SPD-R questions (doh! SPD-SL)

bunter

I am loving my new bike which has SPD-R 105 pedals fitted and my nice new comfy Lake shoes, but:

How on earth do you do a hill start in SPD-Rs? being one sided, sods law comes into play and my unclipped pedal is always the wrong way up and my foot slides off the pedal. I am used to SPDs and am able to pedal with these without being clipped in for long enough to get some speed going but I can't seem to do the same trick with SPD-Rs.

Also:

My SPD-R cleats are made of plastic and look like they are going to last about five minutes. Can you buy more robust cleats to fit the pedals?

always_tyred

Plastic cleats not robust. Sorry. But the bit you walk on may not be the bit you engage with the pedal.

The pedal should hang with the top side facing you. This enables you to reliably "brush" your foot up towards the face of the padal, and engage the leading end of the pedal with the top of the cleat. If it doesn't adopt the same orientation each time, there may be something wrong.

As road shoes don't have grips on the soles, you pretty much have to get it right first time with all road systems. If you miss the cleat, there's little to stop the pedal slipping along the sole of the shoe.

That said, we all get it wrong from time to time, and learn to perfect the "half stroke" (drive down on the clipped in side, a quick up stroke, and then down again before you lose momentum).This gies you a couple of stabs, or allows you to get the bike moving a little, in order to clip in with the other foot.

bunter

thanks for your reply. I guess it's just a matter of practice then...

TommyEss

Do you mean SPD-SL pedals?

The SPD-R is essentially a traditional SPD brass cleat with a bit on the side.

SPD-R


SPD-SL


As said - it's just tricky if you've got the big plastic wedge cleats on - try riding across the hill a bit, rather than trying to push straight up the hill - this will lower the gradient.

(Obviously check over your shoulder before doing this!)[/img]

bunter

Ah, I obviously mean SPD SL - sorry for the confusion, I am new to all this road pedal stuff.
:oops:

Norky

I've just adopted SPD-SL pedals (after having used Crank Bros. SPD-type pedals for a couple of years). I've been finding them a bit tough to clip into, though I'm slowly getting the knack. I did find I was setting my foot too far 'out' from the the bike. If I made an effort to place the shoe sufficiently close to the crank it clipped in more easily. +1 to what Always Tyred said, assuming he meant front of pedal pointing up, top of pedal facing backwards, so that you bring the shoe towards the pedal from behind.

There is an adjustment to reduce the tension and make un-clipping easier. It might well make clipping in a bit easier too, though I have not tried it.

Regarding durability, the bit you walk on will be brightly coloured plastic (red, yellow, other). It's intended to be sacrificial, and will wear out as you walk. There are wear lines that tell you when to replace the cleat. I try to minimise the amount of walking I do in mine, walking out to the garage in trainers or just socks and putting the bike shoes on there. It's only a minor inconvenience, though I will probably put some kind of SPD pedal on the next bike and save the SPD-SL for the fast bike.