I’ve used Shimano SPD’s ( hate 'em: they’re beginner clip-ins: they breakaway too easily for me, and I’ve gotten hurt when a surprise breakaway happened. People who want easy breakaway should like 'em )
I’ve used Speedplay Frogs ( hate 'em: unless you have warning of when you need to get out, you can’t swing far enough to get your shoes out from the things. I’ve gotten injured in these, too. )
Time ATACs ( hate 'em: got stabbed in the solar-plexus with my own handlebar, when falling, on trail, because I couldn’t break out from them, when tired )
and Crank Brothers ( love 'em: Goldilocks mechanism, for me. )
If you’re a wrestler, or other muscular type, you’ll probably prefer the Time ATAC pedals.
If you’re a small light rider, who only does city, the Shimano SPDs may be your ticket.
If you never fall ( I rode too many edge-of-the-highway miles, & the it’s better to fall on the shoulder, than it is to fall into the ditch, so falling is … normal enough, when you’ve no brain left, from riding too many hours, with cargo ), then maybe the Speedplay Frog pedals are heavenly for you.
You have to figure out your style, your need, & find the pedals that fit you, eh?
Cheap SPD pedals sometimes aren’t adjustable, but any decent ones will have set screws for adjusting release tension.
Atop that, there’s a difference between the silver and black cleats. The silver ones unclip if you simply pull in any direction except up, while the black ones only unclip by twisting.
Between these two things, they can be adjusted for anyone. From beginners who want their shoes to unclip if they panic, to experienced riders who want to stay clipped in riding the roughest rock gardens.
To say they are universally an “easy-unclip” clipless system is simply untrue, and someone who gets the black cleats will NOT have that experience.
Atop that, there’s a difference between the silver and black cleats. The silver ones unclip if you simply pull in any direction except up, while the black ones only unclip by twisting.
…
To say they are universally an “easy-unclip” clipless system is simply untrue, and someone who gets the black cleats will NOT have that experience.
Broke my shoulder from not being able to unclip (black SPDs) while still relatively new to clips and then panicking and stiff-arming the landing last moment and was wondering what Paragone was talking about. Thanks for explanation! Had no clue there was a difference.
It’s really not that scary, and there are very real benefits. Pedaling uphill is just nicer when you can pull as well as push on the pedals.
I started off with combination pedals where one side is flat and the other has the mechanism, so you can use them with both normal shoes and cleated shoes, thinking it would come in handy a lot of the time.
Literally never used normal shoes to ride again, because I ended up preferring to be clipped in so much that I went out of my way to make sure I always had my cleated shoes on if I was going to ride. I’ve ridden other bikes except my own, since, and it feels weird. I keep lifting my rear foot off the pedals trying to use both legs to apply force to the cranks.
Clipping and unclipping becomes completely natural after just a bit of practice, and if you go with SPD like me, you can get the silver cleats and adjustable tension pedals, to set it up so that the slightest force in and “off” direction releases the shoe. I had plenty of cases at first where I forgot how to deliberately unclip, but it never led to taking an actual fall.
When you get used to it to the point that you start wanting the clipping and unclipping to be more deliberate, just turn up the tension.
That said, unless the benefits interest you, it’s not life-changing enough to be worth spending on. Flat pedals work, just fine.
But as someone who uses clipless, I don’t ever want to ride without being clipped in again. It’s just better.
I’ve used Shimano SPD’s ( hate 'em: they’re beginner clip-ins: they breakaway too easily for me, and I’ve gotten hurt when a surprise breakaway happened. People who want easy breakaway should like 'em )
I’ve used Speedplay Frogs ( hate 'em: unless you have warning of when you need to get out, you can’t swing far enough to get your shoes out from the things. I’ve gotten injured in these, too. )
Time ATACs ( hate 'em: got stabbed in the solar-plexus with my own handlebar, when falling, on trail, because I couldn’t break out from them, when tired )
and Crank Brothers ( love 'em: Goldilocks mechanism, for me. )
If you’re a wrestler, or other muscular type, you’ll probably prefer the Time ATAC pedals.
If you’re a small light rider, who only does city, the Shimano SPDs may be your ticket.
If you never fall ( I rode too many edge-of-the-highway miles, & the it’s better to fall on the shoulder, than it is to fall into the ditch, so falling is … normal enough, when you’ve no brain left, from riding too many hours, with cargo ), then maybe the Speedplay Frog pedals are heavenly for you.
You have to figure out your style, your need, & find the pedals that fit you, eh?
_ /\ _
Cheap SPD pedals sometimes aren’t adjustable, but any decent ones will have set screws for adjusting release tension.
Atop that, there’s a difference between the silver and black cleats. The silver ones unclip if you simply pull in any direction except up, while the black ones only unclip by twisting.
Between these two things, they can be adjusted for anyone. From beginners who want their shoes to unclip if they panic, to experienced riders who want to stay clipped in riding the roughest rock gardens.
To say they are universally an “easy-unclip” clipless system is simply untrue, and someone who gets the black cleats will NOT have that experience.
Broke my shoulder from not being able to unclip (black SPDs) while still relatively new to clips and then panicking and stiff-arming the landing last moment and was wondering what Paragone was talking about. Thanks for explanation! Had no clue there was a difference.
Yeah, anything that hooks in scares me too much to start using
It’s really not that scary, and there are very real benefits. Pedaling uphill is just nicer when you can pull as well as push on the pedals.
I started off with combination pedals where one side is flat and the other has the mechanism, so you can use them with both normal shoes and cleated shoes, thinking it would come in handy a lot of the time.
Literally never used normal shoes to ride again, because I ended up preferring to be clipped in so much that I went out of my way to make sure I always had my cleated shoes on if I was going to ride. I’ve ridden other bikes except my own, since, and it feels weird. I keep lifting my rear foot off the pedals trying to use both legs to apply force to the cranks.
Clipping and unclipping becomes completely natural after just a bit of practice, and if you go with SPD like me, you can get the silver cleats and adjustable tension pedals, to set it up so that the slightest force in and “off” direction releases the shoe. I had plenty of cases at first where I forgot how to deliberately unclip, but it never led to taking an actual fall.
When you get used to it to the point that you start wanting the clipping and unclipping to be more deliberate, just turn up the tension.
That said, unless the benefits interest you, it’s not life-changing enough to be worth spending on. Flat pedals work, just fine.
But as someone who uses clipless, I don’t ever want to ride without being clipped in again. It’s just better.