So I'm not leaving shoes clipped in out of T1

Triathlon Forum
1

I currently use a road bike and road shoes for all tris, and thus cannot leave shoes clipped in and wiggle in at the start of the bike (I’ve tried). I’ll be getting my tri bike soon and thinking about pedal systems.

Those who have conceded they don’t want to risk a fall for the time savings, do you use a dual entry pedal like Speedplay or egg beaters so the T1 mount is easier/smoother?

I use Ultegra SPD-SLs on my road bike and like them a lot. I know many of you use those or the DA ones, and I think it would make my life simple to use the same pedal system so I can hop on the tri bike with my road shoes for regular traning, and leave the tri shoes for races/race preperation.

Its just that the single sided entry poses a problem for me in a race. Many times at the T1 mount line, my pedal slips around and stuff - enough for me to consider dual entry.

Those who use the dual entry, is it for this purpose or is it you just prefer the pedal itself?

My current intention is to get the Ultegras on new ride and just learn the preclipped mount - that way single/double entry doesn’t much matter, but I wonder if the learning curve becomes too much of a hassle for a small amount of gain (for me - MOP).

2

I can’t see the problem with normal one sided clipless pedals for tri. You just clip in like you would at the start of any road ride. Don’t panic - just clip one foot in at a time. If you jump on and scramble for both pedals at once, then I can see it will go wrong.

Keep it simple and use the pedals you are used to is my advice.

3

dual entry is definitely easier if you aren’t going to get into your shoes on the bike but with practice you will probably be able to get into any pedal smoothly. I use Speedplays on my road bike and recently switched to the Ultegra on my tri bike as they hold the shoe more securely while I put it on after T1 and take it off before T2.