My first Clipless experience

[acetylene]

seems like people here have had something of a difficult time adjusting to their new pedals. For me, I can say that at first it was a bit tricky, but I became accustomed to it very quickly, probably because I have been riding in the city for a long time, with straps.

I used to ride a fixed gear for a while, and I learned to balance at stops, without taking my feet off the pedals. I had seen some of my friends do it, so I had to try and eventully it becomes second nature. Of course, I learned with flats, then gradually maed the transition to straps. It is easier to understand once ouve seen someone do it, but basically it involves turning your wheel to one side, while keeping the bike at equilibrium by applying subtle forward and backward pressure on the pedals. but that only applies to fixed gears, and it was much harder to learn to balance with a freewheel. once you become adjusted to not being able to backpedal and actually go backwards, you learn to apply forward pressure only, modulating it very slightly with your brakes.
when I got my pedals I was already used to balancing, so it was a fairly quick adjustment. I just had to learn how to clip out very quickly when my balance was upset. I actually think that it is easier to balance with clipless pedals than with straps, because the connection to the pedals is so positive.

Anyway, if you are used to your pedals at this point, give the balancing act a go with standard flat first, get used to it, then try it with your clipless. It makes starting out a whole lot quicker. If I can do it with a bad left inner ear, believe me, so can you.

 

[SilentGTboy]

Took the clipless on my new mountain bike off-road for the first time. I went down to Alafia state park and had a blast. I could of never rode the bike like that without my clipless. All my worries are gone. Even for riding a new bike, my first mountain bike at that, I still took to the trails with one of the experianced members. No doubt in my mind, my clippless pedals are the best ting I have ever spent my money on in my life.

 

[lokstah]

Originally posted by SilentGTboy
Took the clipless on my new mountain bike off-road for the first time. I went down to Alafia state park and had a blast. I could of never rode the bike like that without my clipless. All my worries are gone. Even for riding a new bike, my first mountain bike at that, I still took to the trails with one of the experianced members. No doubt in my mind, my clippless pedals are the best ting I have ever spent my money on in my life.

I think that's a typical response, in the best way. Once you're past the initial learning curve and you puts some miles on the clipless pedals, you'll have trouble imagining riding without them.

Not having to worry about keeping your foot in place lets you mash, pull, stomp and corner with confidence!

 

[frenk]

Originally posted by PaveHawk-
well its the falling off parts I'm scared about -- I ride to work in melbourne peak hour traffic, which isnt so bad aside from the buses which seem to not care that you're there...

falling over just gives me visions of a car tyre coming too close to my head

My girlfriend used clipless pedals on her mtb for the first time some months ago. She had no problem at all, just tried a bit on the trainer, then went out and rode, first on roads without traffic. She has never fallen down.

The pedals are Time Atac.
I suspect mtb shoes are a bit better at beginning because they provide more grip when your foot is on the pavement. This could make you feel better when clipping out.

Francesco

 

[Beastt]

Originally posted by acetylene
(Snip...)

I used to ride a fixed gear for a while, and I learned to balance at stops, without taking my feet off the pedals. I had seen some of my friends do it, so I had to try and eventully it becomes second nature. Of course, I learned with flats, then gradually maed the transition to straps. It is easier to understand once ouve seen someone do it, but basically it involves turning your wheel to one side, while keeping the bike at equilibrium by applying subtle forward and backward pressure on the pedals. but that only applies to fixed gears, and it was much harder to learn to balance with a freewheel. once you become adjusted to not being able to backpedal and actually go backwards, you learn to apply forward pressure only, modulating it very slightly with your brakes.
(...snip)

In my experience, trackstands or "trailstands" as they seem to be called on a mountain bike, are pretty much the same with multiple gears as they seem to be with a fixed gear, (single speed).

It helps to have a slight incline on the surface where you stop since the process is basically just making sure you can let the bike move back and forth (side to side) underneath you to keep the weight above the bike directly in line with the pull of gravity.

As acetylene said, come to a stop and turn the front wheel fairly sharply to one side, into the slight incline, but short of 90°. Apply a tiny bit of forward force on a pedal to equal the slight tendency for the wheel to want to roll backward down the incline. Again, the incline need only be very slight. Even a minimal hump will work. For some reason, this seems to be easier to do if you stand up, off the saddle. This is most likely because you're weight is completely on the pedals and handlebars at this point, allowing you to respond more quickly to the subtle feeling of beginning to lean to either side.

As an example, let's assume we are on a road that tilts very slightly down to our right. Turn the front wheel to the left and apply pressure to a pedal to keep the front wheel from rolling backward down the incline. If you feel yourself start to lean to the right, reducing the force on the pedal allows the bike to roll backward slightly, placing it back between your weight and the directly line of gravitational pull. If you feel yourself starting to lean to the left, increase the pressure on the pedal just enough to align the bike directly underneath you, once again putting it in line with gravitational pull. By letting the front wheel roll back and forth an inch or two, you will eventually be able to maintain a trackstand with little difficulty.

If possible, I recommend practicing on a mountain bike at first since the wider, softer tires provide a more substantial base on which to practice. The shorter stature of the bike seems to decrease the offset with gravitational pull at any given lean angle, as well. If you happen to have a grassy or carpeted area where you can practice, so much the better since this seems to help stabilize the tires a bit. It also hurts a bit less if you lose balance and can't get your foot free from the pedal quickly enough.

 

[lokstah]

...and practice without being clipped-in... no sense learning trackstanding while engaged, even on the grass... a surefire way to topple over!

otherwise, great lesson, Beastt. quite a write-up!

 

[Beastt]

Originally posted by lokstah
...and practice without being clipped-in... no sense learning trackstanding while engaged, even on the grass... a surefire way to topple over!

otherwise, great lesson, Beastt. quite a write-up!

Thanks, lokstah.

I did forget to mention feathering the back brake though. Seems to stabilize things a little bit and keep adjustments from changing the balance point too quickly.

 

[McTwistie]

I have been riding on clips for only 2 weeks - picked up my TREK1400 with the new LOOK pedals. I am happy to say I have not fallen yet, but I am sure it is only a matter of time. I have had one very close call though....

I had just finished a 65km ride up at noosa, and had a ball with the group (wich included Andrew Johns). I was stoked at keeping up with the group, and when we got to the end of the ride, everyone went left, when I was supposed to go right. SO I said bye to everyone, and pulled over to the shoulder so that I could turn around.

I didn't immediatly realize it, but the shoulder was composed of fairly deep, soft sand, and the front wheel dug in and turned to the left very quickly - I was going down !!! Pure reflex, I had to get my foot down NOW, so I just pushed it down and out - and it unclipped and saved me. A lot more luck then skill I think

It was good to realize that even If I had fallen, all that nice soft sand was sitting there waiting for me. Given that, during the same ride, the last 10 k's are mostly hills, and I was starteing to get tired. Pulling myself UP the hills using the shoes was Awesome. I will not go back !!

MIKE.

PS. I have another question. During the same ride, I took another turn up front at about the 56km mark. It was as the hills started, and I was actually feeling pretty good. As I was on the front, and you have to work harder - I gave it my best, and on the second hill, realized I had pulled about 10 meters in front of the pack. The other guy up front with me was behind, and everyone stayed with him.

I stopped pedalling, and waited until everyone caught up, then took it easy and stayed level with the other guy. Now this confused me a bit. Should the 2nd guy have dropped off and let someone fresher/better team up with me on the front?? Should I have disappeared into the distance (on a relaxed recovery ride?).

I have searched the forum, and not found any info on wheelsuckers, or taking your turn ettiquette. Thanks.

 

[kmccormic22]

I feel as though I will end up jinxing myself by responding to this thread, however I have too!

I fell into the cycling fever about three years ago at a local gym. I entered spinning classes and couldn't manage to stay away!! After a while, I went clipless. Easy for me as it was all stationary at the time.

Soon enough, I was bored with the gym, I needed the road, and that need brought me right to my lbs where I purchased my first road bike (they sized me inproperly!!). Anyway, I had the gear and hit the road!! I havent' gone back to a club, and I have yet to have a spill with regards to being clipless. I think I am overdue!!!

Great stories by the way, so entertaining!

 

[blackpurse]

Hi, this is my first post here on this forum, and I'm glad I found this thread. Tomorrow I'm trying clipless for the first time, and its comforting to know that I won't be teh only dork out there who falls the first time (I am by nature, rather clumsy). I always break in the season on Easter Sunday, it's a little ritual I've done since I was 16. Its been a while since I've ridden, but I'm coming off of a) a difficult pregnancy and b) a stolen bike and c) a case of patello-femoral syndrome, and my PT said that clipless will help strengthen my legs to help. So here goes, wish me luck!

 

[Insight Driver]

blackpurse, I sincerely wish you luck.

 

[blackpurse]

OK, I did it! It went really well. I practiced in my garage just getting in and out, and then went to the park across the street from my house (very convenient) and looked like a dork in front of all the little kids who were playing ball, some of whom asked me what I was doing and I explained to them. They thought it was cool. Then I went out for my annual Easter break-in-the season ride, concentrating my my dextrous side (my right), only clipping in and out of my left when i absolutely had to, and got real confident on my right side. Didn't fall once in an hour and a half ride!

I have to credit the very nice people who shared their stories and suggestions here. I had a lot of this in mind as I went out and probably the reason I DIDN'T fall was because I learned from your experiences. So thank you all very much for posting your hard-learned wisdom here!

 

[thomas_r]

I was told that I would fall three times and then would have the hang of it. It took the first two times to figure out that stopping on grass would be a much safer landing. But two years and two sets of LOOK pedals later, I'm happy as a clam and would never go back to my old ways.

BTW, I now have some nice battle scars on my knees and shin to show off as trophies of the experience.

 

[Rickw2]

I've only had once mishap connected with going clipless. It was my second ride after going clipless and had to stop at a stop sign. I coasted up, slowed, clipped-out with my right leg, stopped, and leaned to the left (thinking that was the foot that was free). Brillant huh?

 

[aspollock]

Back to biking after 35 years. Learned how to extricate my LEFT foot from the SPD pedal rapidly. Stopped at the inevitable red light. Consciously clicked my left foot out....as I fell over to the right.

They told me it was inevitable that this would happen once at least!

 

[Insight Driver]

Originally posted by aspollock
Back to biking after 35 years. Learned how to extricate my LEFT foot from the SPD pedal rapidly. Stopped at the inevitable red light. Consciously clicked my left foot out....as I fell over to the right.

They told me it was inevitable that this would happen once at least!

LOL, happened to me once, as well, actually twice.

I learned the technique to prevent it and practise it regularly now: always turn the handlebars away from the unclipped foot as you come to a stop; this forces the bike to lean to the unclipped side. This will help you, I hope.

 

[tcklyde]

Originally posted by aspollock
Back to biking after 35 years. Learned how to extricate my LEFT foot from the SPD pedal rapidly. Stopped at the inevitable red light. Consciously clicked my left foot out....as I fell over to the right.

They told me it was inevitable that this would happen once at least!

Heh. My problem as well. I'm relatively new to clipless and still a fan of clips (I commute on a fixed gear with clips because I don't want to change shoes at work), but I put some Look clipless on my road bike. Always favor the left foot and have had three nice, emabarrassing falls thus far.

My biggest problem with clipless is not unclipping, however, it's the shoes. Last evening my sun glasses fell off when I shot a glance behing me. I pulled off the path, parked the bike, and then tried to run back and grab my glasses in my road shoes. Penguins have sprinted with more eloquence. That, and as I posted on another thread, wet weather, plastic cleats, and polished stone cleats are a good way to learn new stretches. I'm seriously thinking of switching to MTB pedals and shoes so I can actually walk around. It is, however, funny to hear all my buddies clicking and clacking into the sandwich shop after group rides....

The Shimano touring shoe... SH-TO92, I think, looks particularly interesting...

 

[diane143]

Now that was a great visual! ROTFL

I too have a knack of unhooking one foot and somehow managing to lean the other way.

Diane

 

[wbmorrison2]

Never had one day of problems going clipless. Trained every other day for 3.5 months for an MS150 ride. No problem...until one week before "THE BIG RIDE".

Standing IN MY DRIVEWAY talking to a neighbor, I was anxiously straddling my bike...ready for a ride. (Did I mention I was standing still...in my own damned driveway.) Anyway, I inadvertantly 'clipped in' on my resting leg. When I went to shift my weight to that resting leg...you get the idea.

I ended up with a severe torn rotator cuff...which has not yet healed.. 6 months later. Surgery, anyone???

Oh yeah...I did the ride anyway.

 

[NewRider22]

Originally posted by temp3st
I recently (6 weeks ago) switched from using Straps on my road bike to SPD-SL's.

Have to say I have not yet fallen or had any close shaves with the ground - love the pedals and they are a breeze to clip in and out of.

Going clipless need not be a painful experience.

....saying that I am probably gonna have a mega fall tonight.

Alright, this is like the sixth time I've seen this so I'm wondering. What are SPD pedals?

I'm looking to go clipless soon and trying to get it all straight!

THANKS SO MUCH!