Keep coming off my road bike!

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Bazzer

Bazzer

Setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
Location
On the edge of reality
Don't set yourself a date or allow others to pressurise you into setting one. It's when you feel comfortable with the bike and how it and you react in various road conditions.
 
OP
OP
Doobiesis

Doobiesis

Über Member
Location
Poole Dorset
Bazzer said:
Don't set yourself a date or allow others to pressurise you into setting one. It's when you feel comfortable with the bike and how it and you react in various road conditions.
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I still find it so different to my trusty hybrid. Even getting out of the saddle for hill climbs feels alien to me. I will take your advice, I guess I'll know when I'm ready. :smile:
 
Pale Rider

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Racing roadkill said:
That's exactly it. There was a complete load of old borlax 'experiment' carried out by an SPD refusenik cycle journo type, doing the rounds a while back. The advantages of SPD on the actual road, are obvious. If there was no difference, the Pro teams wouldn't bother using SPDs. They do, you do the maths.
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The main reason pro teams use clipless is because they ride at such high cadence if they weren't clipped in, the rider's feet would fly off the pedals.

There is virtually no power or speed benefit - unless clipless allows you to pedal faster than you otherwise can.

I'm guessing the OP does not spin so fast as to have problems keeping her feet on the pedals.

I'm not saying no recreational rider should use clipless, some like the feel of being clipped in, which is reason enough.
 
OP
OP
Doobiesis

Doobiesis

Über Member
Location
Poole Dorset
I'm gonna loosen them right up seems I had them to locked in anyway as I was literally having to force my foot out of them. Cycled out in the rain today and think my confidence is coming back :smile:
 
bikeman66

bikeman66

Senior Member
Location
Isle of Wight
Doobiesis said:
Thanks for all your replies, I will carry on with the road bike for a few months and I will try again with clips as they cost me a lot! I'd rather be clipped in as when I have managed a ride with them I flew!

I got to the point I was very confident on my hybrid and guessed it would just carry over. Big learning curve for me. :smile:
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Hi Doobiesis, Agree with some of the other contributors to this thread, that it is perhaps a good idea to ride with flat pedals for a while to get your confidence back. After all, cycling is supposed to be a leisure activity, not a chore and certainly not something to cause you anxiety.

I bought my first road bike for 30 years in September last year, having been more in to mountain bikes for the previous 20. I found the road bike really twitchy to start with and certainly didn't feel 100% safe for a while, so I can totally understand how the hybrid/road bike change over might affect your confidence. I was lucky, I suppose, that I was already used to using cliless pedals on the MTB, so that side of things wasn't a massive issue, but the totally different feel and handling of the bike certainly was!

I would suggest that clipless pedals give you a more efficient pedalling action, mainly due to the stiffer soled shoes, so it's definitely worth aiming towards using them again some time, but don't put yourself under pressure.

Back the tension off on the pedals when you start using them again, and practice the engaging/disengaging action whilst holding on to a wall or handrail. The more your confidence grows the more the in/out action will become second nature. Soon enough you'll be able to release from the pedal in an instant and just enjoy the benefit they give you, rather than worrying about the situation.

Enjoy your cycling and don't put a schedule on using the clipless pedals. It's when it feels right for you! Let us know how things go.
 
gmw492

gmw492

Veteran
Hi,have you tried loosening the clips so your not bolted in as much,I have mine not too tight,also might sound strange but could help,have you tried putting your bike on a turbo trainer? Just give you a bit of a feel to the geometry of your bike,you can get out the saddle and get the feel of the pedals a lot more clipping in and out,I know it's not the same as the road but might help in towards confidence of riding the bike more ,just a thought hope it goes well on the road for you :okay: Although I think this has been mentioned previously in your post
 
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zizou

zizou

Veteran
Some people just don't get on with clipless pedals and there is no shame in that. However i would recommend that you persevere a little longer (perhaps find an empty carpark and go round that practicing clipping out and in - it wont be the most interesting of rides but it will help get you used to the action). It's one of those things that once you learn to do becomes so much easier simply because you no longer have to think about doing it.

Pale Rider said:
The main reason pro teams use clipless is because they ride at such high cadence if they weren't clipped in, the rider's feet would fly off the pedals.
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That's just wrong - a pro riders cadence is not remarkably different to that of an amateur.
 
Pale Rider

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
zizou said:
Some people just don't get on with clipless pedals and there is no shame in that. However i would recommend that you persevere a little longer (perhaps find an empty carpark and go round that practicing clipping out and in - it wont be the most interesting of rides but it will help get you used to the action). It's one of those things that once you learn to do becomes so much easier simply because you no longer have to think about doing it.



That's just wrong - a pro riders cadence is not remarkably different to that of an amateur.
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OK, so where does the extra power from clipless come from?

If I fit clipless to my bike, does it make my legs any stronger?

Of course not.

So perhaps clipless gives extra power by pulling up on the down pedal.

That doesn't stand up to scrutiny either.

Given the amount of grunt pushing down on the pedal gives, pulling up with the other leg will not add significantly to the power or momentum of the pedal revolution.

Another thing to consider is the power of your leg.

You have lots of power pushing down, but very little lifting up - I could rest my hand on your instep on the ground and you couldn't lift your foot.

What you could do is kick forward - good power there - but it doesn't help in a cycling application.

I accept being clipped in will produce a tiny amount of extra power which could make half a wheel's difference to Froomey in a sprint finish.

Critical for him - it's the difference between winning and losing.

But it's barely measurable for the rest of us.

As I said, that's not to say no amateur should use clipless.

Clipless is a good solution for any rider who has problems with feet flying off the pedals.

Lots of riders like the feel of being connected to the bike, we all cycle more efficiently when we are happiest, so that's another reason to use clipless.
 
bikeman66

bikeman66

Senior Member
Location
Isle of Wight
Pale Rider said:
OK, so where does the extra power from clipless come from?

If I fit clipless to my bike, does it make my legs any stronger?

Of course not.

So perhaps clipless gives extra power by pulling up on the down pedal.

That doesn't stand up to scrutiny either.

Given the amount of grunt pushing down on the pedal gives, pulling up with the other leg will not add significantly to the power or momentum of the pedal revolution.

Another thing to consider is the power of your leg.

You have lots of power pushing down, but very little lifting up - I could rest my hand on your instep on the ground and you couldn't lift your foot.

What you could do is kick forward - good power there - but it doesn't help in a cycling application.

I accept being clipped in will produce a tiny amount of extra power which could make half a wheel's difference to Froomey in a sprint finish.

Critical for him - it's the difference between winning and losing.

But it's barely measurable for the rest of us.

As I said, that's not to say no amateur should use clipless.

Clipless is a good solution for any rider who has problems with feet flying off the pedals.

Lots of riders like the feel of being connected to the bike, we all cycle more efficiently when we are happiest, so that's another reason to use clipless.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't claim that the legs generate more power just because your feet are clipped in. But there is no denying that a decent pair of cycling shoes, which obviously, are most commonly used in combination with clipless pedals, will give you a more efficient transfer of any power your legs do generate to the bike. The soles of trainers and other similar footwear will deflect over the pedal when force is applied, effectively sucking some of that energy out of the pedal stroke. Stiff soled cycle shoes, obviously, are designed to if not eliminate, but certainly to minimise this loss.
 
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