To clip-in or not to clip-in?

cuttsmeister

What's the general consensus regarding clipping in to SPD type pedals when you're commuting. My commute is 6 miles, half on roads, half on Sustrans track/old railway line.I bought some SPDs and shoes for my commuter as i have these on my road bike and realise the benefits. However, on the track phase of my ride i encounter lots of dog walkers, joggers and other folk using the track. I found myself forever unclipping or worrying if i would have to at a moments notice that it made the journey quite stressful. Even the urban section of the ride is somewhat dodgy due to lights, pedstrians etc. In the end i have gone back to flat pedals for my commute. Do you guys use clipless regardless of route/conditions or chop and change like i've ended up doing when there are lots of interuptions to the ride?

markhewitt1978

You've made your own assessment of your self your bike your route and your conditions and you've done a back to back test and come to a conclusion.

Why do you need the validation of forum strangers?

sazzaa

I would be interested in responses to this, as I've never done clipless and my next bike has SPDs.... I dunno if it's really a suitable thing for commuting with all the stopping and starting or if you just get used to clipping in and out a lot?

Mindermast

Whenever I can ride with bike shoes, I clip in. I never had any trouble - SPD-system. In the meantime, I even do trackstands "clipped in", but it took quite a while before I had built up enough confidence.

Clip systems make riding easier and, in some ways, even safer. Take your time to get used to it and play with the adjustment screws, to make the getting out as easy as necessary.

cuttsmeister

You've made your own assessment of your self your bike your route and your conditions and you've done a back to back test and come to a conclusion.

Why do you need the validation of forum strangers?

....just asking what you fellow commuters find best. Is n't that what forums are for?

mrfpb

I use Shimano M324 http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... s-toeclips with mtb shoes, which are ok with cleats on the flat side when I don't want to be clipped in. To be honest, I don't wear cleats if I'm doing an urban/canal ride. They don't add anything to the ride, and the risk of a fall in traffic also puts me off. I tend to only use the cleats on longer out of town rides now, and not always then either.

Long_Time_Lurker

To be honest, I wouldn't bother for a commute for that length.
The benefits wouldn't be that great.

I've experimented with both on my 26 mile (there and back) commute. I probably saved myself 10 minutes tops.
I now only stick on the SPDs when I'm doing something over 30 miles.

sazzaa

mrfpb wrote:

I use Shimano M324 http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... s-toeclips with mtb shoes, which are ok with cleats on the flat side when I don't want to be clipped in. To be honest, I don't wear cleats if I'm doing an urban/canal ride. They don't add anything to the ride, and the risk of a fall in traffic also puts me off. I tend to only use the cleats on longer out of town rides now, and not always then either.

These pedals sound perfect for me, thanks!

markhewitt1978

cuttsmeister wrote:

....just asking what you fellow commuters find best. Is n't that what forums are for?

But there is no "best" only what works for you.

rolf_f

Once you are used to it, it is no harder to clip and unclip with SPDs than to use flats. Equally, once you are used to it, there is no more likelihood that you'll fall off when clipped in than not. Ultimately, it is down to getting fully used to them and if you use SPDs on your weekend bike then all not using them for the commute as well will do is probably slow you from gaining full confidence in clipless pedals.

Long Time Lurker wrote:

I've experimented with both on my 26 mile (there and back) commute. I probably saved myself 10 minutes tops.
I now only stick on the SPDs when I'm doing something over 30 miles.

I'm absolutely gob smacked that you could save as much as 10 minutes on a 26 mile ride by using SPDs. Time saved isn't the point of SPDs - it's more about efficiency. Use SPDs and you'll save a bit of effort and possibly do your knees some good. I assume you don't actually enjoy SPDs if you would happily choose to ride for 2 hours without them.

Long_Time_Lurker

Rolf F wrote:

I'm absolutely gob smacked that you could save as much as 10 minutes on a 26 mile ride by using SPDs. Time saved isn't the point of SPDs - it's more about efficiency. Use SPDs and you'll save a bit of effort and possibly do your knees some good. I assume you don't actually enjoy SPDs if you would happily choose to ride for 2 hours without them.

I'm an MTBer by trade, so I'm not a big fan.
The time saved was the best time compared to worst, over 4 months, so conditions also affected my run.
I guess my main point is (badly expressed in my previous post), is that for a trip of 6 miles, I wouldn't buy SPDs. I don't think that the efficiency gained wouldn't be enough over the relatively small distance.

You are right about the knees. My friend's father likes touring, but is cursed with knees made of glass. SPDs allow him to ride (relatively) pain free. That should be taken into consideration.

markhewitt1978

One of the main reasons I went SPD was that my hybrid had quite a dodgy gear change at times which caused the pedals to jump and my feet to slip on the pedals, with SPD this issue disappeared.

dilemna

The OP and others similar must be novice cyclists. I can't imagine riding a bike without some sort of cleat or SPD. What's not to like with SPDs, easy to clip in and out and you can very easily walk in them? Better bike control and skills are needed.

mrfpb

dilemna wrote:

The OP and others similar must be novice cyclists. I can't imagine riding a bike without some sort of cleat or SPD. What's not to like with SPDs, easy to clip in and out and you can very easily walk in them? Better bike control and skills are needed.

But travelling in town or on tracks with pedestrians and dog walkers, you have to unclip so often it negates any benefits in efficiency you get from being clipped in. I am not a novice, I have had one sided SPDs on my bike for six years, but more than half my miles are done unclipped.

dilemna

mrfpb wrote:

dilemna wrote:

The OP and others similar must be novice cyclists. I can't imagine riding a bike without some sort of cleat or SPD. What's not to like with SPDs, easy to clip in and out and you can very easily walk in them? Better bike control and skills are needed.

But travelling in town or on tracks with pedestrians and dog walkers, you have to unclip so often it negates any benefits in efficiency you get from being clipped in. I am not a novice, I have had one sided SPDs on my bike for six years, but more than half my miles are done unclipped.

Well your description of your cycling gives me the impression of you being a novice or not having graduated from being one. 6 years is an awful long time to be a novice. You need to step up a gear so to speak. SPDs are soooo easy to ride in whether you have to stop every 100m or once in 100 miles.

naive

I'm a clumsy oaf, and over time, I have come to appreciate SPDs on all kinds of rides. Now, I don't really feel secure on the bike riding with flats, and the only reason that I would do so is if there were some reason why I needed to be in "real" shoes at my destination and I could not change when I got there (eg going shopping!).

I actually find SPDs are particularly useful when I have to stop briefly a lot and put one foot down: I would tend to end up with my other foot at the bottom of the pedal stroke, and without SPDs would have to take my foot off the pedal and hook it up before I could get going again. With SPDs, I can just lift my foot up and the pedal comes with it. I can also balance going very slowly a lot more easily than with flats, although I can't really claim a successful track stand!
(They are also useful when you stand up and go for it--without them, you (Ok, I...) tend to lose contact with the pedal on the upstroke).
FYI I have been using Shimano A530 SPDs for a number of years (which have a flat side to use in filp-flops). When I first tried SPDs, I had a the cheapest Shimano mountain-bike ones (which have no platform), and I struggled with those a bit (although I am not sure how much that was the learning-curve and how much it was the pedals).
Cheers
N

Mindermast

mrfpb wrote:

But travelling in town or on tracks with pedestrians and dog walkers, you have to unclip so often it negates any benefits in efficiency you get from being clipped in. I am not a novice, I have had one sided SPDs on my bike for six years, but more than half my miles are done unclipped.

And the other half is clipped...
But I wonder: do you unclip whenever you see a pedestrian or dog-walker? I only unclip, when I know, that I have to get my foot off the pedal very soon.

Efficiency is better with every single pedal turn. It doesn't matter much during a 5-minute casual ride, but it doesn't hurt either. Some people don't need gloves in winter, others do. And many wear gloves in winter, because it is more comfortable, even if they could do without.

moarspeed

I've used SPDs for years, you get to a point where you've trained yourself to dismount an SPD pedal in the correct way and it becomes second nature.

mrfpb

Mindermast wrote:

mrfpb wrote:
But travelling in town or on tracks with pedestrians and dog walkers, you have to unclip so often it negates any benefits in efficiency you get from being clipped in. I am not a novice, I have had one sided SPDs on my bike for six years, but more than half my miles are done unclipped.


And the other half is clipped...
But I wonder: do you unclip whenever you see a pedestrian or dog-walker? I only unclip, when I know, that I have to get my foot off the pedal very soon.

If I'm only doing a short (<5 miles) ride in town or along canal/forest tracks I tend not to wear the SPD shoes. Canal paths are really slow anyway. If I'm on a long ride I use the cleats, but may flip over to the flats when going through a busy town.

For work I'm home based and go out to meet clients, so don't have the option of keeping a smart pair of shoes at my destination, so I ride unclipped in smart shoes.

"Efficiency is better with every single pedal turn."

Pedal strokes are more efficient, yes, but taking your foot of a flat pedal is always more efficient, quicker and easier than unclipping. It's about the balance between the two.

paul_mck

due to the large amount of variables in commuting (wind/rain/busy traffic/pedestrians etc) I use nukeproof flats on my commuter, despite it being a roadbike. Feet dont slip in the wet and are instantly on the ground if I need them.

Ive done 30miles on that bike and to be honest it gets very tiresome having to constantly readjust my feet. But over my 7mile commute its not an issue.

Most definitely cleat up on the good bike though. absolute no brainer.