Are spd's easy to use??
- Thread starter rojo
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BarneyRubble
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rojo":1xyyemyw said:
The pedal has a tension screw that basically winds the spring in the pedal up to make it grip the cleat more tightly making it harder to clip in/out. I have always ridden with a fairly light tension as I like to get my foot out easily, although it is personal preference.
In terms of falling off not hurting, I think Velomaniac missed my point. How much you hurt yourself when falling off is almost always a factor of the speed at which you are travelling. The main time that being clipped in will CAUSE an accident is when you forget you are clipped in, which tends to be as you come to a halt. Because you are going slowly more often than not you will only end up with bruised pride and perhaps an elbow or hip.
I know that falling off at speed hurts having broken my collar bone and splitting my shoulder blade in separate spills, but both were caused by my being hungover and lacking concentration - not SPD's
BarneyRubble
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rojo":7edbq3jb said:
If you are starting out on the road then I would say it's even more important to practice somewhere without traffic etc before you head out onto the streets. You can get one sided SPD's that allow you to use normal shoes if youjust want to hop on the bike and go without the worry. You can then practice when you are somewhere quiet or off road. Bit of a pain once you are experienced though as you will will sometimes have to flip the pedal round making clipping in slower.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=5937
Not cheap, but you might find some on Ebay etc
rojo":plugqnqv said:
The only advice I can give is just get some pedals and shoes and go for it.
Start off with the tension set low and ride somewhere like a park or a field and practice clipping and unclipping lots, and obviously, do this with both feet. Just keep doing it until it starts to feel natural, which, if you've only ever ridden with flat pedals and with no toe clips and straps might take a little while. Practice unclipping and re-clipping on the move, like you would have to do for a quick dab on a rock or something.
I'd bet you'll find that it's nowhere near as hard to get used to as you thought.
Once you get more confidence then you'll probably want to increase the tension a bit, as in my opinion too low a tension is at least as bad as too high, as you'll unintentionally pull your foot out on the upstroke or even on bumpy sections of trail when you least need (and expect :roll: ) it....
As far as setting up the cleats on your shoes goes - you want to pay attention to the angle that your foot naturally adopts. Sit on the edge of a table or high stool and just let your feet hang naturally and check whether one or both face in or out . If so, you need to fix the cleats to reflect this positioning.
Cleats further forward generally let you spin better and further backwards might give you a little more power and maybe will make you feel more "in" the bike when you're out of the saddle on technical stuff and drops. Directly under the ball of the foot is where I'd start and work from there.
BTW, every time that I've collided with something or crashed at any speed I've never stayed attached to the bike - we've always gone our own separate ways :roll:
