Clipless + Hills + Traffic Lights....

robbo8989

I made the change to clipless pedals a couple of months ago and absolutely love them...on the flat. The problem is I live in a valley so whichever direction I take I find myself climbing. That's fine on its own but these hills also have traffic lights. Whenever I've unclipped at a red light I've not been able to set off again. I just can't get enough momentum going in order to have enough time to clip my other foot back in. This had led to me doing an embarrassing kind of shuffle/hop up the rest of the hill until it becomes flat enough for me to get going again...

Does anyone have any advice on ways to try and get around this?

alihisgreat

the classic one legged pedal is always an option... bit tricky on a hill though.

you can also cut the road at an angle to reduce the gradient when you're starting off.. other than that its just about the confidence and muscle memory.

simon_masterson

Some pedal systems are distinctly easier than others to get in and out of, but other than that I agree with the honourable gentleman above; practice makes perfect. Which pedals do you have?

chrisaonabike

robbo8989 wrote:

Does anyone have any advice on ways to try and get around this?

Depending on your shoes (I have Specialised Tahoe Sport MTB shoes), Shimano M324 pedals (SPD one side, flats the other) might do the trick. I have these and like them very much - good for clipped in riding or jeans and trainers.

So you wouldn't need to clip in the unclipped foot until you had some speed.

elderone

I just peddle away on the pedal until enough speed to clip in.

robbo8989

The pedals are Shimano R540's and pedalling isn't an option as my foot just slips straight off if not clipped in. I often can't cut the angle of the road due to a car pulling alongside and I struggle enough up hills with two legs never mind one! The dual sided pedals sound like the best option at the minute until I can build my confidence a bit more. I still can't always clip in on the first attempt which I think is why I'm struggling so much.

macleod113

I used to have the same problem. i have 1 hill on my commute home and with lights half way up its a nightmare. i used to use a MTD and the SPD's were a doddleto clip in and out of but when i got my first road bike i went for SPD SL. i bought some 105 but like the OP i couldnt push off and clip in in time.

thankfully i did some overtime at work and invested in Speedplays. SO much easier now. you have to be on the ball but i've not looked like Bambi on ice since :-)

Trouble is they were £80

lotus49

I have SPD-SLs on my bike but I am fairly new to clipless as well. We don't really have flat bits where I live so almost everything is on a hill (for some reason there seem to be far more ups than downs - I'm not entirely clear how that works). I am definitely getting better at clipping in with my left foot (I always leave my right foot clipped in) but sometimes it just won't go in cleanly so I just rest my left foot on the pedal and press a lot harder with my right foot than my left until I've got up enough speed to start faffing around.

The other thing I try to be careful about (and I hope I'm not teaching my granny to suck eggs here) is to be careful to stop in a low gear. Pushing off with only one foot on a hill in a high gear is a recipe for disaster in my case.

ForumNewbie

This problem seems to keep coming up with people trying to get used to road pedals. My advice is MTB double-sided SPDs which are much easier, especially on hills, in traffic, at junctions etc. With these I can even pedal with only one foot clipped in up very steep hills if I want to, with my unclipped foot just further forward on the pedal as the ridged MTB type sole does not slip off the pedal.

Pituophis

ForumNewbie wrote:

This problem seems to keep coming up with people trying to get used to road pedals. My advice is MTB double-sided SPDs which are much easier, especially on hills, in traffic, at junctions etc. With these I can even pedal with only one foot clipped in up very steep hills if I want to, with my unclipped foot just further forward on the pedal as the ridged MTB type sole does not slip off the pedal.

I use these, and to be honest, can't see any reason to change in the future as they work really well!

Does this mean I'll never become a real roadie?

MattyyP

I think the best way to learn is to practice! I've had a few dicey moments but I find my overshoes do grip the SPD-SL pedals enough to get me going.