Cleats - bit of a revelation!
Discussion
I'm slowly getting into cycling, not full on as only have a Specialized hybrid bike but it's loads lighter than my old chunk of iron MTB. Anyway I've signed up for the London-Cambridge in a month or so and as part of my training have been using the Watt bike in the gym, this soon showed how poor my technique was, in that I was only pushing down due to never having ridden with my feet cliped in.
So I hopped into Evans last weekend and bought a set of SPD pedals and cleated shoes. Nothing fancy and I wanted to still nip to the shops in my trainers if needed so the pedals have a kind of cage around them allowing (short-distance only I'd say) cleat free cycling.
After fitting them on Friday I then very nearly fell on my arse. I loosened everything off but I was then a little timid of going out on the road. Anyway, today I "manned-up" and did my commute with the cleats and...I loved it!
Thankfully no falling off just yet but I was hyper-cautious and released my left foot very early, taking advantage of the caged pedals. Straight away I was getting more power, finally using the big-ring for about the first time, and got a dozen PBs on my Strava - I never realised it would make such a difference.
I guess I'm now a full MAMIL with all the gear and no idea (Yes I now have lycra and gloves and all that caboodle!) Who knows - I may end up buying a full road bike next year if I carry on having as much fun as I'm having at the moment!
Edit: These are the pedals I went with, as I say nothing special but a decent compromise for a noob like me I thought
So I hopped into Evans last weekend and bought a set of SPD pedals and cleated shoes. Nothing fancy and I wanted to still nip to the shops in my trainers if needed so the pedals have a kind of cage around them allowing (short-distance only I'd say) cleat free cycling.
After fitting them on Friday I then very nearly fell on my arse. I loosened everything off but I was then a little timid of going out on the road. Anyway, today I "manned-up" and did my commute with the cleats and...I loved it!
Thankfully no falling off just yet but I was hyper-cautious and released my left foot very early, taking advantage of the caged pedals. Straight away I was getting more power, finally using the big-ring for about the first time, and got a dozen PBs on my Strava - I never realised it would make such a difference.
I guess I'm now a full MAMIL with all the gear and no idea (Yes I now have lycra and gloves and all that caboodle!) Who knows - I may end up buying a full road bike next year if I carry on having as much fun as I'm having at the moment!
Edit: These are the pedals I went with, as I say nothing special but a decent compromise for a noob like me I thought
Edited by Mannginger on Thursday 3rd July 21:41
Mannginger said:
Who knows - I may end up buying a full road bike next year
You will. Just thought i'd dispense with any confusion over this matter!I was (still am) a mountain biker, but got a Hybrid as a commuter. 18 months later i progressed onto lighter and faster carbon road bikes, getting faster & faster times... its addictive.
(fellow mx5 owner here btw - you north surrey, near berkshire?)
Gizmoish said:
daddy cool said:
Mannginger said:
Who knows - I may end up buying a full road bike next year
You will. Just thought i'd dispense with any confusion over this matter!You will also join The Club at some point. Fact.
daddy cool said:
(fellow mx5 owner here btw - you north surrey, near berkshire?)
Unfortunately I no longer have the MX5. I'm in Surbiton but used to commute through to Slough. I'm working in London now so couldn't really justify the car to myself. I run an £800 crap-box Fiesta currently but am dreaming of having an excuse to buy a proper car again!Gizmoish said:
daddy cool said:
Mannginger said:
Who knows - I may end up buying a full road bike next year
You will. Just thought i'd dispense with any confusion over this matter!You will also join The Club at some point. Fact.
I did come very close last year whilst doing a tight u-turn on my fixie, on a Thames River flooded road. The front wheel slid from under me but I just managed to get my foot out of my spd in time! Spd-sl's and I would have been on the tarmac! To be fair, it could easily have happened with flat pedals.
Tried cleats last year - epic fail on SPD's.. Three offs in half a mile and limped home bleeding.
Fast forward to this year and I tried again on road cleats (looks). No problems in the slightest and I've now moved all road bikes to look and my MTB and CX to crank brothers,
What people didn't tell me before the first time I tried was "unclip in advance!".
After 4000 miles on cleats I'm happy to track stand etc and unclip at the very last second. That's not something to do on your first few miles.....
Unclip early, ten metres out from a junction. As your confidence grows you'll leave it later and later.
Fast forward to this year and I tried again on road cleats (looks). No problems in the slightest and I've now moved all road bikes to look and my MTB and CX to crank brothers,
What people didn't tell me before the first time I tried was "unclip in advance!".
After 4000 miles on cleats I'm happy to track stand etc and unclip at the very last second. That's not something to do on your first few miles.....
Unclip early, ten metres out from a junction. As your confidence grows you'll leave it later and later.
I've still got my SPDs from the 90s! Can't part with them. Got the original Red DXs on my MTB and another pair of MTB LXs on my road bike so I can use the same shoes. I'm far too used to the double sidedness to change to Road specific ones.
Unclipping becomes second nature. In fact I get more frustrated with fudged getaways rather then the stopping bit.
Unclipping becomes second nature. In fact I get more frustrated with fudged getaways rather then the stopping bit.
47p2 said:
I was out on my 1980 bike a few days ago, it has rat-trap pedals and toe clips...so much easier than clipless pedals for getting in and any shoes fit
No.Having to flip the pedal every time you set off, rather than just putting your foot on the pedal in the right place.
Having to pull your foot backwards rather than just move it sideways to get out again.
Little meaningful retention unless you reach down and tighten the straps.
Only possible advantage is that any shoes fit but that's soon solved by these:
Every time I try a bike with rat-traps I can't believe how archaic they feel. Such a faff that I think you're actually better off on flats!
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