Clipping In?

Practice, practice... how long did it take to learn how to ride a bike, and how natural is it now? Learning to clip in is a lot easier.

Get on the bike in a doorway, hold yourself upright by bracing your hands against the door frame, and practice. It doesn't take long, after four or five rides, you'll wonder how you rode without them.

You might also try spinning backwards while you try to clip in. The reverse pedal stroke is more in line with the motion of slotting the toe side of your cleat in and then bringing the heel down to lock in.

I'll second the door advice as well. Do it several times over and soon it will be second nature.

And if you do it for long enough and practice enough, you can even clip out in the hardest of situations.

Like clipping out while doing wheelies.

soupp said:

I just bought shimano MTB SH225 shoes yesterday and tried it on today... My first clipless shoes... The thing is, it took forever to clip it in... My friend says that I'll get use to clipping it in soon.. I just wanna ask you guys, how long did it take to clip in, at ur first time being clipless and how long after that, u are used to it? I'm afraid that I'll never get use to it... 🙄

I went clipless about a month ago, and after 2-3 rides, it was pretty easy. Still didn't save me from going down when my son, riding in front of me, had to make an emergency stop when a guy in a car inexplicably just stopped right in front of the bike path exit to the street, with no other cars around!

goaliedad30 said:

I went clipless about a month ago, and after 2-3 rides, it was pretty easy. Still didn't save me from going down when my son, riding in front of me, had to make an emergency stop when a guy in a car inexplicably just stopped right in front of the bike path exit to the street, with no other cars around!

Thanks for the advices guys... i'm positive that ui'll get use to it somehow... just gotta practise hard.. but looking at goaliedad30's post, i'm gonna avoid riding at busy streets until i'm good in clipping in and out... 😄

See also: http://www.cyclingforums.com/t350097.html

soupp said:

Thanks for the advices guys... i'm positive that ui'll get use to it somehow... just gotta practise hard.. but looking at goaliedad30's post, i'm gonna avoid riding at busy streets until i'm good in clipping in and out... 😄

While you're learning (and while the pedals and cleats are 'running in' you could also try adjusting the tension on the locking mechanism, making it a little easier to get your feet in and out.

i've just gone clipless (saturday to be accurate) so i know what you mean, mate. i've found that sometimes i just nail it straight away and sometimes it takes forever. best method i've found is to start pedaling and put my toes on the pedal. this way i can get up enough speed to balance so i can work on clipping in. seems to take ages at the start of a ride, but 20 mins later i'm clipping in almost first attempt! 🙂

oh, MTB shoes seem to make it a bit easier as you can pedal with your toes. probably because of the tread on them.

good luck with it!

Tim