The pedal question....

vectra0

So after racing at Hempton today (eastern league)
There was lots of running uphill/mud etc which is fine and apparently enjoyable. After the first lap I literally could not clip I to my pedals (shimano spd)
It pretty much ended my race right there... :evil:
I had to stop and clean them out, and the pedals! I noticed though lots of people having nowhere near the problems I was having. (Of couse people were having problems, but not needing to stop to clean)

What are people's opinions on pedal choice?

Maybe it's a shoe problem... They are shimano mtb shoes.

Any info/thought would be great

imposter2.0

There is a technique for clearing clogged shoes while on the bike, but I'm not sure I can explain it - it's probably easier to watch someone doing it. Basically, you smack the shoe onto the pedal, while pulling back with your foot. Maybe someone else can explain better. Anyway, it works...

cougie

I always found time atacs to cope with mud better than spds back in the day.

sniper68

CB Eggbeaters.

trek_dan

Smack and scrape as above. Being a flat footed plodger rather than a runner like me doesn't help with clogging either

lostboysaint

ibbo68 wrote:

CB Eggbeaters.

That! Or, if you want a bit of a platform just to help guide your foot in then go with the Candy.

devhads

I think it was more an issue with mud in the cleats rather than in the pedal at Hempton. It was only really a problem for me immediately after the run ups and wasn't really sticking in the pedals. It's a gritty sandy type of mud there.

As advised above usually a good bang of the shoes clears both the cleats and pedals pretty quickly but the problem yesterday was you didn't have much time to do that, you needed to be clipped in pretty quickly on all 3 run ups, especially the 3rd one where it needed to be immediate for the off camber bank straight after. I found I was just wiggling them in, they weren't always fully engaged but just enough to get me through the next obstacle then banging them when I got the chance. It wasn't really worth clearing them between the first run and the big hill though. I also put new spikes in knowing there was going to be a lot of running and was trying to run on my toes as much as possible to try and keep the cleats out of the mud.

andyp

Depending on how precious you are about your racing shoes, it's worth cutting out the tread around the cleat, as this prevents mud build up. cxmagazine.com have a article/video on it, using a dremel, but if you've got the patience using a sharp knife will do.

I found this was by far the most effective way to prevent this from being a problem when using SPDs.

tgotb

When it's the pedals that are getting clogged, I found that Time ATACs do clear better than SPDs (and, anecdotally, last longer than Eggbeaters). However, as suggested above, it's generally the shoes that clog (the wrong size of gravel can be particularly bad in this respect, as anyone who rode the Milton Keynes WC course will testify). I can't imagine that one type of cleat is significantly better for clogging than another.

vectra0

andyp wrote:

Depending on how precious you are about your racing shoes, it's worth cutting out the tread around the cleat, as this prevents mud build up. cxmagazine.com have a article/video on it, using a dremel, but if you've got the patience using a sharp knife will do.

I found this was by far the most effective way to prevent this from being a problem when using SPDs.

I did exactly this today! Nothing a hacksaw and a chisel couldn't sort I have a nice clear area around the cleat now with the front of the shoe still nice and grippy.

vectra0

devhads wrote:

I think it was more an issue with mud in the cleats rather than in the pedal at Hempton. It was only really a problem for me immediately after the run ups and wasn't really sticking in the pedals. It's a gritty sandy type of mud there.

As advised above usually a good bang of the shoes clears both the cleats and pedals pretty quickly but the problem yesterday was you didn't have much time to do that, you needed to be clipped in pretty quickly on all 3 run ups, especially the 3rd one where it needed to be immediate for the off camber bank straight after. I found I was just wiggling them in, they weren't always fully engaged but just enough to get me through the next obstacle then banging them when I got the chance. It wasn't really worth clearing them between the first run and the big hill though. I also put new spikes in knowing there was going to be a lot of running and was trying to run on my toes as much as possible to try and keep the cleats out of the mud.

This was exactly the problem. I tried to bang out the cleats everytime. It worked probably 30% of the time. Very frustrating as I had a 2nd row start for the first time... ended way back in the field.
I've just completed a shoe modification which should help the problem :-)

cyclingsheep

As a couple of people have said, time atacs seem pretty good at avoiding clogging and give a pretty good base if you miss your initial clip in unlike eggbeaters. Also second the clearing of the space around the cleat as a pebble caught in that space can cause an issue with any pedal/shoe combo

vectra0

So with mud clearance around the cleat being the main bone of contention, do cyclocross specific shoes designs take this into account in their design?

TriathleteIain

I have not raced in full mud conditions yet, although I do notice that my Pearl Izumi Shoes that are billed as XC/CX shoes don't seem to leave much space around the cleat to allow for mud clearance. Does anyone else have any experience of shoes that do?

tgotb

TriathleteIain wrote:

I have not raced in full mud conditions yet, although I do notice that my Pearl Izumi Shoes that are billed as XC/CX shoes don't seem to leave much space around the cleat to allow for mud clearance. Does anyone else have any experience of shoes that do?

I have Specialized, Sidi and Northwave shoes; all seem to have similar clearance round the cleat area, as do my daughter's Muddy Fox shoes.

There are enough other factors to worry about when buying shoes, I tend not to worry too much about it, and just accept that occasionally I'm going to have to kick a bit of mud/gravel out before I can clip in.