Hill starts with SPD-SL pedals/shoes

Steve236

I know there are plenty of "clipless advice" threads on here but I have a specific question... I'm finding clipping in after lights a nightmare if there is any sort of incline. The amount of pressure required to get the bike moving just leads to my shoe skidding straight off the pedal if it hits the wrong side and doesn't clip in straight away, then I'm wobbling around like a drunk with a line of traffic behind me.

The other scenario was clipping in unintentionally whilst already mid-topple which lead to more embarrassing acrobatics. So, does anyone have any good tips for clipping in on an incline with an SPD-SL set up?

Ricey83

I've just fitted my SPD-SL's so I've got all this to come :-/

simona75

I think its just confidence and practice. Making sure you push off in a much lower gear than you may need will help in the meantime

rubertoe

simona75 wrote:

I think its just confidence and practice. Making sure you push off in a much lower gear than you may need will help in the meantime

its this.

Low Gear (small ring) and keep practicing soon becomes second nature

thistle_

I use SPDs and find if I'm in too low a gear, sometimes I'm pedalling too fast and too lightly for the cleat to engage. I have to change to a higher gear to give enough resistance to push against.

Can you slacken off tension on the cleats so they engage a bit easier?

Buckled_Rims

I once said on a forum I usually do 1 legged pedal workouts on my turbo. A few laughed at me without them understanding that it's one of the most useful skills you can learn. I primary did it for my MTB, but noticed it's also great for hill starts on my road bike. It just gives that extra bit of skill to pedal a few turns while swearing at the slippery b*tard on the other foot.

If the hill is fairly steep ie 10% I usually put my bike in 39-25 gear. That enables me to do a few pedal strokes with my right leg to build up cadence speed in case I have to abort the clip-in process with my left. Over that steepness it become a matter of luck :-)

Other will insist on saying "keep practising" but it's not easy on the road. If you have a turbo, try it on there in safety. Do 20 sets of clipping in and out every time you get on the turbo.

edhornby

assuming you are on the shimano ones, yes you get an allen key on the nut in the middle of the pedal and turn to -, they come out of the factory pretty tight so better to slacken then increase the pressure when you are more confident

place your instep on top of the pedal and favour the cleated side until you are moving, then clip in - jobsagoodun

gpreeves

Buckled_Rims wrote:

I once said on a forum I usually do 1 legged pedal workouts on my turbo. A few laughed at me without them understanding that it's one of the most useful skills you can learn. I primary did it for my MTB, but noticed it's also great for hill starts on my road bike. It just gives that extra bit of skill to pedal a few turns while swearing at the slippery b*tard on the other foot.

I had the same problem as the OP when I first started using clipless pedals, have adopted a similar approach to Buckled. Probably look a bit silly when briefly pedalling one legged but it at least gets me moving.

Strith

If its really steep but a wide road and it's safe to do so, you can start by going across rather than up the hill. But mostly it's about balance and practice. Always start with one foot already clipped in too.

paul_mck

Id do one foot clipped in doing 75% of the work and just push on the other pedal without being clipped in for a few turns till I get some speed up then try to clip in.

I switched from shimano 105 pedals to Time i-clic ones and found them a bit better for engaging.

Steve236

I hadn't thought of one footed pedalling with light pressure on the unclipped pedal - thanks for that. Is there a best part of the sole to use for least slippiness on the underside of an SPD-SL pedal? I tried towards the back near the heel and at the normal point at the ball but both seemed to skid off far too much.

Finlaz22

Practice makes perfect, but like others have suggested, doing a few spins to get some momentum makes it easier

lotus49

I am fairly new to clipless pedals and I have found the combination of making sure you change to a low gear just before stopping (don't try to do it after you've stopped) and then pushing hard with your clipped in foot (I always leave my right foot clipped in) while pushing only lightly with the other works.

It doesn't take long to get used to it and after only a couple of days I found myself clipping in without thinking about it (most of the time).

HiDidleyHi

Fully agree with lotus49. Faffed around for a few rides then seemed to get the hang of it (most of the time). It is when your foot slips off the pedal and you bash your shins that you remember to be more careful.

ForumNewbie

I think some beginners think because they have a road bike they need to get road bike shoes and road pedals. I still use double-sided MTB SPDs and MTB shoes on my road bikes because, 1) it is really easy to get clipped in as the SPD pedals are double-sided, and 2) if you don't want to or can't clip-in right away on a hill, its really easy to pedal strongly with one foot unclipped, as with the MTB shoes with a rubber sole (rather than the hard shiny road shoe sole) I can still put a lot of pressure on the pedal with my unclipped foot without it slipping off.

TakeTurns

It's the same as you would on the flat...

You just need to gain a bit of momentum with the one leg. Standing might help.

Monty Dog

Before clipless pedals, the art was to avoid stopping at all and slowing down in anticipation or finding a handy piece of road furniture to hang onto to avoid unclipping. If you do need to stop, change to a lower gear and leave one foot engaged - propel yourself using the one leg and then once you have some decent momentum you can get the other foot engaged. With practise, it becomes second nature and you can do it without looking down.

Steve236

Another clipless ride today and much better. The one legged start with light pressure on the unclipped side worked well. Still found myself stabbing around trying to get clipped a few times but not so often - straight in a lot too which is very satisfying!

I found the key to unclipping at lights etc is decisiveness. I came closest to falling when I thought I could wait for green and slowed right down, found I couldn't track stand very well (is that even possible on a non-fixed gear bike?), unclipped but started toppling over to the clipped side. Just about saved it. So from now on its an early decision to choose a spot, unclip and stop. Of course, being more confident about clipping back in helps.

Anyway, thanks for the help.

paul_mck

just wait till you get to a point where you need to unclip the right foot, freak out because youve been doing the left foot so much and you fall over

davylear

Decisiveness is key as I have found that when i think the lights are about to change they usually don't and I am left in a state of panic trying to change down and unclip at the same time.

I then do a 'skateboard start' and push off the floor a couple of times to get the bike moving and then clip back in with the bike moving forward in a low gear. If I c*ck up first time with clipping in at least the bike is moving forward for a second attempt.

Have only failed once at this technique when I pushed too hard, unbalanced the bike the other way and could not get the right foot out due to lack of practice per paul_mck above

Perhaps someone can explain why the soles of road shoes are sooooo slippery? Surely if you are not chasing every aerodynamic millionth of a second that smooth soles may give, then some shoes could come with a grippy surface. Would also help walking down stairs in them as my back side has discovered on a number of occassions!!!!

paul_mck

if you do stop in a high gear knock the shifter down a few gears, hold the front brake and pedal for a few turns with the still clipped in shoe while pushing forward and thus lifting the back wheel off the ground.

easier than it sounds.

ForumNewbie

davylear wrote:

Perhaps someone can explain why the soles of road shoes are sooooo slippery? Surely if you are not chasing every aerodynamic millionth of a second that smooth soles may give, then some shoes could come with a grippy surface. Would also help walking down stairs in them as my back side has discovered on a number of occassions!!!!

MTB or especially touring SPD shoes, have rubber grippy soles, and with these combined with SPD pedals there are no such problems, as 1) they are double-sided, so no problem clipping back in, and 2) with that type of sole you can easily pedal with one foot unclipped as the sole of the unclipped foot can still press hard on the pedal without slipping off. Okay they are not quite as firm as the hard shiny soles of road shoes, but to the majority of us cyclists that should make very little difference to overall average speeds.