Cycling UK Forum

so you need to carry grubby rubber things (that might be covered in poo) around with you in your pockets. Nice...

And when walking, you still waddle like a duck....

IMHO SPDs are the clear choice if

a) they work for you and
b) you are not racing

cheers

Brucey wrote:so you need to carry grubby rubber things (that might be covered in poo) around with you in your pockets. Nice...

And when walking, you still waddle like a duck....

And the one's I've seen used are pretty difficult to get off, especially when cold - to the point of friends being asked to help.

Plenty of people have mentioned the risk of tumbling, but my problem with Look pedals is when you're setting off and the pedal gets the wrong way up for some reason. I press down with my foot and the smooth cleat just slides off the smooth underside of the pedal and I either come to a complete halt or wobble around for a bit trying to get the pedal the right way up. Hill starts are virtually impossible.

I now use double sided SPDs on all my bikes for this reason (though single sided is OK as long as the other side is flat). The type with some of platform (e.g. PD-M530) is even better and feels pretty much like a Look pedal, albeit it's quite bit heavier - not that it matters to me.

Brucey wrote:IMHO SPDs are the clear choice if

a) they work for you and
b) you are not racing

With the caveat of "for some values of SPuDs". Various SPuD-u-like systems with similar two-bolt fixings that mount in the same shoes are effectively interchangeable as far as use on and off the bike are concerned (an ATAC user writes...).

Pete.

JohnI wrote:Plenty of people have mentioned the risk of tumbling, but my problem with Look pedals is when you're setting off and the pedal gets the wrong way up for some reason. I press down with my foot and the smooth cleat just slides off the smooth underside of the pedal and I either come to a complete halt or wobble around for a bit trying to get the pedal the right way up. Hill starts are virtually impossible.

I now use double sided SPDs on all my bikes for this reason (though single sided is OK as long as the other side is flat). The type with some of platform (e.g. PD-M530) is even better and feels pretty much like a Look pedal, albeit it's quite bit heavier - not that it matters to me.

With any type of pedal which isn't the same either way up there's a version of this problem and you either have to work round it or fitted pedals which are the same either way up. Toe clips used to be something of a problem, especially riding fixed but practice makes OK, if not perfect. I binned some Bernard Hinault heavy plastic toeclip covers yesterday which I used to use in Winter on fixed and I managed riding with them. My first SPD's were the old, single-sided Ultegra model (same mechanism as standard SPD's) and they hang at a funny angle, funny/unusual that is if you are used to toeclips. I have bikes with all sorts of pedals so it's a matter of remembering. The double-sided SPD's with SPD on one side and a sort of standard rat-trap on the other are a bit more forgiving in terms of working - sort of - with the wrong side up for the shoes being worn but that's all.

The short answer to the thread title is to do just that ie get used to them.

thirdcrank wrote:........The short answer to the thread title is to do just that ie get used to them.

actually, there is something useful you can do to help somebody who is nervous of using SPDs for the first time, and thats to swap cleats with them.
Try this....put their new shoe with new cleats into their new pedal, and see how hard it is to release.
Then try your shoe with a worn cleat in their new pedal and see how much easier that releases.
Then swap the cleats over.
trouble is, does the OP know anybody who now rides SPDs?

My tips
1 make sure that the binding spring is slack
2 think ahead and start to release before trying stop.

mjr wrote: One of the posters above already mentioned cramping up, although like most clipping believers, they seem to see clipping as a solution not the cause.

It was me that mentioned it but nothing to with clipping - I tend to get cramp more as I get older on or off the bike - I don't see clipping as either the cause or the solution. My comment was "They're a godsend when you pull off from a junction and get cramp in one leg " and what I meant by it was that it can be very useful to be able to cycle out of a danger zone using only one leg [when the other is deemed inoperable due to cramp]. On that occasion, the onset of the cramp was brought on by stretching down onto tip-toe to steady myself (before a right turn) without getting off the saddle.

I have the straps quite loose, but agree sometimes I can't always place my foot in them first time.

Brucey wrote:If you want to have the easiest clipless learning experience, why not get some SPD cick'r pedals; these have much weaker springs (about half as stiff) than normal SPDs so release very easily indeed, especially with multi-release cleats.

Note that normal SPD pedals, even on the minimum setting, allow quite vigorous pedalling forces with little danger of accidental release. Many riders never bother with any setting higher than the minimum. The click'r pedals are specifically aimed at riders who ae new to clipless and who are not going to be putting the highest forces through the binding anyway.

cheers

I had my first ride this week on a new pair of FWE pedals to which I have attached conventional toe clips. I suppose it is largely because I’m so used to toeclips, but these were great, my feet slipped in really easily (more easily than with my MKS pedals) even with my slighly problematic shoes (Shimano with slippy nylon cleats). I can see that clipless are easier than clipped-with-tightened-straps, but I don’t tighten my straps, they are very close to the shoes rather than gripping them. I simply use toeclips to keep feet from slipping off the pedals rather than to glue me to them, and my setup does that. I get no pressure on toe issues. I also have no issues riding stop-start-sudden stop in busy traffic or starting off on a steep uphill.