Cleats getting binned, back to flats!

[Brandane]

Thanks for all the replies and advice.

To answer a few general points... I fitted the cleats myself and haven't had a professional fitting other than the cursory seat height check done when I bought the bike. But I have experimented with different set-ups, and taken advice from this site and Sheldon Brown.

My "off" didn't come as a result of forgetting to unclip, but rather from not being able to unclip after my front wheel getting caught in a drainage channel at the side of a path. A millisecond of notice that I was going down wasn't enough! But I still reckon I could have counterbalanced, or at least softened the fall, if my feet hadn't been clipped into the pedals.

My pedals are double sided Shimano jobs (not the A-530) so will not be binning them in the literal sense. Never say never, as they say; but for now I will be sticking with the flat side of the pedal and wearing normal trainers for cycling .

 

[MacB]

Mwaaahaaaahaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

another returns to the light, starting to feel a bit like the helmet debates this one

I was round at relatives for Sunday dinner today, Jane took the boys in the car and I cycled over, it's only about 4 miles each way. Had been scuffing around in some chino shorts, polo shirt and docksiders. Preparation for the bike ride involved putting mobile in the saddle pack and my shades on. I'm even tough enough to skip the mitts for these little rides now Oh, single speed as well, no faff with gears or anything.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Surprising topic this weekend, since I had a ride on the clip-in platforms on Saturday - it being the football season I needed to ride to the train station and this season, all 3 bikes are clipless so I took the road bike with the clip-in platforms.

I hated it...I couldn't wait to get off the bike!

OK, ther platforms are not really the same as a flat pedal, narrower, longer and slipperier but still....

I don't have the confidence to stand on the pedals anymore if I'm not clipped in. Weird as all in all I've cycled 1000's more miles on flats or flats w toeclips then clipless but as soon as I finally went clipless they seemed the most natural things in the world

But, that is just me and I see no sense in imposing what is right for me, onto anyone else...do what feels right for yourself

 

[aoj]

Hi HJ

I'm with you on this one I had much the same experience as you.

I now use DMR V8 pedals, they can be a bit lethal if you catch you shins on them though.

Not being clipped in has allowed me to get my foot down and prevent a fall on a few occasions now.


oaj

 

[XmisterIS]

Thanks for all the replies and advice.

To answer a few general points... I fitted the cleats myself and haven't had a professional fitting other than the cursory seat height check done when I bought the bike. But I have experimented with different set-ups, and taken advice from this site and Sheldon Brown.

My "off" didn't come as a result of forgetting to unclip, but rather from not being able to unclip after my front wheel getting caught in a drainage channel at the side of a path. A millisecond of notice that I was going down wasn't enough! But I still reckon I could have counterbalanced, or at least softened the fall, if my feet hadn't been clipped into the pedals.

My pedals are double sided Shimano jobs (not the A-530) so will not be binning them in the literal sense. Never say never, as they say; but for now I will be sticking with the flat side of the pedal and wearing normal trainers for cycling .

Just a few thoughts of mine - are your clips and cleats multi-directional? That helps a lot! Also, I ride with my clips very loose - it allows the foot to rotate a lot and if the worse comes to the worst, a sharp pull of the foot in any direction will result in an unclip! I would have them just tight enough to stop the cleat from falling out of the clip. You might get on with them better like that.

 

[TheBoyBilly]

I put Shimano M545s on my Langster a fortnight ago, to go with my Spesh Tahoe shoes. It was only this morning that I had a little iffy momen twhen I slowed down ready to stop at a kerb but the front wheel dipped into a slight groove in the gutter that put me out of sync. Nearly, very nearly.....but I just managed to unclip in time. So, with that in mind, I have come to the conclusion that I naturally went to unclip without thinking and saved an embarrassing tumble, so it is now second-nature to do so even after this short time. I love my SPDs - so much so that I intend to fit the same to my MTB even though I feel very secure on the Wellgo flats that are on it at the moment. I just feel more 'at one' with the bike with clipless pedals. I would, however, go back to flats before I ever put cages & straps back on the Langster.

Bill

 

[Willo]

Just a few thoughts of mine - are your clips and cleats multi-directional? That helps a lot! Also, I ride with my clips very loose - it allows the foot to rotate a lot and if the worse comes to the worst, a sharp pull of the foot in any direction will result in an unclip! I would have them just tight enough to stop the cleat from falling out of the clip. You might get on with them better like that.

Will second that for the multi-direction cleats, made a big difference for me; provided some 'float' to move my feet on long riders and being much easier to clip out (and yet to pull out by mistake). Took me yonks to feel confident in clipless but like them now. However, as others have said, no point in using them if it means you don't enjoy your cycling.

 

[Spinney]

I find that I can move my feet a bit with my SPDs (I guess they must be multi-directional?)

I also occasionally get foot pains on a long ride, and with the SPDs I can wriggle my feet around inside the shoes a bit to help it to go away - not possible on flats. I also wouldn;t have the confidence to change gear while standing on the pedals if I wasn't clipped in.

Having said all that, my pedals are dual (i.e. flat one side) and when I did the coast to coast recently I used the flat side for the long downhill into Consett on gravel paths - didn't have the confidence that I would get my foot clear if the bike skidded (it was also very windy).

Not trying to persuade you - what feels right for you is what counts - just saying...

 

[DHA]

My cleat history is checkered. About 4 years ago a friend who was into his cycling suggested some Crank Brothers Egg Beaters for my MTB. They were impossible to use with shoes so it was cleats all the way. On my second ride with them I fell at a junction when I was unable to get my foot out quick enough, more emarrased than real injuries. The next ride I did take a fall, into stinging nettles - but I really hurt my left ankle. Ligaments took about 6 months to properly heal up. The egg beaters were removed straight away and they are still in my shed.

Fast forward to today, I am about to get back into cycling (illness meant cycling etc was a no-no for 2 years) and wanted to try cleats again. After much research (I wear MTB rather than road shoes through choice) I came upon the Shimano M545 which is a MTB pedal but I run it on my road bike for the aforementioned shoe reasons. The pedals came at around 1/4 of their tightness for the cleats and were reasonably difficult for a newbie to remove his foot.

I only fitted the left one, standard pedal on the right for the moment, so I can train my left foot to be able to remove itself easily. I loosened the spring right back to its easiest setting before today's ride and it has made a massive difference. I now wonder if I am actually clipped in if I don't hear that "click" when I put my foot down? But release is a breeze. I had previously thought I would never go back to cleats following my ankle issue but thought I would give it one last try. Maybe this could be an option for you?

I am probably going to wipe out on my next ride having said all this!

 

[Brandane]

A lot of good and helpful suggestions have come out of this; thanks to all who replied.
I like the idea of slackening the clips on the pedal. I had them wound up fairly tight as there was an annoying creaking noise coming from them (or more likely the shoes) when slack. No idea why, but it went away with the clips tightened.

I think I will stick to flats at least until my knee problem has cleared up as I only intend to do some easy cycling until then anyway. If I find that for whatever reason I am missing the cleats (although right now I can't think why I would!) then I might give them another go.

 

[Davidc]

Go with what's comfortable.

I tried SPD cleats. Hated them and went back to flat pedals and traditional toe clips.

You are not alone.

 

[HLaB]

It might have just been that the float which most people need to avoid knee problem was causing some to rub but when you tightened up the cleat too much you restricted the movement. Perhaps if you try again loose, add grease. My last creaking noise came from a thin layer of rust just below the countersink of the cleat bolt. The cleat, bolt and pedal looked clean so I dismissed that Good Luck!

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i've never really got on with spd. however, i swear by look delta cleats with 9° of float. not so handy to walk in, but it's a price i'm prepared to pay. i have that on two of my road bikes.

the only reason i have flat pedals on the mtb is that running look delta would be lunacy off-road, and i have toe clips on my vintage claud, for sartorial reasons…

 

[cyberknight]

did you fit them yourself?
Did you have a bike fit at the same time?

I was sceptical before switching to SPD's but would now never go back- but i did have them properly fitted by my LBS to ensure cleat positioning matched up with my natural foot angles

+1
took me ages to get the right set up with my spds using trial and error.

At the end of the day go with what makes you feel comfortable and safe, i started back into cycling using a toe clip,basically a small clip with no strap so you could get your foot out easily but gain a little bit of attatchment to the pedals.

 

[Canardly]

I was black and blue due to cleats early on but have stuck with em and now would not be without really. Same issues regarding bit of knee pain, float and so on.