Last night, only a handful of people showed up to ride, due to a passing shower. In this group were three people who purchased bikes from a local LBS within the last two weeks. Usually, there are at least three differnt level rides out of this location. So anyway, me and another guy decide to lead this slower group on a 20 mile ride. All three of the newbies, at some point, fall trying to clip out.
So…
due bike shops usually give some kind of lesson on clipless pedals?
why do they always sell SPD pedals to newbies? IMO, it’s the worst one, with the tiny cleat. I could see all three of them struggling to clip in.
Having purchased my first tri bike in the last year (okay 15 months ago) I can still recall my experience.
I had not ridden on a bike in many years. I trained through the winter on a stationary bike at the gym. When I purchased the bike, I asked for clipless pedals. I really didn’t do any research on what I should have. I was just looking for something not overly expensive. I intended on getting the Shimano PD-R540, but when the bike came in, the pedals were not available and would not be for a few weeks. I had planned on racing within a few weeks, so I figured I needed to start riding on a real bike ASAP. I ended up getting the 6610.
While I was being fitted, the bike fitter explained clipless pedals to me and walked me though clipping in and out. I was uncomfortable at first, because it felt like I was going to break the cleat on the shoe. After some adjustments and him forcing me to clip in and out a few times (I was hesitant, but he wanted me to be comfortable) I started to get the hang of it. He advised me to go out on my street, or at least to an area where there was grass close by and no cars and try it several times before riding long. That’s what I did and I didn’t have any problems. Okay…one problem one time that I got all disoriented and lost my balance and did not unclip out and fell. But it was raining and I should not have been out on the roads. Since that last fall, I have had no issues with clipping in and out.
Just my experience from a local tri shop here in the Toronto area.
my lbs had me clip in a time or two on a trainer at the shop. i really think thats about all that’s needed. beyond telling you what to do and making sure you do it correctly, there’s not much else they can do. after that it’s up to the rider to get out and practice on there own, which usually involves tipping over at least once.
my lbs went over advantages and disadvantages of different types of pedals.
My son clipped in for the first time last night. We put the pedals on his bike, adjusted cleats, talked about it, clipped him in and out several times before we went for a ride, made him repeat a mantra of “Clip out when I stop”. He fell in the driveway on the way out. I only laughed at him because it was in the EXACT spot where I fell clipping in for the first time. He was not amused. He’s doing his first tri this weekend.
Falling over a few times in the first few rides is a clipless right of passage.
Since this typically happens at low (or no) speed, it’s usually no big deal, and pretty funny to watch (and even to have happen to you, as long as ya didn’t get hurt)
<< why do they always sell SPD pedals to newbies? IMO, it’s the worst one, with the tiny cleat. I could see all three of them struggling to clip in. >>
Widest available selection of pedals and shoes to choose from. Particularly at lower price points.
the BEST thing about SPD (or equivalent, I have Ritchey, Wellgo, Icon, Girvin, you name it) is, I can (and do) run it on ALL of my bikes, thereby making all of my shoes and bikes interchangable. This is incredibly convenient.
I’ve been riding clipless for over a decade now (mostly on mtb’s, but more often on my road bike the last coupla years) and I STILL have trouble clipping in on occasion, since the stupid road pedals always seem to hang upside down. Of course, since ya usually only clip in once, at the start of the ride (or bike leg), it’s no biggie.
Spd is good for mt. biking, but I question it as a pedal for thise new with the concept, as I said the cleat is tiny, and I think there are better choices for first timers.
in this case, the LBS had really given them no instruction
yes, I did fall when I first started using clipless
it’s ALWAYS funny to everyone else! especially when one guy fell in the parking lot, his wife laughed the loudest - guess who fell next?
I can’t comment on whether any other clipless system is better or worse for beginners than SPD, since that’s all I experienced as a newbie.
There’s also a difference between somebody who perhaps had ridden for a while, but used clips and straps (that was me, for mebbe a season and a half), as opposed to somebody who has never ridden, or only on flat pedals. Clips and straps teach ya to pull straight back to get out, which of course is absolutely useless for clipless release. I think the learning curve would be shorter for somebody starting from scratch, since they don’t have any “bad habits” in muscle memory to unlearn.
I’ll say it again - the reason an LBS probably sells SPD to a beginner is PRICE. Name any other clipless pedal system that you can buy (a non-Shimano knockoff, like Wellgo, et al.) for under $40, and get shoes to work with it for about the same $?
Keeping the release tension low, and perhaps a schpritz of WD40 on the pedal or cleat makes getting out easy. Maybe TOO easy…
Another clipless newbie trick is to have them click in (say on a trainer) and then take a marker and make a small mark on the inside of the shoe that lines up w/ where the pedal axle is. I found that getting lined up front-to-back can be as hard as side-to-side, and this helps reduce that problem.
I give a quick lesson, but it’s both painful and a waste of my time to hold their hand while they sit there and try. I’ll give them a few pointers while they’re on the trainer gettting fitted and tell them to practice until they’re bored to tears at home. I’ll also set the release tension near the easiest setting.
I never sell anything but TIME ATAC, Egg beaters, or SPD-SL to newbies if I can help it (maybe LOOK). If they have to buy the pedals in addition to the bike, that means that they’re spending $90+ on pedals instead of $50. Also, most bikes that come with clipless come with the cheapes SPD pedal.
I remember when my three daughters were learning to ride their bikes without training wheels and my running along side them holding on to them or their seat while they got the hang of it. I thought I was past this parental rite of passage until my oldest daughter turned 23 and decided to do tris. I had to run along side her holding on to her while she tried to get into her clipless pedals. It’s easier when their four years old.
So I talk my wife into going clipless many moons ago.
She gets them and I tell her to take them to the park and ride around on the grass to practice.
She comes back and complains that its so hard to get out of and I go over the whole heel out twist and explain its something that you just have to get used to. She keeps practicing and complaining.
She and I go for a ride one morning and get to the first stop sign, where she promptly falls right over “I just can’t get my heel out?!”
Ok, so I clip into hers to show her how, “I can’t get my foot out, damn, these are tight” a few cranks with the multi too and we losen them up, she gets back on “Ahhh, no problem” The shop had cracked them about as tight as you can go.
Is it wrong I still giggle about the slow mo fall at the stop sign?
