clipless

faaj

Hey,

I finally got my pedals today (SPD-SL 105 '08 version) pretty cheap of ebay wahoo. Put 'em together with my kind of ok begginners road shoe and started off this evening. All seemed well, i was able to unclip my shoes easily and clip them on okish (takes a few tries to try to get the clip clipped in ride riding).

feel

on my second time out with clipless i had a fall but managed to get my knee onto the gravel to protect my bike :roll:

faaj

i know i wish i had taken the blow on my body somewhere :? . I like my stuff to be nice and shiny, but aftrer only a few days of use so many scratches.

OldSeagul

This will not be your last time! I have unclipped my left shoe, tried to post a letter into a post box with my right hand and ended up on my right side, still clipped in and still holding the letter. I have stopped at a junction and completely forgotten to unclip, resulting in a slow fall fortunately to the left but unfortunately in front of about 15 schoolgirls. I've done the same thing in a traffic queue and slid sideways down the bonnet of a van - the driver said he would have helped me sooner, but he was laughing so much. The first time I did it, I had the clips too tight and had to take my shoes off to get off the bike.

Doobz

hey faaj.. good to see your riding your bike as much as you can and have ventured into the world of clip less pedals. Its cool to fall of every now and then and it helps you learn for the future on what not to do -

On a serious note tho mate. I would get your posture sorted out and make sure you have the right size bike with correct saddle height, saddle position and your stem height and reach needs to be checked too.. The last thing you want to be doing is any damage to your body as it will not do you any favours in the long run and the future.

adiós
Doobz

dennisn

Don't worry about the bottoms of your shoes getting scratched up. No big deal. They
will get scratched up walking and riding. As for figuring out how ot unclip without
a catastrophe the best bet is to plan ahead. You need to decide which foot you are going to unclip before you come to a complete halt. And don't just think about unclipping before
you stop, actually do it. Get that foot out and ready to put on the pavement and be ready to lean your bike toward that side. I usually try to unclip with the same foot all the time. It gets you thinking the same each time. I always start with one foot clipped in, get moving a bit, and clip in the other. It can be tricky until you get the hang of it and you will. One thing to watch is don't put a lot of power to the pedal until you're sure you're clipped in. Slipping off a pedal can make a mess of your shin or possibly something else. If I sound like an a**hole stating the obvious I don't mean to.

Dennis Noward

thexvw

Everyone falls off at least a few times when they first use spd. On my first outing I made it to the bottom of my drive before I gently keeled over and ended up lying on my side still clipped to the pedals!

I'd rather scratch my shoes than my bike any day, you can easily pick up a new pair of cleats.

faaj

thanks for the replies, well for my sizing, i know its the right bike size for me, and my saddle height is that i can reac hthe bottom of the pedal with a bend in my leg ( saddle at highest i can keep it without it affecteding performnce etc.), the saddle btw isnt really that high. I don't know but i hopw this back pain goes as its annoying

feel

Re the back pain
do you have short hamstrings (can't touch toes) cycling tends to shorten them more and can lead to uneven tension on your pelvis, leading to lower back pain. Remedy is to do plenty of HS stretches before and after a ride.

or is your seat a little too high causing your pelvis to rock as you pedal, this is best spotted by someone riding behind you.

Ruari

Interesting reading about the hamstring situation affecting the lower back, I've got short hammies and I too get lower back pain. Will definitely try stretching more.

hodsgod

I think cycling can affect your lower back at first, I had a problem about 13 years ago when I went back to cycling after some years away. I think the stretching advice is excellent, and is good advice for anyone who is going to ride.

faaj

about the short hamstrings, i just tried touching my toes without bending.... it seemed soo much harder than before cycling (was never able to do it anyway) . I guess it could be my hamstrings, any tips for hamstring stretches etc. to stop lower back pain?

Infamous

I have had some back problems in the past (i'm 22) but not from a bike, mainly from lifting weights. I found that the only way to overcome it was to strengthen the muscles.

dorsal raises are a good lower back exercise. I would imagine you would also benefit from some ab strengthening too (sit ups etc).

if you are interested, the way I did it was to go for a 2 hour hike carrying 55lbs. It took about a week for my back to "recover" but since then it has been bulletproof. I'm not suggesting you do this, but if you wanted to try it you could start off slowly to build up your back strength.

feel

faaj wrote:

, any tips for hamstring stretches etc. to stop lower back pain?

This is going to be hard to explain, although it is a very simple movement
Lie on your back and lift your right leg by bending your knee so thigh is 45degees to ground and lower right leg is parallel to ground, now move your right leg left over your left as far as it will go for 5 seconds or so. You should feel your hamstring stretch. Varying the angle of elevation of your leg causes different parts of the hamstring to be stretched. Then repeat with th other leg.

Another one is to to stand beside a chair and put one foot on it with the leg bent now gently lean over towards your knee. Do not lean over too far or cause any tensing in the muscles as this will be counter productive as the muscle will pull on the pelvis.

Lastly a good general lower back exercise is to lie on your back with both your knees bent and feet still flat on the floor. Now gently move your knees left then right about 45 degrees in each direction and repeat 20 times.

This is what my osteopath has me do - hope it helps.