Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2017 17:12:12 GMT
Buying 700 AF which will be first road bike and first use of clipless pedals so forgive newbie questions.
1, How easy is it to unclip yourself from the pedals if you need to quickly?
2, Can you walk around wearing shoes with the clip fitting on the bottom or should you take them off asap to avoid damaging the mechanism?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2017 19:19:03 GMT
Based on my experience with the Shimano brand....
1. dead easy when you have the tension screw on the pedal adjusted correctly. You should spot any potential need to unclip before you need to do so.
2. Two types of cleats. SPD - SL and SPD. The SL are road cleats which protrude out from the sole of your shoes. You can waddle along easy enough for a short distance with them but they are made of plastic and will soon wear out if you do a lot of walking with them on. The SPD's are mainly used for MTB and touring and are recessed in the tread of the shoe. As they do not protrude, you can walk about as normal. SPD cleats are made of metal so are a lot more durable. You can get road shoes that take the SPD cleats as well in which case they do protrude.
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Post by GrumpyDidcot on Jan 5, 2017 19:41:39 GMT
Not forgetting of course, two types of pedal and shoe cleat are not interchangeable. (ie road shoe will not fit MTB pedal and vice versa) but an MTB pedal can be fitted to a road bike. I've got MTB pedals on my road 500SE and MTB shoes/cleats. You'll get used to the sideways foot movement to unclip after a while - usually after falling off a few times!
Edit - didn't know you could fit MTB cleats to a road shoe.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2017 19:51:24 GMT
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Post by joby on Jan 5, 2017 20:57:05 GMT
When I switched from SPD to SPD-SL, I found the main concern was clipping IN rather than out. SPD pedals are usually two-sided, and even if you don't manage to clip in straight away you can generally at least pedal a bit as the recessed cleat at least ensures that the sole of the shoe is flat. Not so with SPD-SL, which are one-sided and angle backwards when there's no foot attached to them. There's a definite technique to clipping in, especially important when pulling out quickly at roundabouts, junctions etc. I got caught out a couple of times in the early days. Worth having a practice somewhere quiet before mixing it with traffic!
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Post by RobP on Jan 5, 2017 21:17:21 GMT
They are Look Keo based pedals using a similar to Shimano SPD SL (but non interchangeable) 3 bolt fixing cleat that looks like this Have used these on a rental bike at the velodrome and founded them to be easier clip in/out action than my own Shimano pedals Practice is the key, leaning against a wall repeatedly clipping in / out to perfect the movement or bike set up on a turbo to practice that way. 99% chance you will forget to clip out once but at least it will be very slow speed and we have all had at leat one "clipless moment"
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Post by goffski on Jan 5, 2017 22:17:45 GMT
My advice is just go for it. When i first picked my bike up i took my shoes in to get the cleats fitted, the lad even came out to watch me ride off saying it's going to be funny watching me fall off. To this day i've never had a unclipping incident.
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fophop
Peloton Rider
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Post by fophop on Jan 6, 2017 14:30:09 GMT
I started off with combination pedals ( www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-m324-combination-pedals/), which are flat one side and have SPD clips on the other, so with MTB shoes that have the SPD recessed you can ride easily on the flat pedals or clip-in, depending on how comfortable you're feeling, in fact I still use these pedals on my Triban for my commute as I'm much more comfortable riding in London traffic with one foot un-clipped.
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Post by phred1812 on Jan 6, 2017 16:02:09 GMT
I have three bikes all with different Shimano pedals.
A Giant hybrid with A530SPDs. These are flat on one side and have mtb style clips on the other. I use this bike mainly in the summer on gentle rides with the wife and family and so can wear ordinary shoes or mtb shoes if the ride is more serious.
My Triban T3 is used as a winter bike and has mtb style PD M520s. I prefer using mtb shoes in the winter as they are more rugged and have fewer ventilation holes and are therefore warmer and more water resistant. They are of course much better for walking in particularly if there is water and mud about. Being double sided, the pedals are easy to clip into.
Number 1 bike is a carbon framed Cinelli and has 105 SPD-SLs. These are clearly better in many ways but as has been said above, they do take a bit of technique to get clipped into and the cleats are not great for walking around with.
I can honestly say that I have never had a "clipless moment". It's an automatic reflex to twist the ankle when coming to a stop.
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Post by erictherat on Jan 6, 2017 17:52:28 GMT
I can honestly say that I have never had a "clipless moment". It's an automatic reflex to twist the ankle when coming to a stop. Funnily, even when riding in flats my ankle flicks out whenever I pull up at a junction.
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Post by robertsims on Jan 6, 2017 20:33:36 GMT
Agreed with Eric, riding in flats just seems weird now and I hate it! I've always used spd for everything from commuting to leisure to club runs to century rides and sportive to my TT races. Nobody has yet to convince me the benefits of 'road pedals' over being able to walk without looking like a duck!
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Post by r0b1et on Jan 7, 2017 20:16:28 GMT
Duck... more like Aladdin. Anyhow, I can't stand flats now - I keep pulling up and then whacking my shine with the pedal.
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