Clipless Commuters...

Your Pedal Choice for Commuting is...

  • Clipless

    Votes: 1 100.0%
  • Flats + Toeclips

    Votes: 1 100.0%
  • Flats only

    Votes: 1 100.0%

  • Total voters
    1
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levad said:
I use toeclips at the moment but do not have them done up tight. I am thinking of getting some M324's. Do they really make as much difference as people claim, I have a few hills on my commute. Also, why are they called clipless when you are clipped in all the time?

Levad

They should be known as CLIP-IN pedals in my view. For some reason 'clipless' has become the default term for shoes which have a cleat which engages into spring loaded plates on the pedal. They are called clipless because they were originally an alternative to pedals with toe clips. They dont have toe clips on them and became known as clipless as a result. Rubbish.
 

HJ

Cycling in Scotland
Location
Auld Reekie
In my experience they do help me to peddle more smoothly and climb better, and yes I do pull the peddle up.
 

Pete

Guest
biking_fox said:
I must be one of the rarities then. Toe clips all the way.
No, you are not alone. Toe clips for me, for the past 35 years or so. I can wear any shoes I like for the commute and shopping, within reason (trainers with ribbed soles not a good idea), though I use proper hard soled cycling shoes for any distance. Can't get shoe plates these days but that's just something I've accepted. I don't tighten the straps and my feet are perfectly positioned. I have never, ever, had a 'can't-get-foot-off-pedal moment' (I wonder why they're referred to as 'clipless moments'?) and don't expect to.
 

PrettyboyTim

New Member
Location
Brighton
Pete said:
I have never, ever, had a 'can't-get-foot-off-pedal moment' (I wonder why they're referred to as 'clipless moments'?) and don't expect to.

Yes, I was wondering what would have happened if I'd had a clipless setup on my bike rather than toeclips when I had my tumble yesterday. After my knee hit the ground as far as I can tell I was pretty much thrown off the bike and rolled down the road. Nasty graze on my knee from the original contact, but all the other knocks and grazes after that were minor. I wonder if it would have been worse if I had been more securely attached to the bike?
 

gambatte

Middle of the pack...
Location
S Yorks
PrettyboyTim said:
Yes, I was wondering what would have happened if I'd had a clipless setup on my bike rather than toeclips when I had my tumble yesterday. After my knee hit the ground as far as I can tell I was pretty much thrown off the bike and rolled down the road. Nasty graze on my knee from the original contact, but all the other knocks and grazes after that were minor. I wonder if it would have been worse if I had been more securely attached to the bike?

Had regular 'offs' with SPDs and the MTB.
I'm amazed how I've always managed to get unclipped. Don't know how it happens but its strange to find you're suddenly stood at the side of your bike as it slides away.:smile:
 

Pete

Guest
By 'clipless moments' (or whatever) I wasn't referring to falls for other reasons: e.g. slippery surfaces, being hit by something, etc., where you're going to go down and hurt yourself no matter what pedals.

No, I mean falls which happen during normal riding, usually when coming to a stop, and are directly caused by being unable to separate foot from pedal. I've witnessed a few of those but don't want to embarrass anyone by naming names...

In mitigation, this should never happen with an experienced rider who's got accustomed to the pedals.
 

HJ

Cycling in Scotland
Location
Auld Reekie
Pete said:
By 'clipless moments' (or whatever) I wasn't referring to falls for other reasons: e.g. slippery surfaces, being hit by something, etc., where you're going to go down and hurt yourself no matter what pedals.

No, I mean falls which happen during normal riding, usually when coming to a stop, and are directly caused by being unable to separate foot from pedal. I've witnessed a few of those but don't want to embarrass anyone by naming names...

In mitigation, this should never happen with an experienced rider who's got accustomed to the pedals.

It happens to most cyclist who ride clipless at sometime, who are after all only human, usually after a sudden unexpected stop, but I still prefer to use SPDs to rat traps any day.
 

Ranger

New Member
Location
Fife borders
Nearly happened on my first commute with clipless. Most embarrassing thing is that I was stopped at the time with my left foot down and then slowly felt my body tipping to the right. Cue the type of panic I last felt when learning to kayak, lots of twisting of feet and dabbed down just in time:thumbsup:

Plenty of time on the way home to fall over properly
 

gambatte

Middle of the pack...
Location
S Yorks
Ranger said:
Cue the type of panic I last felt when learning to kayak
Usually after you’ve got through the white water, started to relax and you inadvertently hit the eddy current?:smile:
 

noggin

New Member
flats toeclips fro commuting for me

go through city centre with loads of daft peds walking out infront of me and at least 23 sets of lights (in 6 miles)
clipless be of no benefit to me

the few times I take the road bike to work I really don't enjoy the commute
 

Elmer Fudd

Miserable Old Bar Steward
Can I Be thick here (no change there then!) Just how do clipless work ? Do you "snap" the cleat in and out, or is it like a twisting motion ?

Say I bought some dual pedals, say shimano spd's one side, flats the other, does this mean I am locked in to buying shimano shoes or could I buy any make as long as they accept spd cleats?

I've only ever ridden with flats + toe clips.
 

doyler78

Well-Known Member
Location
Co Down, Ireland
Elmer Fudd said:
Can I Be thick here (no change there then!) Just how do clipless work ? Do you "snap" the cleat in and out, or is it like a twisting motion ?

Say I bought some dual pedals, say shimano spd's one side, flats the other, does this mean I am locked in to buying shimano shoes or could I buy any make as long as they accept spd cleats?

I've only ever ridden with flats + toe clips.

Basically there is a raised bit on the bottom of the shoe (this comes with the pedals and not the shoes which you bolt on to the shoe) that you push (or clip) into a recess in the pedal (binding). Some pedals are dual sided, some single sided and yet others are flat one side and clip-in the other side.

SPD's are a specific type of clip-in pedal which is generally considered a mountain bike pedal because this was the market these were created for and the major market that still uses them. Unrecessed clip-in are very slippy and hard to walk in and therefore not good for anyone needing to do a bit of walking off the bike without a change of shoes. For this reason many commuters will use spd's because of their versatility.

You may ask then why everyone doesn't use them for clipless systems. Well they have a much smaller cleat which means the loading on the foot isn't spread as widely therefore on longer rides some people experience hotspots which can be painful and make cycling difficult therefore those on long hard rides who are forcing every ounce out of each pedal stroke will opt for the wider cleat systems which aren't recessed as they have no plans to do any serious walking as this will help spread the load and thus avoid the problem with hotspots aiding performance.

SPD (Shimano Pedalling Dynamic) whilst it bears the name Shimano is widely known clipless system which many manufacturers now make compatible shoes for therefore you are not bound to buy shimano shoes (which for some of us are just too narrow to be comfortable), indeed I have specialized body geometry sport mtb shoes to use with my shimano pd-m324 (dual purpose) pedal (ie as you describe - flat one side, spd binding the otherside).

In order to release yourself from the pedals once clipped in you simple twist your foot outwards and they will release. Most pedals (if not all now) have tension setters which allows the beginner to set them loosely so they can break free easily whilst they get used to twisting out and as cleats wear so the tension needs to be increased to prevent accidental unclipping which could be dangerous (but then again no more dangerous than toe clips which are too tight). Whilst convention is that you should twist outwards for some people, such as myself you have foot probs, twisting outwards may not be an option therefore multi-release cleats can be purchased for most pedals which allow you to twist inwards or outwards as well as pull sharply upwards to release - all these options obviously increase the chance of accidental unclipping therefore tension monitoring will be more important as cleats wear so that this doesn't happen.

Hope that sort of answers your questions.
 

Elmer Fudd

Miserable Old Bar Steward
Thanks doyler78, I was thinking of the m324s so to start with I could use my left foot on the flat side until I can get used to the unclipping action with my right foot !

Sadly Xmas comes 1st though !
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
SPD is the business for commuting, lot's of traffic lights etc. no problem. I never ride a bike without being clipped in - you just can't give it all. Road bikes - I use Looks, OK for commuting where you don't have high instance of stops. SPD are excellent for lots of start / stops.

Double sided SPD's... the commuters friend !!!
 
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