Difficulty getting "un-clipped"......any suggestions

[Dave7]

The road bike I had stolen had what I call standard Shimano clip-in pedals (I think they called egg beaters?).
My shoes are Shimano with Shimano cleats.
I had no problem getting unclipped.

My new bike has Shimano pedals which have Shimano Deore clips on one side and are flat on the reverse (don't ask...........I thought it was a good idea at the time )
I find it extremely difficult getting unclipped. On a couple of occassions I nearly came off when having to brake suddenly and struggled to unclip.
It is the same on both pedals.

There is one hex head screw which turns left to - and right to + and these are fully turned to the left (-).

Any suggestions ??

 

[Arjimlad]

I started to have fun with this then found a cleat screw had fallen out on my left shoe !

Practice ?

Lubrication of the pedal clips ?

 

[Milkfloat]

Keep working at at - new spds take a while to wear in. You could try a bit of lubricant, but I am not sure it will help much. Did you also fit the new cleats to the shoes? The new cleats will also have less wear so they won't be so loose.

 

[Tim Hall]

A drop (and just a drop) of oil on the cleats may help. And make sure the cleats are fixed tightly to the shoes, so that when you twist to release, all the twisting energy is doing something useful.

 

[Dommo]

Egg Beaters are actually Crank Bros and not Shimano... I use these and love them. The cleats are reversible to allow a different amount of float to allow easier unclipping. I suspect you just had normal SPDs which might have a similar concept... I'll let a spud-expert comment on that one! Either way, it's about the cleats...

 

[Dave7]

Keep working at at - new spds take a while to wear in. You could try a bit of lubricant, but I am not sure it will help much. Did you also fit the new cleats to the shoes? The new cleats will also have less wear so they won't be so loose.

There were no new cleats...........should there be ?
They are not too loose.........they are too tight ?

 

[Dave7]

A drop (and just a drop) of oil on the cleats may help. And make sure the cleats are fixed tightly to the shoes, so that when you twist to release, all the twisting energy is doing something useful.

I will try the oil.
Cleats are very tight.........can't detect any give at all.

 

[Milkfloat]

New pedals (certainly Shimano) will come with a fresh set of cleats. Did the pedals come with the bike or did you buy them as extras?

 

[vickster]

Are the pedals on the loosest setting?

 

[e-rider]

with the allen screw all the way to -ve (if that really is the case) they should be too easy to get out of, so something isn't correct. Do the cleats match the pedals? Are the cleats tightly screwed onto the shoe?

 

[mythste]

Is there any lateral movement available before it unclips? If so, it's probably the cleat moving.

If not, a drop of WD40 into the spring mechanism (or other oil as recommended) should sort it right out.

I went weeks banging my knee on the top tube trying to unclip when all I needed was a little lubing up!

 

[jazzkat]

Is there any lateral movement available before it unclips? If so, it's probably the cleat moving.

If not, a drop of WD40 into the spring mechanism (or other oil as recommended) should sort it right out.

I went weeks banging my knee on the top tube trying to unclip when all I needed was a little lubing up!

This!
If I neglect to lube the springy bit on the pedal, as mythste above has said - one drop on each pivot, then it can get tough to unclip.
I wouldn't oil the actual cleat, just the pedal mechanism,

 

[Drago]

Wind the tension all the way to " - "until there are a few miles on the pedals and cleats, then you can set the tension to a more realistic level once they're bedded in (I run about 1/3 - 1/2 tension). Keep them clean and moderately well lubed and they'' soon be nice and slick.

 

[Dave7]

New pedals (certainly Shimano) will come with a fresh set of cleats. Did the pedals come with the bike or did you buy them as extras?

They sort of came with the bike.........as in the bike comes without pedals so I chose them as "extras".

 

[Dave7]

Are the pedals on the loosest setting?

I think so...........as I say.......there is a + and a - and I have the hex screw turned all the way to the -
Is it possible I have it wrong and it should be all the way to the + ???