Clipless Pedals FAQ

[mickle]

i remember buying my TCR and though i knew the guys in the shop i was still left agog, yes agog, when i asked where the pedals were and they told me it didn't come fitted with them...my wife was similarly flabbergasted, 1300 quid for a bicycle and it didn't come with pedals! so new pedals, new shoes and a new cleat system went into the bag. of course, i now know this is standard procedure

Yeahbut it would have cost £1400 with the pedals - and they probably wouldn't have been the ones you wanted.

 

[Boon 51]

They dont come with pedals and most say they shouldn't come with saddles either..

 

[Richard Houghton]

Dawes Super Galaxy SPD mountain bike shoes.clip less pedals on LEJOG. Pre LEJOG practice and fell off about six times. Bit embarrassing at times with people running to give me the kiss of life which could have been nice if they were but they weren't so it wasn't. In any event started LEJOG and fell off on a hill on the A30 when I simply forgot. I fell into the road which shook me up a lot so at the first opportunity I changed the clips for the multi release types. I found these much easier although at times I must have looked like I was trying to shake a biting rat off my toes or something. My biggest problem was alignment and after 300 miles my right knee swelled up like a football and despite Ibrufen the pain was too much and it put paid to my ambitions. Being a newby I didn't fully understand the importance of alignment nor did I understand about releasing the tension to make withdrawal easier. With the benefit of hindsight I wished I had of joined a cycling club and got some practical help from experienced cyclists and I would recommend to anyone that this is a very very good idea !

 

[jclivingston]

Second time out on clipless pedal today and my first clipless moment.

Unfortunately I keeled over at a farmers gate and landed chest first on the upturned handle bars. Know got some stonng bruising and swelling and a cracked rib.

Nevertheless clipless are the way to go - just need a bit more practice getting out of them.

 

[Boon 51]

Second time out on clipless pedal today and my first clipless moment.

Unfortunately I keeled over at a farmers gate and landed chest first on the upturned handle bars. Know got some stonng bruising and swelling and a cracked rib.

Nevertheless clipless are the way to go - just need a bit more practice getting out of them.

Bad news about your off... but a speedy recovery all the same...

 

[antnee]

After fitting both my bikes with SPD's A530's single sided on the Trek and A520's double sided on the Triban 3. I can now say, (after three weeks) with some slight reservation that I’m getting used to them I’ve had a couple of near misses but that was purely the fact that I’d forgotten I was clipped in as coming up to an unplanned stop; pedestrians walking out in the road.
Though I was glad I looked at the forum re the cleats as got the multi SM56 release type. I know I’m probably going to regret saying that I feel really confident in them and feet don’t slip off in this wet weather. But I’m still going to say it. “There great”

 

[SpokeyDokey]

After fitting both my bikes with SPD's A530's single sided on the Trek and A520's double sided on the Triban 3. I can now say, (after three weeks) with some slight reservation that I’m getting used to them I’ve had a couple of near misses but that was purely the fact that I’d forgotten I was clipped in as coming up to an unplanned stop; pedestrians walking out in the road.
Though I was glad I looked at the forum re the cleats as got the multi SM56 release type. I know I’m probably going to regret saying that I feel really confident in them and feet don’t slip off in this wet weather. But I’m still going to say it. “There great”

Did you have near misses with the SH56's?

I have these and find it impossible to conceive of having a clipless moment with them. I have tdeliberately tested them eg coming to a standstill on a steep hill and they release without fail.

They are absolutely superb - they are 100% secure and so easy to release from the pedal.

To my mind there is no reason why anyone should have a clipless moment (which seems to be amusing to many, not sure why) when using a clipless system. Beats me as to why all bike stores do not advise newbies to the clipless system to use SH56's.

 

[antnee]

Perhaps I'm wrong but aren’t the cleats SH SM51 the one that are the one sided release? As these are the ones supplied with the pedals as standard,
So I had done all the research to the usual point of confusion and got the SHSM56 ones as an extra,
So never tried the single side SHSM 51 release ones I can’t say but I know that the 56 (multi release) are pretty easy to release from just that I found a bit of patience is needed to get the right release tension.

By the way has any body else found one of their feet doesn’t pedal squarely? My right foot certainly doesn’t as at first it kept unclipping until I’d repositioned the cleat. The strange thing is that it didn’t do it on the SPD A520 pedals, Unless I’ve still not got the tension quite right on the right hand double sided A530 pedal as there are four side to tension separately?

Until I found such a large cycle based population after getting the Trek I just thought you “got on your bike and pedalled” so to speak!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Perhaps I'm wrong but aren’t the cleats SH SM51 the one that are the one sided release? As these are the ones supplied with the pedals as standard,
So I had done all the research to the usual point of confusion and got the SHSM56 ones as an extra,
So never tried the single side SHSM 51 release ones I can’t say but I know that the 56 (multi release) are pretty easy to release from just that I found a bit of patience is needed to get the right release tension.

By the way has any body else found one of their feet doesn’t pedal squarely? My right foot certainly doesn’t as at first it kept unclipping until I’d repositioned the cleat. The strange thing is that it didn’t do it on the SPD A520 pedals, Unless I’ve still not got the tension quite right on the right hand double sided A530 pedal as there are four side to tension separately?

Until I found such a large cycle based population after getting the Trek I just thought you “got on your bike and pedalled” so to speak!

This explains SH51 vs SH56:

http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/t...02/SI-41R0G-002-ENG_v1_m56577569830672281.pdf

 

[antnee]

Now I know why I should have saved those instructions!
Another one of my weak point the inability to be able to explain things by merely the written word. But SpokeyDokey knew what I ment.

 

[geo]

Richard H--excellent write up and explanation for everyone there, I'm sure many newcomers will benefit from your advice and take some of the confusion away for many people.

Personally I think the biggest factor in deciding which system to go for is Do I need to walk in these shoes ? If the answer is yes then SPD SL is not for you.

Edit by Mod:
The write-up referred to is this - the first post in this thread (yes, really that long ago ! )

 

[Chris Myers]

Went out for the first time clipless yesterday,did 23 mile,in rush hour,wasn't sure if that was a good or bad idea.Had a couple of hairy/panicky moments but all in all was good.
Think I need to adjust them a little though but not sure how.

 

[ianrauk]

Went out for the first time clipless yesterday,did 23 mile,in rush hour,wasn't sure if that was a good or bad idea.Had a couple of hairy/panicky moments but all in all was good.
Think I need to adjust them a little though but not sure how.

In at the deep end as the saying goes....

 

[Chris Myers]

Yes,did another 70 miler today with no problems,don't want to get too cocky with them though,I'm bound to have a clipless moment!I find it harder to clip in than to clip out,think it's easier not to think about it and do it naturally

 

[inkd]

Newbie question - So from what I have read, SPD= easier to walk in than SPD-SL. As I do no more than 30 steps from house to work locker this is not a problem. Which are easier to use? as in cliping in and out?