Clipless Pedals.

Tino4444

Hi all,

I have decided to change my hybrid for a Boardman road bike but the thought of using the clipless pedals both worries and confuses me. :?

I am currently using the cheap black plastic toe clips that fix to standard pedals but cannot get my head around how these clipless pedals work.

How do your feet fix into them?
How do you get your feet out in time before falling sideways off your bike?
Are they easy to use?
And do they make a massive difference in performance?

Thanks,

Tino.

spasypaddy

How do your feet fix into them?
You get cycling shoes and there is a piece of plastic/metal that clips into the pedal

How do you get your feet out in time before falling sideways off your bike?
You twist your foot sideways before you come to a stop and then you can put your foot down on the ground

Are they easy to use?
Absolutely simple mate, after the first few rides they become second nature

And do they make a massive difference in performance?
Yes, will easily add 1 or 2 mph to your time because you can use the whole pedal stroke a full circle rather than just being able to push down. Imagine those hard hills where you have one leg pushing down and the other pulling up, creating more power to get you up that hill

always_tyred

Tino4444 wrote:

How do your feet fix into them?

There are spring loaded mechanisms which clamp around "cleats" which you bolt to the bottom of your shoes. Most systems simply require you to catch the front of the cleat (made easier by the design of most cleat-pedal systems) and simply put your weight on the pedal.

Tino4444 wrote:

How do you get your feet out in time before falling sideways off your bike?.Are they easy to use?

You unclip by rotating your heel out sideways. In theory this is no more difficult or time consuming than pulling your heel out backwards from toe clips. The motion isn't as intuitive as pulling out of toe clips, though, and it takes a little practice. That said, almost everyone gets used to them quite quickly.

Tino4444 wrote:

And do they make a massive difference in performance?

A huge difference, yes. You can use your hamstrings on the upstrokes and its like night and day compared to flat pedals.[/quote]

Tino4444

Oh right I see, that sounds pretty straight forward.

Thanks for your responses much appreciated.

always_tyred

Tino4444 wrote:

Oh right I see, that sounds pretty straight forward.

Thanks for your responses much appreciated.

The hardest thing is choosing which type of pedal - it is a bit like economics - ask five people......

cheehee

Tino, you can back the spring tension right off the pedals. This will let you get your tootsies out quicker.................

If you ask the staff at Halfords they will show you how, cos they are mega like that :roll:

spasypaddy

in regards as to what to get...

first time out id recommend a cheap pair of SPDs will set you back £20... or get a pair of speedplays. (both double sided pedals)

if you get speedplays then ignore this next section

then as you get comfortable with riding clipless and want to move onto something roadie like, get whichever one matches your bike the best. They are quite literally much of a muchness.

EssexSuffolk

I've literally just made the move to clipless pedals on my road bike and I'm well impressed. Clipping in is far safer than with straps (because you don't need to look down as much) and clipping out is far easier than expected. I went for some Look Keo Sprint pedals and - probably like other makes - they have adjustable tension so you can set them up to be easy to cip-out of at first. Performance wise, its early days, but the whole setup feels a lot more efficient (after all, you're connected to the bike).

vinylmonkey

i've just bought a new bike (secondhand) and havent been able to remove the pedals as they're on too tight (LBS just did it for me now at lunchtime), it felt so strange not being clipped in and far less safe as the bike wasn't as responsive as it usually is.

So overall i would defintely recommend moving to clipless pedals and it takes just a few rides to get used to it too!