About to go clipless

Canny Jock

Cycling home tonight using SPD's for the first time - wish me luck

Wallace1492

Good luck, look out for the Black Ice..... remember to unclip ahead of lights, junctions and obstacles.

iPete

Best of luck, hopefully you didn't see my thread yesterday

Just make sure you look ahead at events more than usual, as said above.. and enjoy all the extra power

amnezia

make sure they are set to the lowest possible tension, you can increase it as you get used to them.

cjcp

How did you get on?

Canny Jock

cjcp wrote:

How did you get on?

Good thanks! As above, I set them to pretty much the lowest tension so had no problems clicking out, there also seems to be a fair bit of movement allowed which made them pretty comfortable. They are Shimano M424's, which I think are the same as the M520's with a resin cage, which means I can pop to the shops and ride with the kids in normal shoes as well.

I took it easy, but I'm really impressed with the difference - it could be placebo effect, but I seemed to be able to use one gear higher than normal - does this sound right?

cjcp

Good stuff. I have the M520s too. There's more power transfer with clipless. More flex with trainers. I noticed it when I switched my mtb pedals from flats last winter.

arthur_scrimshaw

My first venture into SPD were also the m424s, they lasted 20 minutes before the bearing cap came out on one side (the yellow/green bit). I found it and replaced it but it soon came out again. I think it was the action of twisting my foot to disengage the spd was pushing on the cage and forcing out the cap. The cap covers the bearing and without it the whole resin body flopped about. Reading the reviews on CRC, it's not uncommon.
Exchanged it for m520's and not looked back.

iain_j

Canny Jock wrote:

I took it easy, but I'm really impressed with the difference - it could be placebo effect, but I seemed to be able to use one gear higher than normal - does this sound right?

Definitely, especially when climbing hills or sudden accelerations, eg. pulling out at a busy roundabout. I only notice the difference when I try to ride in my trainers - my legs go flying when I try to pull up on the pedals

Edit- I'm on M520's too, no troubles after 2 years.

Canny Jock

Arthur Scrimshaw wrote:

My first venture into SPD were also the m424s, they lasted 20 minutes before the bearing cap came out on one side (the yellow/green bit). I found it and replaced it but it soon came out again. I think it was the action of twisting my foot to disengage the spd was pushing on the cage and forcing out the cap. The cap covers the bearing and without it the whole resin body flopped about. Reading the reviews on CRC, it's not uncommon.
Exchanged it for m520's and not looked back.

Hmmm that's not good, although I have also seen positive reviews. Friend of mine at work commutes every day and has done for years, he has some M424's and has had no trouble with them.

Maybe the build quality isn't is good as more expensive pedals, so there could be some variation between batches? I'll report back if I have any problems...

roger_merriman

Not every one has a clipless moment I haven't yet been a year or more now so...

Can't say I notice any power difference from flats/clipless. But then I'm at home on flats! So I don't pull up.