Keep coming off my road bike!

[Berk on a Bike]

If @ColinJ was quick enough he might post this >>>

View: http://youtu.be/rPjbDIULqqw?t=1m26s

SPD pedals are from 1m 26s in.

 

[axwj29]

Thank you Berk, I'm going to try loosening mine a wee bit.

 

[Trickedem]

On my first mountain bike with spds my kids used to ride deliberately slowly in front of me so I would fall off. (They told me this years later). I had the spds set far to tight on reflection. I would second the advice to get multi release cleats and have them very loose. I love spds now, simply because it ensures my feet are in the right place on the pedal.

just to clarify...the pedal spd release is very loose. The cleats are very firmly attached to the shoe.

 

[ColinJ]

Right, well here is an important tip that hasn't been mentioned yet ...

Make sure that you loosen both sides of both pedals! I forgot to do one side of one pedal once and got my foot stuck ...

 

[Bazzer]

Perhaps too much change all of a sudden?
I started using a Cannondale Synapse last year after >20 years of riding a heavy steel hybrid. I quickly found that the bike is so skittish (to me at least), after years of riding something that battered its way along the highways and byways. As my hybrid had and still has toe clips, I left on the cheap pedals and toe clips provided with the Cannondale for a couple of months, while the Cannondale and I got to know each other a little better. Then I added SPDs.
If my hybrid had been fitted with standard pedals, the toe clips would have been removed on the Cannondale.

 

[vickster]

So I loosen the pedal?

What pedals do you have if you spent £180 on the shoes?! Ate they road or the MTB style pedals? If road, the adjustment might be different. If the MTB type, don't forget to loosen both sides of the pedal as Colin says

 

[Arjimlad]

I used to have half-toeclips on my university commuting bike and they were rather good. Might be a good halfway house to get your confidence back whilst keeping your feet in the right place on the pedals ?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/mks-half-deep-section-toe-clip/

Well done for keeping at it and GWS !

 

[sannesley]

i have been into cycling for little over a year now, I recently swapped my trusty hybrid for a super slick Specialized Dolce Sport road bike. I have had this for two months and have managed to come off it 5 times in that time.

It's knocked my confidence somewhat. My last crash was spectacular and I fractured my wrist and tore a tendon in my thumb. I'm too scared to go back out now, and the fact I'd rather do a 40 mile road route on my hybrid sort of tells you something.

I've just put my roadie in for a service and to fix the problems from my last accident and have told them to put the original pedals back on and take the SPD pedals off for a bit. 4/5 of my accidents were due to not clipping out in time. And I'm hoping to be a bit more confident to venture out and get used to the massive difference between a sturdy hybrid and a lightweight road bike.

Is this normal? I was so eager to get out on my road bike I didn't think for a minute I'd have so many problems with the transition. Has anyone else had these problems? If so, will it ever get better!

I've just got a place in the London 100 and obviously need to train using all my gear.

This sounds exactly like my experiences with clip in SPD pedals on my hybrid. The first 4 or 5 times I went out with them on my hybrid I fell over badly and like you my confidence was dented and it scard me a bit. Like you I seemed to have issues with the transition as well. But as has been previously said it is a learning curve and putting in the miles with them after a while it becomes second nature (so they say). I changed to a road bike last November and it came with toe clips so I've been working with them while I get used to the new bike and the STI shifters. I can't blame you for ditching the pedals for a while as your injuries sound realy painful.

Once I get the hang of the shifters I'll tentatively try the pedals as well and see how it goes!! Hopefully you get your confidence back and get out again and enjoy your bike. (",)

 

[sannesley]

But its not all about speed gains, the gains to me are more than speed really, more a security thing, with feet in contact with the pedal and not slipping, I hate that.

See Nigel for me the security thing is the complete opposite. I dont seem to have issues with my feet slipping and I like the security of knowing that I can take my feet off the pedals with no problem and come to a safe and controlled stop. With the SPDs I still have this niggling feeling that I'm going to collapse in a heap if I don't manage to get my feet out in time. As I've already said it si a learning curve and over time I hope for the SPDs getting in and out of them to become natural!!

 

[Nigelnaturist]

See Nigel for me the security thing is the complete opposite. I dont seem to have issues with my feet slipping and I like the security of knowing that I can take my feet off the pedals with no problem and come to a safe and controlled stop. With the SPDs I still have this niggling feeling that I'm going to collapse in a heap if I don't manage to get my feet out in time. As I've already said it si a learning curve and over time I hope for the SPDs getting in and out of them to become natural!!

These days I can be almost at a stand still before I un-clip (still cant track stand), it does get better to the point you don't think about it, you just do, both sets of pedals I have I can use both sides one being dual sided though very slippery in the shoes I wear, the other is purely one side but I can use the use to either get going (if needed) or to cover the short distance from the house to the road.

 

[Doobiesis]

This sounds exactly like my experiences with clip in SPD pedals on my hybrid. The first 4 or 5 times I went out with them on my hybrid I fell over badly and like you my confidence was dented and it scard me a bit. Like you I seemed to have issues with the transition as well. But as has been previously said it is a learning curve and putting in the miles with them after a while it becomes second nature (so they say). I changed to a road bike last November and it came with toe clips so I've been working with them while I get used to the new bike and the STI shifters. I can't blame you for ditching the pedals for a while as your injuries sound realy painful.

Once I get the hang of the shifters I'll tentatively try the pedals as well and see how it goes!! Hopefully you get your confidence back and get out again and enjoy your bike. (",)

It's so true, got my bike back from bike shop yesterday and they'd fixed all the problems and out the normal pedals back on. I'm gonna head out next weekend as my wrist is still a bit sore. It doesn't fill me with dread using the normal pedals so I should be ok.

I was nice to hear it wasn't just me having SPD issues!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

@Doobiesis

SH56 cleats = no more clipless moments.

 

[vickster]

Are we 100% sure she has spd given how much she paid for the shoes. Normally high end road shoes are the £180 she paid

@Doobiesis what are the shoes and pedals?

 

[Doobiesis]

Are we 100% sure she has spd given how much she paid for the shoes. Normally high end road shoes are the £180 she paid

@Doobiesis what are the shoes and pedals?

I am in SPD clips on my Road Bike.

Specialized carbon shoes.

 

[vickster]

So mountain bike 2 bolt cleats?
Learn something new, didn't know one could get carbon soled spd shoes as opposed to road spd-sl 3 bolt shoes