can't unclip

[Kip67]

Seen a poor soul get caught in the wrong gear and grind to a halt on a short incline. Didn't manage to unclip and down he went. Thankfully it was a cycle path and not a busy road.

 

[screenman]

Seen a poor soul get caught in the wrong gear and grind to a halt on a short incline. Didn't manage to unclip and down he went. Thankfully it was a cycle path and not a busy road.

I have heard stories of such things, never seen it happen in all my years of cycling though. Maybe everyone I cycle with know how to move their foot slightly.

 

[GuyBoden]

Seen a poor soul get caught in the wrong gear and grind to a halt on a short incline. Didn't manage to unclip and down he went. Thankfully it was a cycle path and not a busy road.

I've done similar things with over tightened clips and straps in the old days, when I was a teenage road racer.

 

[screenman]

Thinking about it I have seen more people falling off of bikes when not clipped in than when clipped in.

 

[Kip67]

Thinking about it I have seen more people falling off of bikes when not clipped in than when clipped in.

I've managed both and neither was much fun

 

[Karlt]

Heh. I found my right foot firmly attached to the pedal the other day when one of the cleat bolts had come out. Had to unscrew the shoe from the pedal as the cleat was spinning freely on the sole on the one bolt left.

 

[leedsmick]

Seen a poor soul get caught in the wrong gear and grind to a halt on a short incline. Didn't manage to unclip and down he went. Thankfully it was a cycle path and not a busy road.

I did that the first time i went clipless ! It was a steep climb but one id done many times before. New bike got some lovely scratches

 

[2IT]

Hello
I'm fairly new to cycling on a road bike and bought clipless SPD/SL pedals last year. I used them a couple of time but stopped because I found it really hard to clip out, especially my right foot which is the side I would preferentially put down first. I double checked that I have them on the lowest tension setting and have practised lots using turbo trainer, but it still takes so much effort to get my right foot out it hurts my knee. I make sure that the pedal is level with the crank before I try to clip out too.

Does anyone have any suggestions how to solve this, any advice really appreciated

thanks

You are not the only one. On my new Shimano SPD SL Ultegras they were not as fast as I was used to unclipping. Mine too were set on loose which I think is the factory default. Over time and wear they could be too loose for us and then we might want to tighten them.

A few mentioned WD40 and the like which works. Armour All also works well and that is what I use. Wax them up and make the slippery.

Even with that I need to remind myself to get the foot out before I really need it. Sometimes I'm tired and forget that it would have been better to unclip about five seconds ago.

It's not just you. Unclipping can be an inopportune event.