Advice on quickly clipping in?

tomcog

Hi All,

i bought some Ekustar clipless pedals, and some pearl Izumi shoes.

I seem to struggle clipping in with my left foot, as i come to a stop i unclip with my left foot and lean to the left, then when pushing off i struggle to clip in quickly, and get a bit stuck on some of the busier roads.

Any tips or advice Greatly Welcome!!!!!

Thanks all.

zummerzet-lou

practise ....

I had the same issue when changing pedals, and there is a knack to my pedals, that I clip in, and have to apply pressure to when where little toe is and "snap" .. took me about 30 mins on my turbo trainer to suss it!

Now, if I only I could get some confidence in unclipping and then I don't have to unclip at every junction etc "just in case"

Mark Bom

My advice is, push and pull with the clipped in pedal for a full rotation to get a bit of momentum then clip in.

As mentioned, with practise you'll soon do it without thought, it is really a case of trying not to think about it too much.

Monty Dog

Get moving first to gain some momentum - you tend to 'wobble' less at higher speed. Keep your clipped-in foot at the top of the stroke such that you can push down and forward with your left foot to engage, resisting the temptation to keep looking down. Find yourself a quiet stretch of straight road to practise on - after a whilst you should be able to do it without looking.

ollyridesfirst

the clipless pedals normally have weighted backs on them....this isn't just because that is where you push most, but it's so the pedal hes the front of the clip at the top when nothing is touching it.

Practice pushing the front of your pedal with your toe when you set off and just keep pushing your foot forward and your cleat should grip when you get to the ball of your foot.....i promise it sounds alright in my head....

bakerstreet

zummerzet-lou wrote:

practise ....

Is the right answer

MountainMonster

Practice is the main thing. Also when pulling off, I don't try to clip in if I am in a stressy situation, I just put the bottom of my foot just behind the cleat on the pedal and gain a bit of speed then as pedals are turning around I try to clip in. Helps also quite a bit when climbing too!

Duffer65

MountainMonster wrote:

Practice is the main thing. Also when pulling off, I don't try to clip in if I am in a stressy situation, I just put the bottom of my foot just behind the cleat on the pedal and gain a bit of speed then as pedals are turning around I try to clip in. Helps also quite a bit when climbing too!

I was getting a little frustrated when I first started using SPD-SLs as I couldn't always clip-in when moving off from lights etc. But took a bit of advice from the wise sages on this forum, such as the advice above and it got a lot easier to cope with. I don't always manage to clip-in first time but I usually get a trouble free start at lights and junctions.

Evilbug

I have just bought my first pair of cleats and shoes and spent an hour riding practising feel a lot more confident to use them on the road now

pneumatic

Practise (your brain is very good at learning intuitive motor skills but it needs a couple of weeks of repetition to get the message)

Also, learn to pedal with only one leg; an invaluable skill to have while you sort out the other one, especially when you have to unclip going uphill.

Fat-Boy-Roubaix

Don't think about it, the more you think the harder it gets!

Week three and getting close to 90% first time clipping in

Wacky Racer

Don't think about it, the more you think the harder it gets!

+1 - The more time I have to unclip/clip-in, the more I screw it up. It is always smooth and faultless when I have no time to think, it just becomes second nature.