clipless pedals

[Adam Lea]

I have just had clipless pedals fitted to my road bike and tomorrow I will
commute to work on it just to see what the difference is. I have been
practicing clipping in and out in my living room and it seems quite fiddly
at the moment, particularly the unclipping bit. I have to twist my feet
quite far found to disengage. Hopefully I will manage to get too and from
work without falling off.

Adam

 

[Martin Dann]

Adam Lea wrote:
> I have just had clipless pedals fitted to my road bike and tomorrow I will
> commute to work on it just to see what the difference is. I have been
> practicing clipping in and out in my living room and it seems quite fiddly
> at the moment, particularly the unclipping bit. I have to twist my feet
> quite far found to disengage. Hopefully I will manage to get too and from
> work without falling off.

I think the first time you use these, you need the tension
screw set very loose.

The first day I commuted to work with these, I got to the
final junction before work, and was surprised that I had
not fallen over. So surprised in fact that I promptly err..

My advice is to practice clipping in and out as you are
going along the road.

 

[peter-potato]

"Adam Lea" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I have just had clipless pedals fitted to my road bike and tomorrow I will
>commute to work on it just to see what the difference is. I have been
>practicing clipping in and out in my living room and it seems quite fiddly
>at the moment, particularly the unclipping bit. I have to twist my feet
>quite far found to disengage. Hopefully I will manage to get too and from
>work without falling off.
>
> Adam
>
If you can't clip out - the pedal tension may be too tight.
If you have to twist too far to get out - it may be that the cleats are
slightly misaligned.
Peter

 

[Paul Boyd]

Adam Lea said the following on 10/07/2007 23:50:
> I have just had clipless pedals fitted to my road bike and tomorrow I will
> commute to work on it just to see what the difference is. I have been
> practicing clipping in and out in my living room and it seems quite fiddly
> at the moment, particularly the unclipping bit. I have to twist my feet
> quite far found to disengage. Hopefully I will manage to get too and from
> work without falling off.

Which type have you gone for? Time ATACs have a greater release angle
than SPDs, for instance. In fact, SPDs seem to have the smallest
release angle of all which is a curse and a blessing!

You won't fall off to start with because you'll be conscious of having
to unclip. The dangerous time comes after you've got used to
unclipping, but before they are totally subconsciously ingrained in your
brain

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

 

[Nat]

>
> You won't fall off to start with because you'll be conscious of having
> to unclip. The dangerous time comes after you've got used to
> unclipping, but before they are totally subconsciously ingrained in your
> brain

My paticular favourite is the slow, gental fall to the floor. I also
like the 'panic stations' one where your wiggling your foot like mad
but nothing happens! I got some mud on my feet the other day and had
to circle round and round the end of a quite junction wiggling my
little leg like made. Note to self: don't put a foot down when it is
muddy!

 

[Paul Boyd]

Nat said the following on 11/07/2007 08:50:

> My paticular favourite is the slow, gental fall to the floor. I also
> like the 'panic stations' one where your wiggling your foot like mad
> but nothing happens! I got some mud on my feet the other day and had
> to circle round and round the end of a quite junction wiggling my
> little leg like made. Note to self: don't put a foot down when it is
> muddy!

The one I like (!!) is where you're approaching a junction where nothing
*ever* comes out of or goes into, so you don't unclip. Then one day,
there's something there......

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Adam Lea
('[email protected]') wrote:

> I have just had clipless pedals fitted to my road bike and tomorrow I
> will commute to work on it just to see what the difference is. I have
> been practicing clipping in and out in my living room and it seems quite
> fiddly at the moment, particularly the unclipping bit. I have to twist my
> feet quite far found to disengage. Hopefully I will manage to get too and
> from work without falling off.

I know it is probably too late to say this, but have you made sure your
cleats are really really really, really really really tight?

I say this because I once put cleats on a little less tight than that (only
five reallys) because I thought I would want to adjust their position
later. And the result was I had to twist my feet quite far round to
disengage... and so of course I fell off.

Cleats need to be tight. Like, really tight. Really really really really
really really tight.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/


... a mild, inoffensive sadist...

 

[Tony Raven]

Nat wrote:
>> You won't fall off to start with because you'll be conscious of having
>> to unclip. The dangerous time comes after you've got used to
>> unclipping, but before they are totally subconsciously ingrained in your
>> brain
>
> My paticular favourite is the slow, gental fall to the floor. I also
> like the 'panic stations' one where your wiggling your foot like mad
> but nothing happens! I got some mud on my feet the other day and had
> to circle round and round the end of a quite junction wiggling my
> little leg like made. Note to self: don't put a foot down when it is
> muddy!
>

I've never had a problem unclipping except once. I had parked the bike
in town, got some shopping and when I set off had difficulty clipping
in. When I got to the first red traffic lights I couldn't unclip either
and ended up holding on to the traffic light while I extricated my feet
from my shoes and then my shoes from the cleats. Turns out some b*****d
had done the tensions springs up to max while I had been shopping :-(
So if you have trouble clipping in after leaving the bike unattended,
don't persevere just in case.

Tony

 

[Paul Boyd]

Simon Brooke said the following on 11/07/2007 09:48:

> I know it is probably too late to say this, but have you made sure your
> cleats are really really really, really really really tight?
....
> Cleats need to be tight. Like, really tight. Really really really really
> really really tight.

Could you please quantify that definition?

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

 

[POHB]

On 11 Jul, 10:44, Paul Boyd <usenet.dont.work@plusnet> wrote:
> > Cleats need to be tight. Like, really tight. Really really really really
> > really really tight.
> Could you please quantify that definition?

%@!$! tight in "Real World" (R) Calibrations?

http://sheldonbrown.com/tork-grip.html

 

[Mark]

> Cleats need to be tight. Like, really tight. Really really really really
> really really tight.

Once you've found the limit (and so stripped the thread in your road shoes)
Specialized sell new wossnames for 50p.

 

[Paul George]

On 11 Jul, 10:44, Paul Boyd <usenet.dont.work@plusnet> wrote:
> Simon Brooke said the following on 11/07/2007 09:48:
>
> > ...
> > Cleats need to be tight. Like, really tight. Really really really really
> > really really tight.
>
> Could you please quantify that definition?

Strip the threads and back half a turn.

 

[Dylan Smith]

On 2007-07-10, Martin Dann <[email protected]> wrote:
> The first day I commuted to work with these, I got to the
> final junction before work, and was surprised that I had
> not fallen over. So surprised in fact that I promptly err..

Back when I lived in Houston, I was doing the Katy Flatland 100km ride.
A friend of mine had just got these, and he decided to use the restrooms
before leavin on the ride.

Of course, there was a queue.

He rode up, was unable to unclip, and gracefully flopped on his side.

Straight into a fire-ant mound.

Fire ants, by the way, are something common in the souther states. They
make little dirt mounds. If you disturb these mounds (usually
unknowingly by treading on them) all the ants come surging out onto the
offending body part, then simultaneously bite. It leaves nasty, painful
welts. Lying on the ground, struggling to get off your bike while in a
fire ant mound is an exquisite study of pain.

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

 

[spokes]

> I think the first time you use these, you need the tension screw set very
> loose.

> My advice is to practice clipping in and out as you are going along the
> road.

Good advice, along with make sure your cleats are really tight. More
generally though, assuming your cleats are really etc tight, take your allen
key along with you and be prepared to make several adjustments to the
tension until you get them just right: too tight and you can have trouble
engaging and disengaging; too loose, and your foot can suddenly jump out of
the clip and off the pedal - and sods law says it'll be at the worst
possible time. Err on the side of too loose while you get the feel for it,
then tighten up a bit when you're more confident.

 

[Rob Morley]

In article <[email protected]>, spokes
[email protected] says...
> Err on the side of too loose while you get the feel for it,
> then tighten up a bit when you're more confident.
>
Then discover after a long hard ride that maybe you were a bit /too/
confident ...

 

[cupra]

Dylan Smith wrote:
> On 2007-07-10, Martin Dann <[email protected]> wrote:
>> The first day I commuted to work with these, I got to the
>> final junction before work, and was surprised that I had
>> not fallen over. So surprised in fact that I promptly err..
>
> Back when I lived in Houston, I was doing the Katy Flatland 100km
> ride. A friend of mine had just got these, and he decided to use the
> restrooms before leavin on the ride.
>
> Of course, there was a queue.
>
> He rode up, was unable to unclip, and gracefully flopped on his side.
>
> Straight into a fire-ant mound.
>
> Fire ants, by the way, are something common in the souther states.
> They make little dirt mounds. If you disturb these mounds (usually
> unknowingly by treading on them) all the ants come surging out onto
> the offending body part, then simultaneously bite. It leaves nasty,
> painful welts. Lying on the ground, struggling to get off your bike
> while in a fire ant mound is an exquisite study of pain.

Reminds me of the time my mate lost control (off road) and ended up on his
back in bed of nettles!

 

[Mark McNeill]

Response to Tony Raven:
> I've never had a problem unclipping except once. I had parked the bike
> in town, got some shopping and when I set off had difficulty clipping
> in. When I got to the first red traffic lights I couldn't unclip either
> and ended up holding on to the traffic light while I extricated my feet
> from my shoes and then my shoes from the cleats. Turns out some b*****d
> had done the tensions springs up to max while I had been shopping :-(

I can't help feeling a sneaking admiration for the perp's imagination,
though I dare say you wouldn't have agreed at the time, and the
consequences could have been very nasty indeed.


> So if you have trouble clipping in after leaving the bike unattended,
> don't persevere just in case.

Ar. The only time I had a serious problem unclipping was after I'd had
a serious problem clipping in; you'd think that might have been a clue,
but nooo... it was late at night on the way home from work, and I
wasn't in a mood to think too hard. The problem was that I had picked
up odd bits of insulating tape on the soles of my shoes [1], and they'd
worked into the cleat on one side.


[1] A common occurrence at my kind of work.


--
Mark, UK
"I've noticed that the press tends to be quite accurate, except when
they're writing on a subject I know something about."

 

[Adam Lea]

"Simon Brooke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> in message <[email protected]>, Adam Lea
> ('[email protected]') wrote:
>
>> I have just had clipless pedals fitted to my road bike and tomorrow I
>> will commute to work on it just to see what the difference is. I have
>> been practicing clipping in and out in my living room and it seems quite
>> fiddly at the moment, particularly the unclipping bit. I have to twist my
>> feet quite far found to disengage. Hopefully I will manage to get too and
>> from work without falling off.
>
> I know it is probably too late to say this, but have you made sure your
> cleats are really really really, really really really tight?
>
> I say this because I once put cleats on a little less tight than that
> (only
> five reallys) because I thought I would want to adjust their position
> later. And the result was I had to twist my feet quite far round to
> disengage... and so of course I fell off.
>
> Cleats need to be tight. Like, really tight. Really really really really
> really really tight.
>

Yes I did that first thing this morning and I have had no problems today
clipping and unclipping.

 

[Tony Raven]

Paul Boyd wrote:
> Simon Brooke said the following on 11/07/2007 09:48:
>
>> I know it is probably too late to say this, but have you made sure your
>> cleats are really really really, really really really tight?
> ....
>> Cleats need to be tight. Like, really tight. Really really really really
>> really really tight.
>
> Could you please quantify that definition?
>

Yes it's what Brant Richards refers to as ******* tight.

Tony

 

[Tony Raven]

cupra wrote:
>
> Reminds me of the time my mate lost control (off road) and ended up on his
> back in bed of nettles!
>

I've come off at speed off road and rolled through a bed of nettles.
Still should protect me from arthritis in later years if the tales are true.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/771563.stm

Tony