SPD advice??

[Wolf]

For anyone who can still remember their first experiences with SPD...

I currently use traditional toe clips. However having ridden on a couple of introductory rides, I noticed most people using clipless shoes.

So I have just bought some SPD shoes (Shimano M087) along with SPD pedals (Shimano A520 touring pedals). I would like to use these on the C run this coming Sunday.

I have been told to expect to fall off a few times, as I may not release the shoes from the pedals in time when I stop.

However I've immediately found the opposite problem! I can't seem to quickly and easily get the shoes clipped in!! Spent ages last night just trying to engage my feet with very little success

Any advice / tips? Watching everyone else they seem to do this effortlessly. So I must be missing something very very simple here!

[Ed Moss]

Most of us started with toe clips and had the same problems as you.
Practice Practice Practice Practice and soon you won't even notice or think about what you are doing.
I haven't used your type of pedal but usually it's front bit in then stamp down for the rear bit.

[AlanW]

For anyone who can still remember their first experiences with SPD...

I currently use traditional toe clips. However having ridden on a couple of introductory rides, I noticed most people using clipless shoes.

So I have just bought some SPD shoes (Shimano M087) along with SPD pedals (Shimano A520 touring pedals). I would like to use these on the C run this coming Sunday.

I have been told to expect to fall off a few times, as I may not release the shoes from the pedals in time when I stop.

However I've immediately found the opposite problem! I can't seem to quickly and easily get the shoes clipped in!! Spent ages last night just trying to engage my feet with very little success

Any advice / tips? Watching everyone else they seem to do this effortlessly. So I must be missing something very very simple here!

Hi Colin

My first suggestion would be to check the tension of the "clamps" on the SPD pedals. If you look at the pedals you will see a little grub screw adjacent to the clamp assembly. If they are double sided pedals then there will be one grub screw on either side of the pedal. These need to be wound right off until you get used to them really.

However, as a consequence of having these grubs screws wound right off, while it is easy to clip in, equally so it is a bit to easy to unclip out, such as climbing a steep hill out of the saddle. So you may care to bare that in mind!

As for the actual technique, and depending on which foot you normally put on the floor first when you stop, but lets assume that its your left foot.

Before you start you can clip you right foot in therefore you only need to worry about clipping in your left foot once you are on the move.

Effectively you then pedal "one legged" with just your right foot until you can locate the other foot in the pedal. At most it will only be a couple of pedal revolutions and with the momentum of the bike going forward its easy enough. But don't look down while your doing it, in case the person or vehicle in front has stopped!! Its a bit like the learner driver changing gear, there is no need to look at the gear stick every time you change gear.

When going to engage the shoe into the pedal, tilt the shoe forward so that the leading edge of the cleat on the shoe engages in the pedal first, then apply pressure to the rear of the shoe so that the rear of the cleat then engages. It will become second nature after just a few attempts honestly.

As for falling off, I can tell you hand on heart that if you have mastered riding with traditional toe clips and straps, then riding with SPDs will be a walk in the park! In fact I can distinctly recall falling of more times trying to bend down to undo toe straps when coming to a standstill than I ever had with SPD pedals.

Don't get worried about riding with SPDs, you won't fall off you'll be fine.

[PatBoySlim]

I took advice from other beacon members and bought the Shimano M520's but could not get used to them and fell off a few times, Tried the Look pedals and have had no problem but it is a preference thing (more of a target area with the looks and find it easier to clip in)

I fitted the shimano's to my wifes bike and took her to the local park to ride round on the grass, the thinking was if she's gonna fall off let it be on the soft grass, but she never did !

Also i discovered that there were 2 different types of cleat, single and multi release, and I had the single release ones

You need to educate your brain to unclip, before long you wont evem think about it, its becomes second nature !

[CakeStop]

When I first bought my bike I delayed going to SPD's thinking "I'll get the hang of the toe straps first" but never did. I invariably fumbled getting my loose foot in when pulling away and had to have the straps very loose to help. Then when after 3 months I gave up and tried SPDs I regretted waiting for so long because it was so much easier to get clipped in.

Like Alan says, make sure the tension is set to minimum for the first few rides, keep one foot clipped in (best to stick to the same foot) and then just start pedaling and unless you've got your foot in completely the wrong place it's harder not to clip in that it is to do it successfully. Try not to think about it, just pedal and let it happen naturally.

When you've got the hang of it, tighten the tension up about halfway but make sure you check you can still unclip easily while leaning against a wall.

Ahh, just spotted you've got single sided pedals, the above applies to double sided so you'll need to flip the pedal beforehand but you'll be used to that with toe straps.

[Grogz]

I agree with many of the comments above. I've found that spring tension tends to be set too tight on new pedals.

The other thing to check is the cleat's position on each show. Position the centre of the cleat so it sits directly under the ball of your foot, the centre of your foot is over the centre of the pedal and the cleat is angled to point straight forward when you are pedalling (if you angle your feet in or out when pedalling, you'll want to adjust the cleat slightly to compensate - no so important with SPDs as there's plenty of float). It can be a bit fiddly, to set but should make clipping in easier and pedalling more comfortable.

Once you get used to them, you won't look back.

[Andy Terry]

I have been told to expect to fall off a few times, as I may not release the shoes from the pedals in time when I stop.

Usually it's just the once, and results in damaged pride but nothing else. We've all done it and we all enjoy a quiet snigger when it happens to someone else.

To adjust the SPD tension, I screw the adjuster as far as it will go one way, then right back the other way counting the turns, then back to half way.

You'll very soon get used to them and clip in and out without thinking.

[Martin Sketchley]

I had two proper falls as a result of SPDs, and toppled against handy objects such as cars, etc, a couple of times.

I went down to Rowheath playing fields to practice when I first got them. I found that it's easier to unclip at the bottom of a stroke, and for some reason I always unclip my left foot first. Interestingly, I find the left one never goes in quite as easily as the right, perhaps to do with the position of the cleat. I've never felt the need to adjust the tension, which was set to minimum when I bought them from On Your Bike (a shop I highly recommend, by the way).

SPDs are useful, but I intend to buy proper road bike shoes and pedals when I get my next bike. (SPDs are the mountainbike ones, right?)

[CakeStop]

SPDs are useful, but I intend to buy proper road bike shoes and pedals when I get my next bike. (SPDs are the mountainbike ones, right?)

They tend to be categorised as MTB on retailer web sites. However, you can get road style shoes and road style pedals for SPD cleats (often categorised as touring shoes & pedals). The practical difference is that SPD cleats are recessed in the sole of the shoe so you can walk relatively normally.

[CakeStop]

By the way, just make a deliberate effort to unclip well in advance of reaching any junction and you'll be fine..... until something distracts you

[Martin Sketchley]

Is the unclipping technique the same for both?

[Wolf]

Thanks everyone for replying! I've read through all the comments and will take onboard all the extremely useful advice for example about adjustment and how to approach clipping in and out on an actual ride.

I was still having problems getting it to work though, but after searching I came across a couple of step-by-step instructions. One of these illimunated my problem, namely that although I had got the cleat in the right direction, it was upside down. I had read the instruction sheets that came with it, but it wasn't immediately obvious. Now of course it does seem obvious - oh well Anyway having corrected the problem it now seems so much easier!!

Martin, the M087 shoes 'look' similar to road shoes, which I wanted, but being SPD the cleat is recessed and I additionally wanted it this way to make it easier for me to walk into coffee shops etc.

And the A520 looks more like a road pedal in that it has more of a platform compared to a standard M520 MTB SPD pedal. I chose the A520 to get better foot support for longer rides. As the A520 is single sided I assume it's more like a SPD-SL road pedal in that you have to flip the pedal to clip in. Otherwise the cleat is the same as a standard MTB SPD and therefore clipping in and out should be the same as for a standard MTB pedal.

Now all I have to try and avoid is falling off!

Thanks again