clipless pedals

[shineslike]

hey girls,

sorry if this is something that's been asked before, but i was wondering what you all use for pedals - clipless, or just normal pedals? i am pretty new to mountain biking - started riding a bit last summer on a bike that didn't really fit, and have just upgraded to my first mountain bike bought for me - and am wondering whether it's better to just move into clipless straight away, or to wait until i am a bit more skilled?

i ride clipped in on my roadie, and that's all good. but i know last summer when i was starting to mb i was constantly stepping off, and probably got a bit reliant on that. it's a habit i don't want to get into - but might make learning easier.

anyway, would love to know everyone's thoughts.

thanks! oh, and hello.

 

[foxcgirl]

Clip in and you'll get rid of that habit of stepping off Hehehe
You gotta love to crash
I think I went clipless straight away, you could do it, you probably just won't feel as confident. Try it out, see how you go. Take a change of pedals out on the trails if need be.

 

[Amber]

Yep - clips are the way to go. You've got the know how already from the roadie, so the transition should be relatively easy. Just dial them off so they are "loose" to begin with.

 

[shineslike]

great. that's what i was thinking. it will probably make it a bit scarier to begin with, but means i won't have any bad habits to break. like stepping off all the time

now i just need to spend lots of time on the bike so that it all becomes second nature.

 

[pi11wizard]

Shines like is Mrs Pi11wizard.

I just wanted to say that she had a spectacular crash on the weekend which involved an enormous endo into a shallow rocky creek. She was clipped in at the time hence her question.

She took it really well and I just wanted to give her a public thumbsup for being more hardcore than I am!

 

[BellButterface]

removing double post as cant find the delete option....

 

[BellButterface]

hey girls,

sorry if this is something that's been asked before, but i was wondering what you all use for pedals - clipless, or just normal pedals? i am pretty new to mountain biking - started riding a bit last summer on a bike that didn't really fit, and have just upgraded to my first mountain bike bought for me - and am wondering whether it's better to just move into clipless straight away, or to wait until i am a bit more skilled?

Howdy, I've been riding 18 months now & after the same amount of time freaking out about the possibility of going to clipless I did it. Swapped about 5 rides ago & will never go back. I've got shimano XT's.

Within 5 minutes of my first ride had stacked & everything worked as it was suppose to & I released from the bike (built my confidence that I won't fall & will still be attached, I fall a fair bit so it did worry me).

Its definitely made riding much easier and I can now manouvre some obstacles I couldn't before plus get up those nasty hills I couldn't because I don't cheat & put the foot down; which was all too easy before.

I also went to road cleats at the same time & so far have found to mtb ones easier so you should be sweet, if you're use to them.

Oh! & mine are wound back to the easiest release too. I don't believe you have the same ability to change the tension with egg beaters, but haven't used them to compare.

Good luck,
Karyn

 

[c2g]

Same here

Hi everyone, I'm new to mtb and also newer to begin clipped in.

I would like to know if there's a trick (technique) to clipping out in emergency. I have dialled both pedals right down to 'loose' setting but somehow in tricky situations 1 of my foot (it always has to be the side I'm falling on) is harder to 'pull/twist' off.

Practised clipped in on road and not a problem. Maybe it's just a mental block.

Thanks Shineslike for posting this, now I know I'm not alone.

 

[Labcanary]

Hi everyone, I'm new to mtb and also newer to begin clipped in.

I would like to know if there's a trick (technique) to clipping out in emergency. I have dialled both pedals right down to 'loose' setting but somehow in tricky situations 1 of my foot (it always has to be the side I'm falling on) is harder to 'pull/twist' off.

Practised clipped in on road and not a problem. Maybe it's just a mental block.

Thanks Shineslike for posting this, now I know I'm not alone.

It possibly has something to do with the harder to unclip side being the unfavoured or less strong foot?
I have unfortunately trained myself to unclip with the left foot only and find the right side very difficult to disengage. I try to re-train myself occasionally but it always ends in me falling over because I unclip the right foot but try and put my left down!

I guess more practice and falling over (on soft grass) might help to get the hang of it.
I should also do this more often, hehe.

 

[shineslike]

i think i am going to use the soft grass trick for a while for learning all kinds of skills. a good one for just general clipping out and in (that i used when learning on the roadie) is just to set your bike up next to something you can hold on to (i used the kitchen bench) and sit and clip in and out for a while, until you get the feel of it.

as an aside, i think i might have broken my sternum in the crash pi11wizard mentioned above. haven't had xrays yet, and might not, but the doc reckons it sounds like it is probably fractured. oops.

 

[c2g]

Yes, probably more practice, I'll not give up. Although I have gone out and bought myself a pair flat pedals. Just in case

Do you guys think it's OK to unclip 1 foot before going into tricky areas? I mean unclip and rest foot on pedal as if it's flat. Is this going to become a bad habit?

Thanks for the replies.

 

[shineslike]

ha, i do that. it might be a bad habit, but i like to know i have one foot free just in case.

 

[pi11wizard]

Hi everyone, I'm new to mtb and also newer to begin clipped in.

I would like to know if there's a trick (technique) to clipping out in emergency. I have dialled both pedals right down to 'loose' setting but somehow in tricky situations 1 of my foot (it always has to be the side I'm falling on) is harder to 'pull/twist' off.

Practised clipped in on road and not a problem. Maybe it's just a mental block.

Thanks Shineslike for posting this, now I know I'm not alone.

Several other factors can make it harder to clip out.

1. The orientation of the cleat on the shoe sole. There is a certain amount of "float" in the system before it releases (i am assuming you are using shimano spd's). If one shoe has the cleat angled differently to the other, one may release with less/more movement than the other.

2. Check the shoes sole to ensure there isn't any studs or rubber that are impeding the twisting action that is needed to get the cleat to release.

3. A loose bolt holding the cleat on will mean that the cleat will stay put and your shoe will do the twisting when you try to unclip. Make sure all the bolts are done up tightly enough.

4. Did you know that you need to adjust the tension on both sides of the pedal? Could it be that one pedal was only adjusted on one side and so depending on which side you clipped into, will determine how hard it is to clip out.

any who, good luck with it. It is worth it in the end!

 

[steff1]

clips and cleats

Hi all,
I'm a new rider and I use SPDs. I started with a pair of Time ATACS, but found that I just didn't have enough ankle strength for them. I then swapped to SPDs but still found that by the time I snapped my foot out of th pedal, I was so overbalanced that I might as well have fallen over anyhow!

The best thing that I did WRT my pedals was to change from single release cleats (the silver ones) to multirelease cleats (the blue ones). It made all the difference in the world - I haven't had a cleat related stack since I swapped (though I have had plenty of stacks).

If you are getting SPDs, I would DEFINITELY recommend the multirelease cleats... Best $40 I ever spent on my self-confidence

Hope this helps
steff

 

[MrsH]

Hi shineslike, Hope you're feeling better by now.

I decided to try clipless as I am wanting to improve my riding and not use my feet so much as a 'security blanket' and stepping down.

I went shopping for shoes on Saturday and came home with shoes, cleats and a new bike

Saturday arvo I rode the bike around our yard and picked up heaps of confidence just on the better bike but still using flat pedals. On Sunday hubby changed the pedals while I wasn't looking and I was forced to do the clipless thing; again just around our yard but they weren't too bad and I didn't crash, so far so good (luckily for my hubby! ).

I've no idea what the set up is but they feel ok. Crank Bros cleats with some hand me down smarty or candy (?) pedals from hubby.

Do others find they are 'sided' when clipping in/out? Right feels easier than left, will that even up with time?

 

[MrsH]

OK, so I am talking to myself

But I wanted to share the not so great session that was yesterday's attempt at clipless pedals; manoeuvred around a small branch (yay!) and looked ahead to find my 4 yo had dumped his BMX across the pathway.. Panicked, braked, feet got stuck in and then hung myself up by my elbow/arm on the trampoline on my way down.. Luckily I cushioned the bikes' fall

Not 5 minutes later 4 you stops directly in my path, I managed to free my left foot but the bike fell right, again I cushioned the bikes landing.. A bit bruised and scratched today.

So I spent half an hour on the trainer practicing clipping in and out...

 

[shineslike]

oh mrsh, that doesn't sound fun at all. the general clipping in and out becomes much easier with practice (i have found that when on the roadie, i can even do it automatically in an emergency now). but yeah - practicing around the yard sounds like a good idea for a while.

i am still off the bike, although the pain is pretty well gone now (what a relief). i am doing the oxfam trailwalk in a couple of weeks (100kms hike for charity), and so i figured that i will make sure that i don't put any extra stress on my body until after that time - by which time i should have had about 6 weeks healing after my fall, which should help my sternum get stronger. one of my friends fractured his collarbone about 4 months ago, and then refractured it on the weekend, so it just goes to show that healing bones are still a bit fragile for quite some time.

being off the bike (all bikes at the moment) is driving me a little nuts, but better to wait it out than to prolong the healing.

btw - what new bike did you get???

 

[MrsH]

Glad to hear you're on the mend, the Trailwalk sounds like a challenge but it's for a great cause Oxfam do great work.

New bike is very cool (I think ) it's an Avanti Montari. Got it for a great price so too good an opportunity to pass up!

 

[shineslike]

update to this thread: am totally glad i went clipless. these days, i barely think about clipping out. i can get out in an emergency almost every time, and it means you are committed to the bike a whole lot more.

if in doubt, do it. it might take a bit longer to learn/get used to. but it's good.

 

[BruceWolk]

clipless or not

For anyone beginning mountain biking, clip-less peddles can be a bit of a scare. Being attached to your bike can be confronting to say the least.

You need to get over this, and you wont regret it once you have figured out how easy they are. And on the up side, if you have ever come off your peddle and had it go scrapping up your chins........We all know what that feels like ! It hurts like hell !

Clip-less are the way to go, especially for cross country trail riding.

Good luck !

try the Shimano XT egg beaters........been ridding them for years, love them