Clipless newbie questions

[Calz]

I've been toying with the idea ages, scanned through dejanews, spoke to friends etc and finally
bought a pair of Egg beaters today, already had a pair of Rockhopper shoes which I'd been using with
my flat pedals a while now.

Fitting was a breeze for pedal & cleet, I'm assuming the cleet lines up with the ball of your foot
ie the knobly bit that sticks out on the joint of your big toe on the inside of your foot? (for lack
of a better description)

Next I went out onto the patio, clipped foot in clipped out for a bit, I notice you need quite a bit
of pressure to engage them but theres a nice solid click when you do, then I used the wall to rest
against and clipped both in/out no problem, at this point I turned into the trick master bunny
hopping around the patio.

Cool I thought as I stopped.. at this point gravity and the lack of movement on my part took over
and I panicked trying to just wrench my foot out and Oooof! hello patio slabs.

No point in reinventing the wheel so any tips for a first timer? Weather permitting my virgin ride
on them will be tomorrow on my own.

Steve

 

[Craig Brossman]

"Calz" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I've been toying with the idea ages, scanned through dejanews, spoke to friends etc and finally
> bought a pair of Egg beaters today, already had a pair of Rockhopper shoes which I'd been using
> with my flat pedals a while now.
>
> Fitting was a breeze for pedal & cleet, I'm assuming the cleet lines up with the ball of your foot
> ie the knobly bit that sticks out on the joint of your big toe on the inside of your foot? (for
> lack of a better description)
>
> Next I went out onto the patio, clipped foot in clipped out for a bit, I notice you need quite a
> bit of pressure to engage them but theres a nice solid click when you do, then I used the wall to
> rest against and clipped both in/out no problem, at this point I turned into the trick master
> bunny hopping around the patio.
>
> Cool I thought as I stopped.. at this point gravity and the lack of movement on my part took over
> and I panicked trying to just wrench my foot out and Oooof! hello patio slabs.
>
>
> No point in reinventing the wheel so any tips for a first timer? Weather permitting my virgin ride
> on them will be tomorrow on my own.
>
> Steve
First tip, don't pratice on the patio slab ... oh, you already knew that

Pratice on grass, that sort of thing. Make your first few rides on easier stuff (road included)
where you can remember to think about unclipping, instead of that next rock garden ahead. Anyone can
clip and unclip, you have already learned how, now the trick is learning to do it without thinking
about it. That will take time, I think it helps to pratice, but you'll still have a few crashes.

Hang in there, it will soon become second nature.
--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove .nospam. if replying)

 

[Gyp]

Calz wrote:
> No point in reinventing the wheel so any tips for a first timer? Weather permitting my virgin ride
> on them will be tomorrow on my own.

I recently took the plunge myself.. and was very supprised quite how easy it was to get used to them
and how much of an improvement I could feel from using them.

My only advice is to take it easy for a couple of weeks, just get used to riding with the them and
don't go mad. My other half seems to think that I'm collecting different coloured bruises on my legs
and is starting to point out shin and leg guards when we visit cycling shops. <Chuckle>

Gyp

 

[Edwards]

I echo Craig's sentiments but will also add that panicking is the last thing to do when trying to
clip out. Just relax and snap the heel outward and dab the foot.....see? easy huh? Now just
translate that to your riding and you'll be alright.

Edwards

 

[James Messick]

"Calz" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I've been toying with the idea ages, scanned through dejanews, spoke to friends etc and finally
> bought a pair of Egg beaters today, already had a pair of Rockhopper shoes which I'd been using
> with my flat pedals a while now.
>
> Fitting was a breeze for pedal & cleet, I'm assuming the cleet lines up with the ball of your foot
> ie the knobly bit that sticks out on the joint of your big toe on the inside of your foot? (for
> lack of a better description)
>
> Next I went out onto the patio, clipped foot in clipped out for a bit, I notice you need quite a
> bit of pressure to engage them but theres a nice solid click when you do, then I used the wall to
> rest against and clipped both in/out no problem, at this point I turned into the trick master
> bunny hopping around the patio.
>
> Cool I thought as I stopped.. at this point gravity and the lack of movement on my part took over
> and I panicked trying to just wrench my foot out and Oooof! hello patio slabs.
>
>
> No point in reinventing the wheel so any tips for a first timer?

Play around on the grass instead of the patio. It makes for softer landings.

 

[Ctg]

"Calz" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

You probably already heard this, but you'll likely fall the most in slow speed situations
so be aware.

Chris

 

[Bo Lind]

Calz wrote:

> No point in reinventing the wheel so any tips for a first timer? Weather permitting my virgin ride
> on them will be tomorrow on my own.

Like the others are saying, take it easy for a while, you will fall a little, but mostly when going
slow. Gloves is a must here.

If you find you're a complete dork about it, you could try what my brother
did: First learn to ride with one clipless and one normal pedal. Then, when that works, switch 'em,
and learn that, and presto! You're riding clipless.

Bo

 

[David Kunz]

Bo Lind wrote:
> Calz wrote:
>
>
>>No point in reinventing the wheel so any tips for a first timer? Weather permitting my virgin ride
>>on them will be tomorrow on my own.
>
>
> Like the others are saying, take it easy for a while, you will fall a little, but mostly when
> going slow. Gloves is a must here.
>
> If you find you're a complete dork about it, you could try what my brother
> did: First learn to ride with one clipless and one normal pedal. Then, when that works, switch
> 'em, and learn that, and presto! You're riding clipless.
>
> Bo

One of the advantages of starting with SPD before going to egg beaters is that I could set the
spring tension so that I could easily yank out of them in a panic -- without twisting. This let me
get used to them -- I gradually tightened the tension until I had to yank really hard. BUT, I found
that when I got a lot better and didn't want to be able to yank out any more, I couldn't set them to
both let me twist out readily AND not yank out on rough terrain when I didn't want to (this included
858's and 959's -- the 858's where the worst). That's why *I* tried egg beaters (and love 'em). If
the twist-out's not working for you, try heel-out/push: while turning your foot, push outward
(really just and outward push of the heel and foot) -- this is more logical for me and seems to take
less motion when I'm in a hurry to get out .

David

 

[Huw Pritchard]

On Thu, 15 May 2003 01:55:08 +0000, James Messick did issue forth:

> Play around on the grass instead of the patio. It makes for softer landings.

Yup. And make sure that there's no-one around when you're doing it.

--
Huw Pritchard

 

[Gav]

Calz <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>... [..]
> Cool I thought as I stopped.. at this point gravity and the lack of movement on my part took over
> and I panicked trying to just wrench my foot out and Oooof! hello patio slabs.
>
>
> No point in reinventing the wheel so any tips for a first timer? Weather permitting my virgin ride
> on them will be tomorrow on my own.

Just practice somewhere 'safe' like a grassy area for half an hour before going out onto a hard
surface. Also try loosening up the fastening mechanism a bit more than you would normally expect
it to be set at - it will make those inevitable 'emergency' unclippings (when you stop but have
forgotten to get out of the pedal) a lot easier. Don't do any challenging terrain at first -
stick to flat areas until you get the feel for clipping and unclipping.

Within a couple of days it will become second nature. I'm hardly the world's greatest mtb'er but
even I got the hang of clipless pedals after a day or two.

Gav

 

[Reco Diver]

Calz <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

<snip>

> Weather permitting my virgin ride on them will be tomorrow on my own.

~50% of all virgins bleed the first time. After that you won't be a virgin any more ... but you will
probably go on bleeding.

R

 

[Iggy Peuterbaug]

"Calz" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I've been toying with the idea ages, scanned through dejanews, spoke to friends etc and finally
> bought a pair of Egg beaters today, already had a pair of Rockhopper shoes which I'd been using
> with my flat pedals a while now.
>
> Fitting was a breeze for pedal & cleet, I'm assuming the cleet lines up with the ball of your foot
> ie the knobly bit that sticks out on the joint of your big toe on the inside of your foot? (for
> lack of a better description)
>
> Next I went out onto the patio, clipped foot in clipped out for a bit, I notice you need quite a
> bit of pressure to engage them but theres a nice solid click when you do, then I used the wall to
> rest against and clipped both in/out no problem, at this point I turned into the trick master
> bunny hopping around the patio.
>
> Cool I thought as I stopped.. at this point gravity and the lack of movement on my part took over
> and I panicked trying to just wrench my foot out and Oooof! hello patio slabs.
>
>
> No point in reinventing the wheel so any tips for a first timer? Weather permitting my virgin ride
> on them will be tomorrow on my own.
>
> Steve

I went clipless about a month ago. Eating dirt a couple times while forgetting to unclip is part of
the deal. But the improvement you get, particularly in climbing, is well worth the minor scrapes
and bruises.

You'll get the hang of it. Someone else mentioned adjusting the tension lighter at first, but I
don't think you can do that with beaters.

 

[Leland Grubbs]

> No point in reinventing the wheel so any tips for a first timer?

I agree with all of the other posts so far. When I went clipless, I would ride down a long straight
road (with no traffic) and practice clipping in and out over and over with each leg. To me, this
seemed to speed up the natural reaction. I also gave me a chance to pedal with one leg, which I've
head is good practice for pedaling in a circle. Good luck!

Scott