SPD Virgin

mudcow007

afternoon girls and boys

just fitted my sparkling new 520's an im not going to lie to you, im pretty worried about the ride home, its my first time riding on SPDs an ive spent most of my dinner time clicking in and out of them to make sure i can that

any tips?

UndercoverElephant

Just do it, it's not that tough. Oh, and un-clip your standing foot nice and early as you come up to junctions.

meanredspider

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Just do it, it's not that tough. Oh, and un-clip your standing foot nice and early as you come up to junctions.

+1

mudcow007

thanks for that, i will remember that *makes mental note*

one thing im struggling with is actually getting "clipped in" i seem to be wildly jabbing my foot at the pedal...oh things were so much easier with DMR's

sam_anon

Don't worry about it, you will fall off (probably!)

The first ride is normally fine as you're thinking about it all the time.

Next ride you forget, stop, panic and fall over. The classic way is stop, panic, get one foot out, fall other way.

You'll love it on day three though!

jeepie

Unclip your left foot not your right one. That way if you have a clipless moment you'll fall onto the pavement and not into the road.

Unclip very early if you can.

Remember in an emergency stop situation you'll have to unclip - not hitting the hard object in front of you will not save you from a clipless moment!

You'll be fine!

Sharkyssurfers

just loosen the adjuster a little bit, so you can clip in a bit easier, then when you have got use to it tighten it back up again

mudcow007

ive wound the "loosen" screw all the way off so should be super easy to get into, i'm thinking of taking my local bike track home so i can have a play around without getting squished

CyclingBantam

Much easier said than done but don't panic at junctions when you are setting off.

If you forget about the trafic behind you you will be able to clip in quickly, if you have it in your head they are there and you are holding them up I find I panic and take much longer to clip in, therefore, holding them up for longer.

Also, to build your confidence, if you are free wheeling down a hill, try cliping in and out a few times. Practise makes perfect.

Finally, don't build it up. It is easy, you will be fine, and when you have done it you will find it so much better and wonder what all the fuss was about.

mudcow007

cheers all, i will keep you all posted with my adventure home

CRAIGO5000

As above really. It's taken me around 300 miles to finally fall due to be clipped in and it happened in the daftest of circumstances pulling up to a kerb and unclipping my right foot only for the bike to hit some dodgy tarmac and wobble to the left where of course, I'm still clipped in.

Thanks goes to Mr Audi who melodically beeped his horn as he drove past.

You'll be fine

daviesee

sam anon wrote:

Don't worry about it, you will fall off (probably!)

The first ride is normally fine as you're thinking about it all the time.

Next ride you forget, stop, panic and fall over. The classic way is stop, panic, get one foot out, fall other way.

You'll love it on day three though!

LOL! I have been riding spds for 15 years and did exactly that last month, in front of a bus full of tourists :oops:

davmaggs

You'll find it frustrating for a while because you'll pull away from a stop and spend time trying to get the shoe to click in. However after a while you start clipping in first time (well, most of the time). I now hold street furniture at a lot of stops

Loosen the pedal is a good idea, and perhaps try a few laps of a car park.

snooks

Approaching a junction, un clip a foot (doesn't matter which one, ideally not your chocolate foot tho) then slow almost to a stop, then LEAN to the side of the unclipped foot as you stop.

It doesn't have to be a big lean just adjust your top body weight to the side of the unclipped foot.

Sounds obvious, but until you get used to it remember to lean a little

Don't lean the other way! It will hurt, or make you look stoopid, or both

dhope

sam anon wrote:

The classic way is stop, panic, get one foot out, fall other way.

Aint that the truth.
This will happen in front of a pretty girl, naturally, or at least that's what happened with me, at the end of my road, 10 seconds from home and with no traffic anywhere nearby :oops:

ThatBikeGuy

Heh i remember falling twice in 2 days (only 2 times i have fell). First was after a long hard shift at work i got to the driveway, stopped but forgot i was still clipped in and did a slow-mo sideways fall onto the gravel

Next morning i get to work and try desperately to unclip as i am slowing but my foot won't release so i do another sideways fall

Luckily nobody was around on either occasion!

SmellTheGlove

Hope the ride went OK
Yes it's hard to have a dignified clipless moment. When you ride your other bike (you do have another bike..?) you'll soon find your heel swivelling involuntarily to release from its non-existent SPDs.
Have fun!

jeremyrundle

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Just do it, it's not that tough. Oh, and un-clip your standing foot nice and early as you come up to junctions.

Flat peds and standard good shoes, clip, unclip, unclip at junctions, clip in again, phew :oops:

Cleat Eastwood

ha ha I can just picture you going down hardman street shouting "help" and being cheered on by the drinkers in The fly

Hope it all went well dude. First time I used spd's it took 3 days for me to fall, I was so concentrating on a junction I forgot I was i was clipped in.

deptfordmarmoset

mudcow007 wrote:

thanks for that, i will remember that *makes mental note*

one thing im struggling with is actually getting "clipped in" i seem to be wildly jabbing my foot at the pedal...oh things were so much easier with DMR's

By coincidence, after a lifetime of happily using toeclips, I just fitted M520s to my better bike. I have to admit that after only having tried clipping in in my living room I'm finding it harder to get in than to get out. I'm sure it'll suddenly become second nature but I haven't yet got a feel for when they're going to go in.

Clare_M

I'll admit, the first day I bought my shiny new bike, I fell off it at the first junction I got to. I got my foot out OK, it was the push off I got all wrong! I unclipped the wrong foot, didn't give it enough push and couldn't get my other foot in quick enough. Basically I royally fcuked my wrist up as I landed on it. My consultant shook his head when he saw the MRI as I'd broken it roller skating 3 months earlier :oops:

Anyway, when I could get back on the bike I did. I fell off it twice more! Both times at junctions, so luckily I wasn't going fast One thing I learnt was when I was falling over NOT to put my arm out to cushion the blow. Wrists break easily when you get older! It took 6 months of physio and acupuncture to enable to weight bear again, so don't do that if you can help it. Shoulders are a bit more substantial.....

samoht

Clipping in - you don't have to clip in in order to pedal. I just stick my feet roughly on the pedals and start pedalling. Normally I find after a few rotations, my feet are clipped in without even trying. I think it's easier when starting out with new/stiff cleats, to do it this way, rather than consciously trying to clip in before accelerating.

Clipping out - adjust the pedals fairly loose, flick the left foot out early.

CRAIGO5000

I agree. I got my M520's and instantly backed off all 4 springs to the minimum and then 3 clicks to the "+". They've been that way ever since. I find that just concentrating on pedalling will naturally snap the cleat in so long as you find your natural connection with the pedal. I usually get it within a rotation or two. The worst thing you can do is try too hard to clip in and not concentrate on pedalling whether clipped in or not.

mudcow007

i survived!!

thanks for all the pointers people, i have found leaving my right foot (chocolate) clipped in then pushing off with my left is easiest, is that the correct way?

on the ride home last night i had set the cleats as far back on the shoe as they would go making my ride home horrid, moved them forward this morning an now are much better

alfablue

mudcow007 wrote:

i survived!!

thanks for all the pointers people, i have found leaving my right foot (chocolate) clipped in then pushing off with my left is easiest, is that the correct way?

Yes, exactly, I think its important to keep the habit of unclipping and leaning only one way, "clipless moments" happen when you unclip one way whilst leaning the other. Unclipping the left and leaning left makes most sense to me (leaning towards the kerb). If you focus on doing this consistently for a few days it will become habitual.