference as putting a foot down isn't going to really be possible anyway. You either have to ride it out or crash with style. Pretty loose clipless pedals pop out pretty easily as well when you crash so its a bit of a no real difference anyway.
As others have said stick with it and practice, while riding easy up hill sections just stall the bike, hold both brakes, track stand and un clip, do this in spots that won't kill you if you mess it up, oh yeah alternate feet so you don't develop a favourite one. If I ride on flats now I feel in mortal danger, no kidding.