Cycling Shoes

[porridge]

Very new to this cycling stuff, still no idea what clipless means, but hey everyone said that it was much better to wear cycling shoes than trainers, improved performance apparently.

Well last night I popped along to Aldi, but a very nice pair of shoes and popped them on for todays commute into work, well I must say I found it to be much worse than my normal trainers, I couldn't seem to get a firm footing on the pedals.

So my question is, is there an art to wearing cycling shoes?, what am I doing wrong?

 

[yello]

No art, just clip in and go. Which begs the question - have you got clip-in pedals? (Which are more often called, somewhat confusingly, clipless pedals).

To get the best out of cycling shoes, you need cleats and clipless pedals. Without them it'd be a bit of a 'mare... as you have found.

 

[porridge]

No art, just clip in and go. Which begs the question - have you got clip-in pedals? (Which are more often called, somewhat confusingly, clipless pedals).

To get the best out of cycling shoes, you need cleats and clipless pedals. Without them it'd be a bit of a 'mare... as you have found.

I will google cleats, all a foriegn language to me at the moment, so basically you should have special pedals and these cleats, otherwise its a mare?

Oh well, thought it might just be a matter of getting the knack or something, so back to the trainers then.

Thanks

 

[porridge]

A pair of Aldi size 8 cycling shoes for sale (worn once)

 

[PaulB]

Porridge mate, don't give up lad. There's a reason cyclists go on about clipless and the performance improvement is sensational. Whereas now you may be able to do 20-odd miles and feel a certain amount of tiredness, with clipless, you'll virtually double that for the same effort.

Those Aldi shoes you bought have a plate in the base into which you screw a cleat. This cleat snaps into a pedal system of your choice. My advice is to get yourself to your local bike shop and buy a pair of standard SPD pedals. You should be given the cleats with these pedals. Practice clipping in and out, there's a knack to it but it's simple. Trust me (us), you'll never look back. Persevere, it's worth it.

 

[Globalti]

Good advice there.

 

[yello]

My advice is to get yourself to your local bike shop and buy a pair of standard SPD pedals.

Sound advice. You'll get pedals and cleats and, if you ask nicely, they'll probably fit the pedals for you, set them at their slackest and give you advice on how to fit the cleats to your shoes.

It'll take a bit of practice but you'll soon get the hang of clipping in and out.

 

[porridge]

Porridge mate, don't give up lad. There's a reason cyclists go on about clipless and the performance improvement is sensational. Whereas now you may be able to do 20-odd miles and feel a certain amount of tiredness, with clipless, you'll virtually double that for the same effort.

Those Aldi shoes you bought have a plate in the base into which you screw a cleat. This cleat snaps into a pedal system of your choice. My advice is to get yourself to your local bike shop and buy a pair of standard SPD pedals. You should be given the cleats with these pedals. Practice clipping in and out, there's a knack to it but it's simple. Trust me (us), you'll never look back. Persevere, it's worth it.

Thanks Paul

I must admit to feeling a bit of a dick asking, even on here it seems to be every day language and understanding.

I've been commuting a couple of months now and I love it !, I can feel myself getting faster and fitter.

Can I ask, do these clippless pedals lock your feet in, what happens when you slow down or stop?, surely you fall off?

 

[yello]

I must admit to feeling a bit of a dick asking, even on here it seems to be every day language and understanding.

Don't worry about it. Why should you know these things? Like most new things, there's a whole heap of stuff and terminology that goes with it. Just takes time to get used to it.

As for falling off; yes, you probably will a few times at first. Part of the learning process. You soon get into the habit of unclipping in time, it will become second nature. When you first fit the pedals, just practice clipping in and out whilst leaning on a wall or something. Then ride for a bit on a bit of grass or something soft... just build it up slowly. You'll get the hang of it very quickly.

 

[PaulB]

Thanks Paul

I must admit to feeling a bit of a dick asking, even on here it seems to be every day language and understanding.

I've been commuting a couple of months now and I love it !, I can feel myself getting faster and fitter.

Can I ask, do these clippless pedals lock your feet in, what happens when you slow down or stop?, surely you fall off?

Don't feel a dick asking; it's not as if we're all born with this inherent knowledge and it only becomes everyday language once you are taught it.

The clipless pedals do lock your feet in and when you slow down or stop then of course you fall off. That's why you need to keep going all the time and that's how you get fitter

No, When you slow down or come to a stop, you simply flip your (left - in my case, right in my son's) heel outwards and this releases it from the pedal's grip. If you are coming to a stop, flip the other foot out. If you're just at a red light or stop sign, keep one foot in and put the other on the ground till it's time to set off again.

Remember, you get motive power on the up-pull as well as the down push when your feet are attached to the pedals. It's much, much more efficient.

 

[dodgy]

Am I a bad person for sniggering at this thread?








Sorry.

 

[porridge]

Ok, bit more complicated than I thought, but I will persever with this, I have a hybrid for commuting to work, but I want to get a road bike for fun and the occasional commute, might be a good idea to put my shoes into storage until I buy the new road bike, I could ask the LBS to fit me out with the clips and stuff on this bike.

Cheers for the info

 

[porridge]

Am I a bad person for sniggering at this thread?








Sorry.

In a word- yes

but you're forgiven

 

[dodgy]

porridge, yep, probably not a good idea to continue using the shoes without clipless pedals as you might begin to damage the surface where the cleats will eventually bolt on.

 

[porridge]

porridge, yep, probably not a good idea to continue using the shoes without clipless pedals as you might begin to damage the surface where the cleats will eventually bolt on.

Yep- into storage, At least I looked the part for the day (well sort of)


Now you can snigger