Gone clipless

[cyberknight]

Just ordered myself a set of shimano m520 spd pedals, the arrive tomorrow, and i will fit them tomorrow...hope i manage to fit them myself

15 mm spanner is all you need , remember to turn each side towards the rear wheel as each side screws on the opposite way round and i normally end up holding the other crank arm to keep it still as i apply pressure.
You will fall over at some point but with practise you can unclip at nearly a stand still with practise.

 

[MattHB]

It's not compulsory to have a clipless moment.

I've done 2500 miles clipless now, pleasure rides/training/commuting and no clipless moments. I've a few nearlies, but I've always got out. I use SH56 cleats which allow release in any twist direction, not just heal-out, so the natural motion of getting my feet out in a panic always seems to result in getting out.

 

[ianrauk]

It's not compulsory to have a clipless moment.

Indeed.. 6 years down the line and many thousands of miles later and I have never had a clipless moment. Had a couple of 'nearlys' though.

 

[SoloCyclist]

15 mm spanner is all you need , remember to turn each side towards the rear wheel as each side screws on the opposite way round and i normally end up holding the other crank arm to keep it still as i apply pressure.
You will fall over at some point but with practise you can unclip at nearly a stand still with practise.

Does towards the rear wheel not loosen the pedals?

 

[cyberknight]

Does towards the rear wheel not loosen the pedals?

Yeah i was assuming that they need to take the old ones off 1st, then tighten towards the front wheel.the joys of trying to post with screaming kids

 

[SoloCyclist]

I had to take mine off to take them to Spain as I hire a bike over there. I use the pedals from my commuter which sees all weathers and even with proper grease applied last year I still had problems getting them off. If they are tight you will need an extended spanner and I had to use a broom handle to resist the pedal on the frame (stop them turning ) once. I took over from my friend who does his bike mechanic as I wouldn't want him blaming himself if anything broke or stripped. You really have to know when to stop as brute force seldom is the answer. It's probably a good idea to remove the pedals periodically through the year and re-grease them before it reaches that stage though..... but I know I won't

 

[Andy_R]

As TonyD said, copaslip (not copperslip!). It's an anti seize compound as opposed to a grease. Grease is essentially oil in soap, and it washes out. Anti seize compounds use soft metals which act as an interface between threads. HOWEVER, I'm sure someone will come along and correct me!

 

[Accy cyclist]

I have these beauties http://www.evanscycles.com/products/mks/steel-toe-clips-ec023224 attached to my old Carrera general use, pub bike. I can wear any reasonable shoes with them, so i can have a stroll or a pint without wearing cycle shoes. I'm sentimental about the old days of cycling, when the likes of Merckx won the TDF in less than these! If you want to go faster spds(i have them on my other bike)are the thing to have, but if you like a bit of style and tradition then steel clips are !

 

[wisdom]

Well i have to report that all went very well indeed.Much better than i expected and with just a few moments.
I hve found it a bit more difficult in some areas as there is a lot of traffic both pedestrian and motorised due to the open golf.Still it was good practice for clipping in and out.
One thing that seems to slow me down is the setting off in traffic at lights etc.I sometimes miss the clip in on the first attempt.It seems difficult to recover as when i had my toe clips on if i missed at least i could get across the lights with the pedal upside down then re try.
There seems no second chance with the cleats.
However i am sure with practice it will get better.
So to sum it up its been a very good start and seem so much easier to keep the power on.

 

[SoloCyclist]

Taking off from traffic lights (or anywhere for that matter) involves just tapping the pedal with your toe and continuing straight through with the motion. The reason we all miss at lights I'm sure is the pressure we put on ourselves because we want to get it right and not look stupid in front of some impatient driver. When we think too much about the movement that's when we miss. Just my theory.