Going Clipless..

[Blademun]

I finally did it, I made the trek up to the only bike shop I knew of that carried clipless shoes and bought a pair. I got a pair of the Shimano SD-65's because its hot down here, and they were on sale.

I got the falling down part out of the way pretty quick. At the third intersection I came to I forgot to unclip and fell down. Fun stuff..

I'm not sure if I like using all the muscles in my leg yet or not, but I do know that the ball of my foot is getting sore and its hard for me to relax the muscles in my calf when I'm coasting now. I don't know if I'm just unconciously fighting against the clip or what.

Is this pretty normal? Or do I need to adjust something? I never rode on the ball of my foot before, I used to just ride on the arch of my foot. This new posistion seems more tiring, not less..

 

[PartisanRanger]

I finally did it, I made the trek up to the only bike shop I knew of that carried clipless shoes and bought a pair. I got a pair of the Shimano SD-65's because its hot down here, and they were on sale.

I got the falling down part out of the way pretty quick. At the third intersection I came to I forgot to unclip and fell down. Fun stuff..

I'm not sure if I like using all the muscles in my leg yet or not, but I do know that the ball of my foot is getting sore and its hard for me to relax the muscles in my calf when I'm coasting now. I don't know if I'm just unconciously fighting against the clip or what.

Is this pretty normal? Or do I need to adjust something? I never rode on the ball of my foot before, I used to just ride on the arch of my foot. This new posistion seems more tiring, not less..

I felt the same way starting out with clipless, I guess you just get used to it. Try to bring your heel parallel to the road, there's a tendency to angle your foot that puts unneeded strain on your calf muscles. But primarily, just keep riding and you'll get used to it over time. Try doing some climbing, that'll remind you why you bought these things in the first place.

 

[dougadam]

I hear the shoes are very slippery in the winter.

 

[li0scc0]

I finally did it, I made the trek up to the only bike shop I knew of that carried clipless shoes and bought a pair. I got a pair of the Shimano SD-65's because its hot down here, and they were on sale.

I got the falling down part out of the way pretty quick. At the third intersection I came to I forgot to unclip and fell down. Fun stuff..

I'm not sure if I like using all the muscles in my leg yet or not, but I do know that the ball of my foot is getting sore and its hard for me to relax the muscles in my calf when I'm coasting now. I don't know if I'm just unconciously fighting against the clip or what.

Is this pretty normal? Or do I need to adjust something? I never rode on the ball of my foot before, I used to just ride on the arch of my foot. This new posistion seems more tiring, not less..

You might need adjusting. Clipless brings your feet closer to the pedal spindle and now your saddle height COULD be too high. This could cause you to be flexing your calf when coasting as you are 'reaching' with your foot.
I also do not think that your foot getting sore is normal. You may have the pedal too far forward in your stance, I would recommend going through a fit calculator to determine if your saddle height and fore-aft positioning are OK.

 

[Blademun]

Thanks for the replys guys. Whats a fit calulator btw? Does it cost money? I don't have much money left LoL. As far as seat adjustment, I actually set my seat up and that helped some. These shoes + the pads I put in set me up alot higher then my old shoes..kinda feels like wearing platforms by comparison. I'm going to try setting my seat back as well.