How do you unclip (SPD's) on a steep hill????

[Mick F]

Throw your heel sideways at the very bottom of the pedal stroke.

It is a 'learned' thing. Practice by doing 'track-stands' on a gradient, unclipping and clipping in.

+1

Eventually it becomes second nature.

[TonyR]

Never had a problem. But then it maybe because I realise that falling over in those circumstances is a slow affair after you come to a stop so no need to panic. You are effectively doing a short track stand before you start to slowly keel over. That means you have plenty of time with the pressure off the pedals to unclip. Normally you would need pressure on the pedals to stop the bike rolling back on a steep hill but allow the brakes to do that for you. So as you come to a stall, brakes on, pressure off pedal, unclip, sorted.

[[XAP]Bob]

I just put the handbrake on and sit there...

Oh, on two wheels - just make sure that swinging your heel outwards is the default "Oh bother" action.

[thirdcrank]

I can't say I've ever had a problem, possibly due to a combination of fully-loosened cleats and a grim determination not to stop when climbing (aided more by ever-lower gears, rather than strong legs. ) I did the slo-mo fall once: first time out on a new bike and first time with SPDs. Changed onto inner ring at bottom of hill and chain came off (shop hadn't set it up right and I hadn't checked.) A bit of fast pedalling with me thinking that it really was a nice low gear (first time with a triple) when I keeled over. Luckily, way out in the sticks so my embarrassment went unwitnessed.

[7_lives_left]

Island girl,
Are your cleats or pedals worn at all?

I have used cleats, shoes and pedals that have heavily worn and found that I was having difficulty unclipping in a hurry. I use the type of shoe with the cleats recessed but, the sole wears and then you are walking on the cleats. Then the cleat wears and it doesn't disengage as well as it should. You start noticing this when you want to unclip in a hurry on a hill.

I am always suprised how much easier it is to unclip with a new pair of shoes/cleats. Might be worth checking for wear.

[Audax67]

Another thing is to learn to throw one heel or the other out as appropriate rather than always the same one. There's nothing looks (& feels) as daft as unclipping the left foot and falling over to the right.

[Jonty]

Another suggestion is simply to simply to have a lower lowest gear so that you can keep pedalling.
jonty

[Ayesha]

Another suggestion is simply to simply to have a lower lowest gear so that you can keep pedalling.
jonty

I notice you are from Leic'.

I rode Leic' CC's 'Rutland and beyond' as an early season warmer.
The info said it had 1290m of climbing.

The weather forecast said 'Showery' and 'Gusty', so I rode a slicked-up MTB and fitted the OE 11 - 32 cassette. The inner ring is 24.

Agreed, being able to keep pedaling does reduce the risk of embarrasment

[The Mechanic]

Another thing is to learn to throw one heel or the other out as appropriate rather than always the same one. There's nothing looks (& feels) as daft as unclipping the left foot and falling over to the right.

Been there, done that!

[Jonty]

Another suggestion is simply to simply to have a lower lowest gear so that you can keep pedalling.
jonty

I notice you are from Leic'.

I rode Leic' CC's 'Rutland and beyond' as an early season warmer.
The info said it had 1290m of climbing.

The weather forecast said 'Showery' and 'Gusty', so I rode a slicked-up MTB and fitted the OE 11 - 32 cassette. The inner ring is 24.

Agreed, being able to keep pedaling does reduce the risk of embarrasment

Many people think that Leicestershire and Rutland are flat - they aren't. The hills aren't long but by golly they are steep and there's lots of them.
jonty

[squeaker]

Hi, does anyone know how to unclip ( from SPD's) on a steep hill.

Er, quickly?
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where did I leave my coat?

[zoxed]

I think the secret is a) not wait until the absolute last second b) unclip your weaker leg whilst the stronger leg is pushing down to keep the bike moving forward and hence balanced c) pray that the unclip foot is on the ground before the strong leg has ended it's power cycle

[stoobs]

I gave this advice once before and many moons ago, but SPDs tend to not want to unclip when you're pulling up.

The way that I got round this initially until it becomes second nature is to firstly anticipate when you're going to stop (and NOT wait until the last minute in the grim hope that you'll keep going), and more importantly to push down and out with your heel, wherever it is in the stroke. Focusing on your heel rather than on the cleat gives you a better chance of success.

[Ayesha]

Another suggestion is simply to simply to have a lower lowest gear so that you can keep pedalling.
jonty

I notice you are from Leic'.

I rode Leic' CC's 'Rutland and beyond' as an early season warmer.
The info said it had 1290m of climbing.

The weather forecast said 'Showery' and 'Gusty', so I rode a slicked-up MTB and fitted the OE 11 - 32 cassette. The inner ring is 24.

Agreed, being able to keep pedaling does reduce the risk of embarrasment

Many people think that Leicestershire and Rutland are flat - they aren't. The hills aren't long but by golly they are steep and there's lots of them.
jonty

Oakham to Lutterworth almost killed me.... It was 230 - 275 into a 300km Audax Midmesh.

[CJ]

I gave this advice once before and many moons ago, but SPDs tend to not want to unclip when you're pulling up.

I think you've got something there. It could explain why anxiety about unclipping correllates with actual difficulty, if in the urgency to get that shoe off the pedal, the rider can't help pulling up at the same time as they twist. Or perhaps they're pulling backwards, like we used to do when we had toeclips? Since the mechanism by which the cleat releases involves a pointy bit, or cam, on the rear of the cleat moving sideways relative to the pedal, so as to wedge open the binding, pulling backwards may increase the friction between cam and binding.

As it happens, I know someone who has this difficulty (in spite of minimum tension and "M" cleats, due to an impaired left leg) so I've just taken her left shoe out to the garage and tried it on the bike. It clips in and out very easily indeed, by hand, with only slight pressure. Pulling up on the shoe also releases it easily (she never pulls up with that leg - I don't think she can). Pulling up whilst twisting releases just as easily, likewise pushing forward or back, whilst twisting in either direction. I can't honestly detect any difficulty at all in getting this shoe off the pedal - no matter what I do! But I''ve noticed that she always has the left pedal at the top of the stroke when she goes to release it - whereas I'm just as likely to release at the bottom, half a turn of the cranks from stopping.

Comparing how far I can twist my foot with my leg straight and with a bent knee, I find that I can twist it a lot further when my leg is straight - and with more torque. So factoring the impairment of this leg, it seems possible that she simply can't twist her foot far enough (or with any force at all) when it's in the position where she naturally wants to release it. I must look into that some more - although there might not be much we can do about it. After all: if one is about to put one's left foot to the floor it is natural to transfer weight to the right pedal, so the left pedal will be up.