kent_white Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Fellow cyclists. Should I bother with clipless pedals. Are they worth the £100 it's going to cost inc shoes? Riding up to about 50 miles at the moment with normal trainers and pedals. Question 1) Do they make that much difference really? Question 2) Am I going to kill myself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no balls Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 How keen a cyclist are you? I've just asked here and it's a 50/50. There appears to be a snobbery, if you're a pro, shoes, if you're not, trainers are reet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent_white Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 Well I'm getting keaner. Used to just use it for the short ride to work but I'm getting a bit more adventurous now. Rode to Rufford near Southport and back last Sunday. Was bloody hard work, so I reckon if they could make things 20% easier, they'd be worth the investment. If you have to be Bradley Wiggins to really notice any improvement then I'll give it a miss. Is your work full of cyclists then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no balls Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 If you have to be Bradley Wiggins to really notice any improvement then I'll give it a miss. Is your work full of cyclists then? Pretty much what they said. You want any gear, I'm your woman. Brad wears my shit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Frandsen08 Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Pretty much what they said. You want any gear, I'm your woman. Brad wears my shit Literally? Is that his secret to success, human feces? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent_white Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 Pretty much what they said. You want any gear, I'm your woman. Brad wears my shit Is that right? I'm impressed. Do you do mushy grips as well? I am getting mixed signals from the experienced cyclists. Perchance they have seen me peddling up Chorley New Road and feel threatened? :-) What is your shit by the way? (That's probably the first and last time I will ever utter those words). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayjayoghani Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 I understand clipless pedals help your legs work the bike pedalling on the way up. as well as the leg push down and so yes they're worth it if you're getting serious and if you dont come a cropper at the first set of lights, you're a better man than me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Site Supporter HomerJay Posted September 28, 2012 Site Supporter Share Posted September 28, 2012 Fellow cyclists. Should I bother with clipless pedals. Are they worth the £100 it's going to cost inc shoes? Riding up to about 50 miles at the moment with normal trainers and pedals. Question 1) Do they make that much difference really? Question 2) Am I going to kill myself? 1) yes 2) no Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no balls Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 (edited) I understand clipless pedals help your legs work the bike pedalling on the way up. as well as the leg push down and so yes they're worth it if you're getting serious and if you dont come a cropper at the first set of lights, you're a better man than me That's what they said. Wait till you're really keen was their advice. It's apparel, Kent. I clean the desks at night so can snaffle a few samples. Edited September 28, 2012 by no balls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent_white Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 1) yes 2) no Succinct. Does £100 sound about right to you for entry level shoes and pedals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent_white Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 That's what they said. Wait till you're really keen was their advice. It's apparel, Kent. I clean the desks at night so can snaffle a few samples. Means nothing to me that NB I'm afraid. I'm a novice. Now if you'd said you worked at Halford's I'd have known what you were on about. Or maybe Charnock Richards Cycles! ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillofdaub Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 ive got a set of pedal with cleats you can have for 15 quid mate shimano too .. go sports direct on middlebrook get a pair of muddy fox shoes for 20 quid and your into £35 quid if you dont get on with the pedal set up bung the lot on ebay and youll get most of it back ...i got some shoes from sports direct and thy are sound for the money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pike_mill_white Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Buy them, you will notice the difference. Just be patient, you may fall off a few times as your brain will forget to unclip at traffic lights etc but with some practice it becomes second nature. Dont let that scare you off, its a rite of passage with clipless pedals. Yes I fell off as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillofdaub Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 and yes once you start knocking up the miles they are worth it ,,takes one ride out to get used to clippig out ,,usually your left leg dead easy you should try ride with a flat foot to get the power down and shoes will help you with that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickbrown Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Its a myth about the helping you pull up on the upstroke. Even the best cyclists don't pull up - at best they don't have any weight bearing down on the pedal going up. That said they keep your feet where there are supposed to be. I've got some - I did my falling over in the garden, marginally less embarrassing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Site Supporter HomerJay Posted September 28, 2012 Site Supporter Share Posted September 28, 2012 Succinct. Does £100 sound about right to you for entry level shoes and pedals? ages since ive bought, but mine were about £40 for the pedals and £30 for the shoes. standard shimano stuff, forget which models Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent_white Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 Buy them, you will notice the difference. Just be patient, you may fall off a few times as your brain will forget to unclip at traffic lights etc That's what I'm afraid of. Are they hard to get out of or is it purely just remembering you've got them on? By the way. There's a good promotion on cycling stuff at Aldi of all places at the moment. Base layers, waterproof stuff, lights, locks, repair kits etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freds dad Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Buy them, you will notice the difference. Just be patient, you may fall off a few times as your brain will forget to unclip at traffic lights etc but with some practice it becomes second nature. Dont let that scare you off, its a rite of passage with clipless pedals. Yes I fell off as well. Have cyclists started stopping at traffic lights now? From what I've seen they just go through on red and slow down to check if owt is coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pike_mill_white Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 That's what I'm afraid of. Are they hard to get out of or is it purely just remembering you've got them on? By the way. There's a good promotion on cycling stuff at Aldi of all places at the moment. Base layers, waterproof stuff, lights, locks, repair kits etc. No its not difficult to actually clip out, its just remembering. Sit on your bike in a door frame and use your hands for balance, and just practice with each foot. Also practice clipping in as thats the bit a lot of people struggle with at first as you may find you have to look at your foot for while to position your cleat with the pedal. It all sounds scary but its not, and worth the time to get it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Site Supporter White on Tyne Posted September 28, 2012 Site Supporter Share Posted September 28, 2012 Yes, they are worth it. Once you get used to them you will regret never having done it sooner. That said, you will probably fall off at first just as I did. But hope for your sake it isn't into a cattle grid like my first effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillofdaub Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 you get wto kinds of spd pedals, so make sure your shoes you get are compatible ..the spd sl one which majority of road bikes use have the screw holes in the shoes in a triangle formation ,, the spd which i have used ,some say more a mtb pedal but ,ii know a few on the road who use em inc tris and ironman ,these holes are just the 2 in a horizontal position ,,these pedal you can clip in both top and bottom so might be easier to clip in for you ,, some shoes have both sets of holes ,,,,,btw sports direct do a carbon soled road shoe at 60 quid the cheapest youll find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickbrown Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 You can also adjust them so they are dead slack, so a panic yank (I said yank!) will get your foot out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birch-chorley Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Well I'm getting keaner. Used to just use it for the short ride to work but I'm getting a bit more adventurous now. Rode to Rufford near Southport and back last Sunday. Was bloody hard work, so I reckon if they could make things 20% easier, they'd be worth the investment. If you have to be Bradley Wiggins to really notice any improvement then I'll give it a miss. Is your work full of cyclists then? That is some going from Kent to Rufford and back again take a bow my son Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent_white Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 That is some going from Kent to Rufford and back again take a bow my son It was hard work on the way back, but once you get over the Dartford bridge it's plain sailing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent_white Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 you get wto kinds of spd pedals, so make sure your shoes you get are compatible ..the spd sl one which majority of road bikes use have the screw holes in the shoes in a triangle formation ,, the spd which i have used ,some say more a mtb pedal but ,ii know a few on the road who use em inc tris and ironman ,these holes are just the 2 in a horizontal position ,,these pedal you can clip in both top and bottom so might be easier to clip in for you ,, some shoes have both sets of holes ,,,,,btw sports direct do a carbon soled road shoe at 60 quid the cheapest youll find It's the road ones I was after really. The lighter ones with the solid soles. I've got a hybrid bike, but it's set up almost like a road bike. With hindsight I wish I'd just bought a road bike to begin with but you live and learn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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