Clip less pedals – unclipping

[brendan]

On the big dummy, the lower speeds and BB7 brakes (that can stop a train on a dime) allow me to shift-down, unclip and brake correctly all the time. I only fall over if I manage to lean the wrong way, which becomes rarer and rarer over time. On the road bike, however, I prioritize the unclipping and braking over down shifting since the brakes can sometimes require a lot more attention (earlier application/longer engagement/more strength) when coming to a stop. Plus brifters make it difficult to actuate both down-shift and braking in parallel. I learned the hard ways it’s better to be stuck in a high gear at the stop light than to overshoot the stop line and/or fall over.

Brendan

[StopMeansStop]

@Dirt 4805 wrote:

Eventually this motion becomes second nature. I went through this in the mid 1980s. It brings back fond memories. Hang in there.

Which pedals did you get?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014UG3WE

[Dirt]

Great comment Brendan. I notice a lot of people unclip ahead of time as they approach a stop light. That doesn’t help with unplanned stops, but it does help make it so you’re doing fewer things all at once. By the time you’re scoping traffic and getting ready to put your foot down, you’ve already been unclipped for 5 seconds.

The Big Dummy presents other issues…. especially if it is loaded. I use road pedals and shoes on my dummy… which probably isn’t the best choice. The road shoes are a bit slippery on pavement. When the bike is fully loaded that can make waiting at stop lights a bit of an adventure. I might have to put the MTB pedals on the dummy the next time I take it out and see how that works.

[brendan]

@Dirt 4880 wrote:

Great comment Brendan. I notice a lot of people unclip ahead of time as they approach a stop light. That doesn’t help with unplanned stops, but it does help make it so you’re doing fewer things all at once. By the time you’re scoping traffic and getting ready to put your foot down, you’ve already been unclipped for 5 seconds.

The Big Dummy presents other issues…. especially if it is loaded. I use road pedals and shoes on my dummy… which probably isn’t the best choice. The road shoes are a bit slippery on pavement. When the bike is fully loaded that can make waiting at stop lights a bit of an adventure. I might have to put the MTB pedals on the dummy the next time I take it out and see how that works.

Yeah. My clipless shoes are Lake winter shoes (SPD), a pair of shimano mountain biking sandals (SPD) and some standard bontrager shoes (SPD) – I’m new to clipless pedals since October 2010. Only the bontragers have an issue of the cleat sticking out enough (or the lack of surrounding tread) to skid sometimes when I put my foot down and I’m not at a full stop. Presumably the issue isn’t quite as bad road shoes/cleats, which I have never tried. SPD seems like a good compromise.

[baiskeli]

If they’re clipless, why do you have to unclip them?

[Mark Blacknell]

@baiskeli 4891 wrote:

If they’re clipless, why do you have to unclip them?

http://instantrimshot.com/

[baiskeli]

@Mark Blacknell 4893 wrote:

http://instantrimshot.com/

Thank you. Be sure to tip your waiter!

You gotta admit, it’s a weird term. Regular old pedals are “clipless” too.

[Mark Blacknell]

@baiskeli 4946 wrote:

You gotta admit, it’s a weird term. Regular old pedals are “clipless” too.

Yep, but less weird when you think back to these being the standard road pedals:

[creadinger]

Great topic. My wife began using them a couple of weeks ago so this is very good timing. She’s slowly working up the courage to go on a real ride with them. Otherwise, she has been sticking to the less traveled trails to get used to them and she thinks the whole idea is crazy.

What we did was go to a barren stretch of road near Crystal City and she practiced for an hour clipping in and out, riding with one foot clipped in, and then both, practicing stopping etc… it’s going pretty well. No falls yet.

I remember two of my 0 mph falls pretty vividly. One time was as I was pulling up to the bike rack in the garage at work. I was feeling good about myself and extra cool for riding in and I just forgot. Tiiimmmmbbbeeerrrr… The cool feeling instantly vanished.

The other time was in Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the eastern shore with my wife. We stopped to wait for a car to clear a high-tide flooded section of road and I just leaned the wrong way. The driver gave me a nice thumbs up as he passed. It was pretty funny.

[baiskeli]

@Mark Blacknell 4948 wrote:

Yep, but less weird when you think back to these being the standard road pedals:

Nah, kid, that was years after the REAL standard:

See, no clips.

[baiskeli]

@creadinger 4955 wrote:

The other time was in Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the eastern shore with my wife. We stopped to wait for a car to clear a high-tide flooded section of road and I just leaned the wrong way. The driver gave me a nice thumbs up as he passed. It was pretty funny.

Did this with the wife years ago. Nice ride.

[OneEighth]

Honestly, I think modern clipless pedals are much easier to use. I am assuming, of course, that the cleats and pedals are clean, well-maintained, etc.
No comparison to when road shoes had wooden soles, cleats that fit over the lip at the trailing edge of the pedal, and you had to cinch down the strap to keep your foot locked in. Now those were a lot more interesting to get out of in a hurry.

[baiskeli]

@OneEighth 4960 wrote:

Honestly, I think modern clipless pedals are much easier to use. I am assuming, of course, that the cleats and pedals are clean, well-maintained, etc.
No comparison to when road shoes had wooden soles, cleats that fit over the lip at the trailing edge of the pedal, and you had to cinch down the strap to keep your foot locked in. Now those were a lot more interesting to get out of in a hurry.

Actually, I use these as a compromise:

They work with any shoe too.

[acc]

Tried out my new shoes tonight and had to acclimate to new cleats. Immediately remembered how hard it is to learn to clip in and clip out, the unclipping motion is not subtle. It’s just plain hard.
But once again I discovered upgrading to a higher quality makes a big difference. I still think my shoes are ugly but a step up means better fit, more power, less tweaking of my knees. So far, I’ve never been sorry about spending more money on equipment.

Happy trails,
ann

[Author]

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