some might think it's a backward step...

NGale

but i have gone back to flat pedals!

This is for a few reasons, 1) I keep falling off not being able to unclip quickly enough, and to be honest I'm fed up of the constant brusing. 2) my SPD decided to eat my shoe! Not quite as bad as it sounds, but getting off my bike early this morning I found myself with one shoe less and it still stuck on the pedal, much swearing and cursing started and 20 minutes later with the aid of a screwdriver and a hammer I managed to get my shoe off the pedal. Pedal is bust and shoe is a bit mangled (just as well they were the 10 quid Lidl ones)

anyway I have gone back to flats for the time being (until I can afford some speedplays) and actually it's quite nice, my foot positioning on the pedals can only be discribed as 'ape like' i.e on the arches of my feet, but it feels strangly normal and familar after a year on clips.

I am unashamed

amnezia

You might need to do your shoes up tighter, theres no way you should be able to get your foot out of the shoe without the cleat disengaging. If you shoes aren't tight enough it makes clipping out very difficult.

pastryboy

Those lidl shoes are very soft 'multi-purpose' ones that just happen to have cleat holes. It's not that surprising you'd be able to free your foot from them.

I had a similar issue with lidl shoes - the cleat bolt became loose so the cleat twisted when I tried to unclip - over I went.

NGale

pastryboy wrote:

Those lidl shoes are very soft 'multi-purpose' ones that just happen to have cleat holes. It's not that surprising you'd be able to free your foot from them.

I had a similar issue with lidl shoes - the cleat bolt became loose so the cleat twisted when I tried to unclip - over I went.

once I get some speedplays I will be using only my dHBs. as with what happened with your lidl shoes was what happened with mine, I was just lucky it was my right foot that got stuck as I unclip first with the left.

redvee

Never had any issues like above with the Lidl/Aldi shoes.

Jay dubbleU

Tried spds which came with the Genesis but I got a pain in my right knee on rides over about 10 miles how ever much I adjusted them so I switched to flats and 5/10 Freerunners which have flat grippy soles.

wgwarburton

NGale wrote:

...i have gone back to flat pedals!

... and actually it's quite nice, my foot positioning on the pedals can only be discribed as 'ape like' i.e on the arches of my feet, but it feels strangly normal and familar after a year on clips. ...

Have you tried using toe-clips? It takes a little practice to get the hang of flipping them up & sliding your foot in but once mastered the skill is there for life (like riding a bike..:-) ).
I'm sure they're not as secure as clipless, but they'll keep your foot in the right place, let you pedal better than flats and you can whip your foot out in no time... You don't need to cinch them down unless you're really planning to crank it.
Oh- and you don't need special shoes... pretty much anything with a firm sole will do.

Cheers,
W.

Cafewanda

Wot WG said, although I took the straps off mine because I couldn't get used to them.

oscarbudgie

I have flats with straps on my hack bike (the one I use for shopping, school run etc) on the basis that I don't want to have to wear SPD shoes everywhere. But tbh riding clipped feels so much more natural and safer and unclipping is so automatic that I'm just about to put SPDs (or maybe some of the dual sided ones) even on the hack. ...

wgwarburton

oscarbudgie wrote:

I have flats with straps on my hack bike (the one I use for shopping, school run etc) on the basis that I don't want to have to wear SPD shoes everywhere. But tbh riding clipped feels so much more natural and safer and unclipping is so automatic that I'm just about to put SPDs (or maybe some of the dual sided ones) even on the hack. ...

Yes... but NGale specifically said that she's not getting on with hers... that she's fed up with constant bruising as a result of not being able to unclip quickly. Seems like her circumstances are different!

Cheers,
W.

roger_merriman

NGale wrote:

but i have gone back to flat pedals!

This is for a few reasons, 1) I keep falling off not being able to unclip quickly enough, and to be honest I'm fed up of the constant brusing. 2) my SPD decided to eat my shoe! Not quite as bad as it sounds, but getting off my bike early this morning I found myself with one shoe less and it still stuck on the pedal, much swearing and cursing started and 20 minutes later with the aid of a screwdriver and a hammer I managed to get my shoe off the pedal. Pedal is bust and shoe is a bit mangled (just as well they were the 10 quid Lidl ones)

anyway I have gone back to flats for the time being (until I can afford some speedplays) and actually it's quite nice, my foot positioning on the pedals can only be discribed as 'ape like' i.e on the arches of my feet, but it feels strangly normal and familar after a year on clips.

I am unashamed

I use SPD's wound as loose as they will go. I don't pull up much since i'm a flats by nature rider any way.

what flats? most road flats aren't great, in terms of gripping the shoe.

Kieran_Burns

I used two sided pedals with SPDs myself. You get the best of both worlds. The only issue is getting the right side when setting off

Personlly I'd recommend these for any commuter, you can clip in when on open stretches and run on the flat side when in traffic

lost_in_thought

I tried toe clips, and my god I hate them. Hate hate hate. I could not get the hang of them.

Perhaps I'm just a muppet.

But yeah, NGale, perhaps make sure your SPDs are as loose as they'll go before giving up.

il_principe

some might think it's a backward step... and rightly so. :P

MonkeyMonster

I've had the lose cleat shoe stays clipped in and I fall off moment Once a long time ago.

Shame you've been having so many unable to unclip moments but as others have implied or suggested. Make sure the bolts holding the cleats in are super tight and loosen the spd's to max.

The difference in energy transmission from cleats to flats is quite noticeable and I for one would hope you get back into them.

gbsahne001

Used toe clips/ straps for 20 years, first ride with cleats yesterday and found they were really easy to clip in and out of; much easier than the straps but then I do tend to wear them tight.

emdeef

I looked at going clipless a couple of years ago but could not find shoes that were comfortable. My feet are wide at the toes and very narrow at the heel, so anything which fitted at the front was too loose at the back. So I use toe clips. I have some mini plastic ones which I found in Halfords on the commuter mtb and they are OK.

Anybody suggest any shoes which I could try?

blinddrew

lost_in_thought wrote:

But yeah, NGale, perhaps make sure your SPDs are as loose as they'll go before giving up.

My tuppence worth is that sometimes the problem can be having the pedals too loose.
Bear with me...

When i first tried clipless (many years ago!) i had the pedals set as loose as possible and struggled a couple of times. Tightening up the spring meant that i got much more of a "pop" to the release and actually it was easier to get my foot out.
Mind you, that seems to work more with look-type pedals than SPDs

oscarbudgie

emdeef wrote:

I looked at going clipless a couple of years ago but could not find shoes that were comfortable. My feet are wide at the toes and very narrow at the heel, so anything which fitted at the front was too loose at the back. So I use toe clips. I have some mini plastic ones which I found in Halfords on the commuter mtb and they are OK.

Anybody suggest any shoes which I could try?

Shimano shoes have a wide 'toe box' as they call it.

emdeef

oscarbudgie wrote:

emdeef wrote:

I looked at going clipless a couple of years ago but could not find shoes that were comfortable. My feet are wide at the toes and very narrow at the heel, so anything which fitted at the front was too loose at the back. So I use toe clips. I have some mini plastic ones which I found in Halfords on the commuter mtb and they are OK.

Anybody suggest any shoes which I could try?

Shimano shoes have a wide 'toe box' as they call it.

Thanks. I will have another look at their shoes. LBS only had a limited selection last time.

R_T_A

emdeef wrote:

oscarbudgie wrote:

emdeef wrote:

I looked at going clipless a couple of years ago but could not find shoes that were comfortable. My feet are wide at the toes and very narrow at the heel, so anything which fitted at the front was too loose at the back. So I use toe clips. I have some mini plastic ones which I found in Halfords on the commuter mtb and they are OK.

Anybody suggest any shoes which I could try?

Shimano shoes have a wide 'toe box' as they call it.

Thanks. I will have another look at their shoes. LBS only had a limited selection last time.

I have similar feet and have been using these every day for over a year. Great value for money (£48 ) - although I got them in black

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=7610

wgwarburton

MonkeyMonster wrote:

...The difference in energy transmission from cleats to flats is quite noticeable ...em.

I find that I can easily transfer enough energy to exhaust myself without the benefit of clipless pedals!!
I rode in this morning with only one toeclip- my left pedal bearings failed last night (with astonishingly good fortune, I was already on my way to the bike-recyclers!) and I swapped the pedal last night, but didn't get the toeclip done.
There were two main things I noticed- a general feeling of insecurity, since my foot wasn't being held in the right place and the inability to push forward on the pedal at the top of the stroke-- Several times I forgot and my foot slid off forwards.
I only pull up on the pedals when I'm really struggling uphill or away from lights (I've read that's generally the case- "pulling up" is a bit of a myth), apart from that the pedal action is more about rotation than pumping(!).

Cheers,
W.

ride_whenever

sidi mega shoes.

IIRC there are some with the adjustable heel cup in the mega sizes. That way you can have the wide fit with room in the toe, with a tight heel.

gbsahne001

just put the cips and straps back onto the bike; feet too cold with the SPD shoes, think I might have been sold summer shoes :?

emdeef

R_T_A wrote:

emdeef wrote:

oscarbudgie wrote:

emdeef wrote:

I looked at going clipless a couple of years ago but could not find shoes that were comfortable. My feet are wide at the toes and very narrow at the heel, so anything which fitted at the front was too loose at the back. So I use toe clips. I have some mini plastic ones which I found in Halfords on the commuter mtb and they are OK.

Anybody suggest any shoes which I could try?

Shimano shoes have a wide 'toe box' as they call it.

Thanks. I will have another look at their shoes. LBS only had a limited selection last time.

I have similar feet and have been using these every day for over a year. Great value for money (£48 ) - although I got them in black

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=7610

Thanks! Shimano MP66 look like what I want, and reasonably priced - I will see if I can find them locally to try

Jay dubbleU

I use these - have done about 60 miles on them since the change - no grip problems and they seem to run very smoothly

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Wellg ... 6648/#more

Roastie

Ngale: Horses for courses. If clipless does nothing for you then why bother. Mrs Roastie gets on just fine without clipping in...

rjsterry

I can barely ride without my SPDs now. My feet were constantly slipping off the folding flats on my Dahon yesterday, to the extent that I think I need to get another set of SPDs, and that was in perfectly dry conditions and appropriate footwear.

gaz545

When i test rode a few bikes, they all had toe clips. Could not deal with them so had to get them to change it to flats... aaaaah thats better.

suzyb

I'm too scared to put my SPDs on my road bike in case I have another clipless moment and damage the bike

Fortunately it has toe straps though so my foot is kept as far forward as it should be. Although their sideways position means I keep banging my leg on the chain ring.

NGale

Roastie wrote:

Ngale: Horses for courses. If clipless does nothing for you then why bother. Mrs Roastie gets on just fine without clipping in...

I will be going back to clipless because I have got so used to it, just not for a while until I can afford some speedplays. I have decided my 'everyday' pootling bike will just have flats on them and keep the clipless to the speedier commuter and road bike