I'm about ready to give up on clipless pedals

kdelong

I've been riding forever, at least for the past 40 years and there was no such thing as clipless pedals for many of those years. I tried to ride clipless about five years ago and it just never felt right. It was also a hassle having to change shoes every time I wanted to ride, and if I found something interesting and wanted to stop and see it, it was a pain walking around in shoes with cleats and covers on them. And if you forgot the covers, forget about walking indoors, especially on a wood or tile floor.

After nearly a year and $200 in pedals and shoes, I went back to platform pedals with toe straps. Now, if I am wearing shoes I can ride without changing them. I can walk anywhere without remembering to take my covers with me. Of course it is more difficult to find good quality platform pedals or parts (i.e. 1980 vintage Shimano 600 or 105), so I have to take really good care of the ones that I have.

Anyway, I'm not trying to discourage you from riding clipless, but there is nothing wrong with riding platforms if that is what you choose to do. There is one thing that I don't understand though, why are they called "clipless" if you have to cip in and clip out?

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S4one

I use Look Keo Sprint pedals, I dont have any problems with them. Make sure that you change your cleats when they are worn out because worn cleats and affect clipping in and out.

TheDarkLord

They are called "clipless" because they did away with the toe clips that were used the secure the foot to the pedal.

But regarding shoes, walking etc. I use a MTB clipless pedal; so the cleats are recessed in the shoe. It still does hit the ground, but it is not uncomfortable for walking. And I have thought about changing the pedals back to platform since I have a short 10 minute commute on the bike to work, and I don't want to change the shoes for the sake of commuting. It is just that the advantages of pulling as well as pushing the pedals makes it worth it on the longer rides...

kdelong

I can pull and push with the toe clip/toe straps. It is just a matter of having them tight enough to be able to do that but still loose enough to pull your foot out when you need to stop. If you couldn't do this, they would be rather pointless to have on the bicycle, wouldn't they? The only real hassle that I have with platforms is that I have to flip them right side up to insert my foot. The weight of the toe clips always causes them to flip upside down when I pull my foot out.

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Solanog

Here is the other way around with names, we call them clip pedals (for clipless) since the name in spanish for toeclip has no clip in it.
I also use MB shoes for both MB and RB, BTW I'm shopping for new shoes since my old Diadoras are coming appart after quite a few years. I've seen the Spiuks and they seem O.K but I haven't heard the name before.

garage sale GT

Do your look pedals have adjustable float? maybe there's too much for easy unclipping. The low end pedals I use only have four degrees of float; consequently it is easy to unclip without twisting your foot too far outward.

Maybe you just need to practice unclipping one foot at a time?

Anyway, you can't always tell which way the bike will lean so just unclip both feet while you've still got some speed.

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baj32161

I agree with this. I started with SPD (MTB) shoes and find no reason not to keep them. It is a learned action. Don't give up. I will never go back to platforms or clips and straps (although I do have them on my back up bike in case a friend wants to ride). Once you get used to them you wil sawear by them.

Cheers,

Brian

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baj32161

You are right on the money...this is a royal pain it the sphincter.

__________________
"Don't think, feeeeeeeeeeeeel....
It is like a finger, pointing away
to the moon......
Don't concentrate on the finger,
or you'll miss all that Heavenly glory."

Bruce Lee
"Enter The Dragon"

scirocco

A few weeks ago I was watching A Sunday in Hell, Paris-Roubaix in the days of toe-clip pedals. The agony on the face of one rider lying on the ground with his bike still attached, twisting his foot the opposite way from how he was lying, would put you off toe-clips for good. After all, "clipless" pedals evolved from ski-boot bindings, designed to release before they did your ankles and knees any serious damage.

Aussie Steve

OK here is my 2 cents worth. Make sure your cleats are screwed in as tight as possible into the sole (to avoid stripping the thread, a drop of grease on each screw is desirable). The slightest give in the cleats means more chance of cleat rotation, and it wont kick out of the release.
Now. when rotating your foot, rotate you ankle outwards, not your entire foot. I'm guessing your rotation may be wrong, e.g. you could be twisting the front of the shoe too much? the trick is to just turn the heel as much as possible....
give that a shot. I dont understand some of the old-timers here who dont like 'clipless' because they're hard to walk on.... you get used to them, and besides, biomechanically, if set up properly, should reduce or even eliminate knee/ankle problems for ever.
Nuff said.

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kdelong

Racers in the days of toe clips cinched up the straps really tight so that you really were attached to the bike. The riding that I do now is non-competitive recreational riding with a little commuting thrown in. I don't need to pull my straps up tight and can easily slip my foot out when I want to. I have never had a ankle or knee problem that resulted from riding, only a sprained ankle suffered while running with my dog. As for clipless pedals evolving from ski bindings, aren't sprained knees and ankles, or worse, common among skiers?

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kdelong

After 35 years of riding with toe clips and straps, clipless felt too foreign to me, even after an entire season of only riding clipless, so I went back to toe clips and straps. As for walking with cleats, cycling road shoes are not made very well for walking any but the shortest distance. Not much good if you are going to ride to the art museum or museum of natural history. They are even difficult to wear when grocery shopping. With cleats installed, and cleat covers on them to protect the cleat and the floor, the angle of the foot on the floor leaves a lot to be desired.

I have been told that Mountain Bike Shoes are different, but from the ones that I have looked at, you still need cleat covers to keep from scratching up nice floors. Bad thing about cleat covers is that you need to remember to bring them along on your ride. On top of that, what if you forgot to bring your shoes with you to the assembly point of a ride (of course this is presuming that you transport your bike to the assembly point rather than ride it)? With toe clips and straps, most any shoe will work.

The purpose of my original post was not to try to dissuade anyone from using clipless pedals. I did want to point out that there is a viable alternative and that the OP could still ride, even if they could not get used to clipless pedals. Oh, by the way, in 40 years of riding with toe clips and straps, I have never suffered any knee or ankle problems caused by cycling. So I guess that toe clips and straps, when set up properly, are biomechanically correct also. Get back to me after your 40th year of riding clipless and let me know how it all worked out for you!

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TheDarkLord

I think you are the first person I have seen who is defending toe clips over clipless pedals...

gemship

Great post. I have a bike with Time rxs pedals and using Specialized S-works shoes with carbon souls. Brutal to walk in and I don't have any cleat covers, nor would it matter much as I don't care to do damage to the soul/bottom area of the shoes. When I bought this pedal/shoe setup I never gave practicality much consideration as I knew this is the kind of setup one would want for any high end road bike. However on my other road bike I use shimano spd shoes. on the bottome of the shoe the cleat is mounted with two screws in a recessed area so when your walking the tread of the shoe makes contact but not the cleat and the tread/soul area is a very stiff rubber. These shoes are nice and I use them with another road bike of mine that has crankbrother's eagbeater pedals. The eggbeater's have a lot of side to side float feeling to them vs. the Time pedals but there so much easier to use. I also have a mountainbike with the standard platform pedals. I consider myself a average rider with the potential to up my game but I just barely see much performance increase. Oh and yes I used to have a few bikes with toeclips and I liked those too but only when the straps were loose so my shoes didn't feel locked in. I actually find the Time cleats to be a pain in the ass but like I said with a Cervelo they're supposed to look the part.