Clipless merits

The likelyhood of a tarmac-face coming together depends on how well developed your basic riding and control skills are. Some people have little problem, some fall off once or twice until they adjust. No canalside rides until you're all dialled in!

Recently went the other way, was fine while pootling around the flat with the kid at kid speed. Bloody scary on the Wednesday night off road pootle.
I can commute with shoes/trainers on SPD pedals, even ride off road a bit. But use traditional pedals and it's all wrong

Yes you'll probably have a fall, your instinct isn't there yet, but it's like riding a bike you suddenly just do it and don't notice.
Give it time though and don't give in straight away. You may need to set it up a few times, find you angle and for/aft etc...
Wrong seat height is just as likely to strain the knees, but really is only something to worry about if it still happens after months of riding.
I think there are three people I ride with, 3 different eras from modern, retro and vintage 'ages' (Luke, spud and Trebz)
I think the young UN's are learning faster›.

If you want a bit more float in the pedals, for your knees, try Time Atac pedals. I have both the old and new types using the same cleats.

I wear some cheap Shimano shoes from the LBS which I got because my old leather Shimano boots take about a month to dry out. The new ones dry overnight, or in a couple of days after being cleaned with a hosepipe. They are also pretty comfortable for walking / pushing, unlike my road shoes which have the cleat proud of the carbon fibre sole (not nice to walk in).

Earlier this year I rode the FOD with a bunch of other Retro nutters on an old Raleigh with flat pedals and no toe clips. This is the first time since 1994 that I have ridden off road without cleats and I had to adopt a different style of pedalling as I could not pull on the pedals, this also made little hops and jumps difficult as I hopped and the bike didn't. :facepalm:

We_are_Stevo":3nnl3q8o said:

Oh, and as for shoes I wear 661 skate-style shoes with cleats in the sole...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/661- ... -prod72353

...can't abide cloddy cycling shoes with cleats that make you sound like a clog dancer and look like you've been caught short when you're off the bike! :?

Click to expand...

Yep, I think that'll be the route I take - I have problems finding normal shoes that fit my feet properly, so I suspect cycling shoes will be an absolute nightmare for me.

I fell off twice in 1994 when I first got them, once when I first fitted them in the garage and the second time when I was very very drunk.

I also run mine very 'loose' - this gives a lot of room for the feet to move around within the pedal without becoming unclipped.

They all seem to feel the same from the very first 737s through to the latest version. It seems that once the multipostion cleats came along, there was not much further you could take a standard Shimano SPD pedal.

I have been running the 2nd generation XT for 15 years plus? They have been underwater countless times and frozen in snow without fault. In fact one set of SPD is on its 3rd set of shoes...

I have the single sided aero style on my road bike plus about 4 other sets dotted about the fleet. I rarely run anything else. The shoes are comfy, one pair lasted 12 years and were often worn whilst out clubbing.

My first set were Tiogas. Should have come with a health warning as it was virtually impossible to unclip. After that I got a set of wellgos when I bought a bike and have never looked back. I've also got a massive scar on my shin from a day I decided to borrow a mates bike which didn't have clipless...

Personally...

1) Go for something with a bit of platform around the clip (ie not eggbeaters) as it will make it easier to start with.
2) Go for something with adjustable spring tension and set them up loose to start with.
3) Recessed cleats on walking shoe style shoes can be more forgiving than roadie style.

I used those massive Look cleats BITD when I was racing road bikes. Kinda put me off clipless completely.
However if someone could confirm that those modern MTB ones don't extend below the soles, I might get a new pair indeed.

Raging_Bulls":2dfs8caf said:

However if someone could confirm that those modern MTB ones don't extend below the soles, I might get a new pair indeed.

Click to expand...

I don't know about other makes, but SPD and Time cleats fit very neatly into the recess found on most mtb specific shoes.

In fact, I would say most mtb shoes are designed to allow you to walk quite normally with the cleats installed.

Like I said before, road shoes are a completely different animal.

IIRC the time ATAC cleats are *very* slightly deeper than the shimano SPD ones, so on a racy lightweight MTB shoe with minimal tread you might get some clicking and clacking. Not enough to be annoying. Just noticeable.
Its certainly not noticeable enough to make me go back to shimano pedals!

The huge cleats on road pedals are a non-issue. As you don't walk anywhere in them.

Good luck, tho I shall be sticking to my luddite flats !

On the aesthetic thing I spotted a new road bike the other day with V12 copies on. It looked totally wrong.