First time riding with SPDs!!

drewcole81

Hello All,

Somthing i've been meaning to do for years is get some SPD shoes to go with the pedals i've had since I bought my bike.

I've always used DMR V12s since I started riding, but I thought why not give it a go!

So I bought some Simano shoes last week and went for a ride the other day with them... I think it will take some getting used to as it feels weird to start with, i'm heading to the Peaks in a couple of weeks so will see how i'll get on with them there... I think i'll put my DMRs in the boot just incase!


What do you think of your SPDs if you ride with them?

HAve you ever wanted to try them out?

miss notax

They make such a difference, in my opinion you won't regret changing to them! Riding uphill is much easier clipped in.

Do prepare yourself for a few comedy moments though..... There will almost certainly be a few times when you don't unclip fast enough and fall over, or unclip the wrong foot etc etc

cgarossi

You will fall off.

But the frequency of having an 'SPD moment' will reduce as you get used to clipping in and out.

It's second nature for me now. Clipping out that is, not falling off.

Anonymous

I rode with SPDs for several years, before deciding that I just didn't like them. I didn't notice any real advantage on them, apart from being able to quickly pick up and replant the back end if the bike was drifting.
Oh, and I was also told by my physio last year that I should stay clear of SPDs since I dislocated my knee.

So, give them a good try out, but if you don't get on with them, don't feel pressured to keep them. If you like them, great.

kaytronika

I love them.

First time back on them last Saturday in Delamere... Front wheel hit a small rock and I stopped dead... Panicked to dab my foot down and forgot I was clipped in. Literally just managed to get unclipped before I landed in a bush

x-isle

It depends, a lot of people who are in the middle of All-Mountain and Freeride tend to be a bit split.

I run Shimano DX (as do a lot of people) and find that if I'm riding a bit that I can't get clipped in to do, I just use them as a flat.

Great compromise, but I wouldn't be without SPDs

bails87

yeehaamcgee wrote:

So, give them a good try out, but if you don't get on with them, don't feel pressured to keep them. If you like them, great.

Far too sensible for one of these threads. We'll have no more of that thankyou

.blitz

I was glad of spds the other night. I hit a root at low speed and the bars went sideways but I j-u-s-t managed to push/pull a turn out of the cranks, straighten up and get going again

drewcole81

My first thougth was I wouldn't like them... felt just like riding with toe clips like I did at school!

Hopefully i'll get used to them

I am ready for some spills though!

Buckled_Rims

For road and light MTB use SPDs are great. But, for me anything approaching red runs are a DMR V12 (yes, I have those as well) essential moment.

I think my problem is I just naturally want to dab a foot down every so often on a trail.

drewcole81

Buckled_Rims wrote:

For road and light MTB use SPDs are great. But, for me anything approaching red runs are a DMR V12 (yes, I have those as well) essential moment.

I think my problem is I just naturally want to dab a foot down every so often on a trail.

That is exactly my thinking, I know I can push myself a little more knowing that I can dab a foot or if it does go all wrong then bail fairly quick.... I think the SPDs might in fact slow me down a little as I won't have the confidence?

I know i'll get used to them, but from riding V12s since I was a wee lad it'll be hard to leave them behind!

wesk

Hmm, ridden pretty much everything with spds since about '94. There's nothing I won't tackle because I'm clipped in (plenty 'cos I'm rubbish though) and my fett actually twist off normal pedals now, it's completly natural.
Having said that, I've not tried a trail centre so have no idea what a 'red' run is, tend to just og out and ride.

drewcole81

Well a Red run isn't as bad as a Black run... but either way you will get some pretty technical stuff in them that could require a quick dismount!

How hard can it be!

miss notax

drewcole81 wrote:

Well a Red run isn't as bad as a Black run... but either way you will get some pretty technical stuff in them that could require a quick dismount!

How hard can it be!

For what it's worth I use SPDs for everything - xc in the New Forest, red runs, black runs, riding in the Alps and everything in-between!!

I fall off plenty, but that's due to my lack of talent rather than being clipped in.... You will get used to unclipping and do it automatically after a while (I have usually unclipped by the time I tumble :? ). Stick with it!

wesk

right, so it's some steep single track with a few twists and drops. SPD's would be fine then! 8)
Must get to Afan soon to see what the deal is....

x-isle

As long as you're a well-seasoned SPD'er then anything should be fine.

I always use my DX's whatever riding I do. The steeper rockier the better! It just becomes 2nd nature to get clipped out. I had a nasty over the bars down a steep rocky section (my own stupid fault), for those that know it, the Black sectioned Upper Cliff Rocks on the new Monkey trail at Cannock Chase.

I didn't even have to think about getting clipped out.

Plus, the chavs can't steal my bike from under me when I'm riding back home afterwards if I'm attached to the bike.

drewcole81

wesk wrote:

right, so it's some steep single track with a few twists and drops. SPD's would be fine then! 8)
Must get to Afan soon to see what the deal is....

Afan is very good

dot1

I have a feeling this is where my final year uni project would come in!

supersonic

Many cheap pedals use the studs moulded - they are usually crap. Very slippy, and when they wear down, cannot be replaced.

dot1

yeah, the original design had normal replacable pins, put my lecturer started going on about how costly it was, so i changed it to please him, as he is the one who is marking it!

bike-a-swan

I'd kill for a project that was bike related- I spend my days in the labs doing simulations of fans. Not fun

The Northern Monkey

.blitz wrote:

I was glad of spds the other night. I hit a root at low speed and the bars went sideways but I j-u-s-t managed to push/pull a turn out of the cranks, straighten up and get going again

Why wouldn't you be able to save that with flats?

I'm intrigued...

thel33ter

Thats a nice looking design but as Supersonic says, moulded plastic studs are useless, if the pedal is metal then its a different story.

As for SPD's, whenever I crash properly, my feet are way out of the pedals, I find it hard to ride flats off road now as my feet slip off, and I'm much slower up short fast hills and pulling away without them, I use M420/M440's? whatever the basic ones are, and some older ones with a flat pedal type thing around them - like a DX but with a metal cage.

EDIT: I take ages to type, and the first bit is now pretty much redundant :roll:

Anonymous

thel33ter wrote:

Thats a nice looking design but as Supersonic says, moulded plastic studs are useless, if the pedal is metal then its a different story.

Actually, metal mouled studs are even worse than the plastic ones in my experience. When the metal gets wet, it's completely void of any friction.
I used to have the old Shimano DX SPD/Cage pedals, and they were completely unusable when they were even moist unless you were clipped in.

Anonymous

thel33ter wrote:

Thats a nice looking design but as Supersonic says, moulded plastic studs are useless, if the pedal is metal then its a different story.

Actually, metal mouled studs are even worse than the plastic ones in my experience. When the metal gets wet, it's completely void of any friction.
I used to have the old Shimano DX SPD/Cage pedals, and they were completely unusable when they were even moist unless you were clipped in.

dot1

Yeah I did try and explain to him that studs cast as part of the body weren't a good idea, but he wasn't having any of it. The body is 6061 aluminium, whole thing weighs in at 256 grams per pedal.

Anonymous

dot1 wrote:

Yeah I did try and explain to him that studs cast as part of the body weren't a good idea, but he wasn't having any of it. The body is 6061 aluminium, whole thing weighs in at 256 grams per pedal.

Sounds like he shouldn't be lecturing in design then.

dot1

haha, probably not! none of the lecturers on my product design course have ever been product designers which probably isn't a good thing....

Anonymous

Sounds like a course to avoid like the plague.

supersonic

Your lecturer is a pleb.