What clipless pedals

[bodywhomper]

Still a huge fan of time clipless pedals. Have flats on a few bikes, but prefer the time clipless. Gravel, road, trail. Ride with a stiff shoe and setup my cleats. Had onza clipless a long time ago. They shit the bed, and I bought spd and time pedals at REI to tried both. Returned the spd pedals. Liked the range, angle, and in/out of the time more than the spd.

[snowaddict91]

Still a huge fan of time clipless pedals. Have flats on a few bikes, but prefer the time clipless. Gravel, road, trail. Ride with a stiff shoe and setup my cleats. Had onza clipless a long time ago. They shit the bed, and I bought spd and time pedals at REI to tried both. Returned the spd pedals. Liked the range, angle, and in/out of the time more than the spd.

Plus time makes an "easy" cleat. I've never used it, but I've heard the angle makes them really easy to release from.

[The Reverend Floater]

You may not care, but it will be interesting to see how you feel about this aspect once you get comfortable with them and clipping out has become second-nature. I switched to flats for a full year after a head injury to maximize bail-ability during recovery and was never happy about steep/techy uphill performance. Climbing was so much better after I clipped back in. I'm convinced that people who switch to flats and claim to notice no difference while climbing don't actually climb, are lying, or both.

Or most likely don’t know how to properly climb in clip in pedals. I can’t imagine riding flats around here.


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[J. Barron DeJong]

On a recent thread the question was asked about cleat setup and nobody said shit, which then leads me to believe nobody sets up their cleats, then a whole buncha people complain about spd's fucking up their knees, kinda makes you go hmmmm ?

Slam the cleats back all the way back?

Also, make sure that when you’re pedaling that you aren’t pushing up against either side of the float range. Just give your foot a little wiggle in both directions periodically and see if you have some movement available both ways. If you’re up against the stop in one direction, adjust the cleat angle so that you’re not.

[Andeh]

Slam the cleats back all the way back?

Also, make sure that when you’re pedaling that you aren’t pushing up against either side of the float range. Just give your foot a little wiggle in both directions periodically and see if you have some movement available both ways. If you’re up against the stop in one direction, adjust the cleat angle so that you’re not.

Yeah plan was to slam cleat all the way back because that's how I like my foot on flats. The tip about wiggling side to side to check if the cleat rotation is ok is good though. I know I run slightly heels in like most people.

[plugboots]

I just switched to Time pedals and I tried the easy cleats and I like them better. Basically they just give you more float, so they are more similar to my old Speedplays. I don’t need any platform so I got the Time ATAC 8.
They don’t exactly release easier, they’re just softer to get to the release point.

[Duffman]

Slam the cleats back all the way back?

Also, make sure that when you’re pedaling that you aren’t pushing up against either side of the float range. Just give your foot a little wiggle in both directions periodically and see if you have some movement available both ways. If you’re up against the stop in one direction, adjust the cleat angle so that you’re not.

Old school pro tip which requires 2 people . Put the cleats on in what seems like a good fore / aft and side to side position. Tighten them but not fully tight. Click in and pedal until they are in a comfortable spot and then have someone mark the outline of the cleats there, then tighten them in that spot. This isn't super easy with deeply recessed SPD shoes , but can still work with some .

[The Reverend Floater]

Just ordered the XTR clipless platform combos for the new whip. I like the combos as you can ride the bike with flip flops around a camp site and they’re easy to click in and out.


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[XXX-er]

Slam the cleats back all the way back?

Also, make sure that when you’re pedaling that you aren’t pushing up against either side of the float range. Just give your foot a little wiggle in both directions periodically and see if you have some movement available both ways. If you’re up against the stop in one direction, adjust the cleat angle so that you’re not.

front or back won't wreck yer knees but the wrong cleat angle will

[J. Barron DeJong]

Old school pro tip which requires 2 people . Put the cleats on in what seems like a good fore / aft and side to side position. Tighten them but not fully tight. Click in and pedal until they are in a comfortable spot and then have someone mark the outline of the cleats there, then tighten them in that spot. This isn't super easy with deeply recessed SPD shoes , but can still work with some .

How do they go about tightening the cleats once the position is found?

I’m only aware of the Jong version of that, which is leaving the bolts loose to find the position, then realizing that you can’t unclip the cleat from the pedal since it just slides and twists around, mangle up the bottom of the sole trying to get it apart, and when you finally do get it out, you have no idea where the good cleat position was.

[upallnight]

If it helps someone out, I've got a set of Time Speciale 8s (in black and in orange) that can be had for my cost. I think it was $130 but would have to look it up to confirm.

[toast2266]

Old school pro tip which requires 2 people . Put the cleats on in what seems like a good fore / aft and side to side position. Tighten them but not fully tight. Click in and pedal until they are in a comfortable spot and then have someone mark the outline of the cleats there, then tighten them in that spot. This isn't super easy with deeply recessed SPD shoes , but can still work with some .

The old Teva shoes had hardware that put the bolt heads in the inside sole of the shoe, and then there was a little tool access port in the tongue of the shoe. So that meant you could click the shoe into the pedal, adjust the position, and then tighten the cleat while the shoe was still clipped in. It was a great system, and I have no idea why more companies don't do that. Of course Teva stopped making bike shoes, which sucks because those shoes were great for like 10 other reasons too.

[Norseman]

If it helps someone out, I've got a set of Time Speciale 8s (in black and in orange) that can be had for my cost. I think it was $130 but would have to look it up to confirm.

Sheeit, I'll bite. Had knee issues in the past w spuds and went to flats, but been time-curious.

Sending PM

[Andeh]

So, got shoes and pedals, got them installed. Tried them with the cleats fully back and that felt weird as fuck, so I slammed them all the way forward. It seems like whenever I read people talking about cleat position they slam them back. Coming from flats, I like to put my foot on the pedal so the ball sort of lines up with the spindle. This causes my shoe to sink into the pins & the concavity more, and forces my heels down. Is there a reason why most clip people seem to like the spindle much more rearward? I'm guessing it's easier on the calves or ankles?

I pedaled around my yard a bit, and didn't die. There's still a good chance I will when I take them out on the trail tomorrow. Clipping in and out of the XTs does indeed seem really easy. The float feels weird. Like, even the 4 degrees of XT float feels huge to me. I'll reserve judgement for when I take them out on a trail, but I can't imagine wanting MORE float.

[Boissal]

So, got shoes and pedals, got them installed. Tried them with the cleats fully back and that felt weird as fuck, so I slammed them all the way forward. It seems like whenever I read people talking about cleat position they slam them back. Coming from flats, I like to put my foot on the pedal so the ball sort of lines up with the spindle. This causes my shoe to sink into the pins & the concavity more, and forces my heels down. Is there a reason why most clip people seem to like the spindle much more rearward? I'm guessing it's easier on the calves or ankles?

I pedaled around my yard a bit, and didn't die. There's still a good chance I will when I take them out on the trail tomorrow. Clipping in and out of the XTs does indeed seem really easy. The float feels weird. Like, even the 4 degrees of XT float feels huge to me. I'll reserve judgement for when I take them out on a trail, but I can't imagine wanting MORE float.

Moving the cleats back is definitely easier on the calves. Given the smaller platform of most SPD pedals if you have the cleats all the way forward your foot is completely unsupported and you calves do a shitload of work the second you drop the heels. I tried moving my cleats back a bit and couldn't get used to it. Too many years on the road bike with the cleat under my toes... I do get fierce calf pump on a few specific rough trails and I've had to learn how not to drop heels in mellower sections to recover a bit.

Your assumption is correct about what will happen tomorrow: death. It's mandatory when making the switch to SPDs. Embrace it, and expect a large group of witnesses when you find yourself under the bike like an angry turtle

[J. Barron DeJong]

So, got shoes and pedals, got them installed. Tried them with the cleats fully back and that felt weird as fuck, so I slammed them all the way forward. It seems like whenever I read people talking about cleat position they slam them back. Coming from flats, I like to put my foot on the pedal so the ball sort of lines up with the spindle. This causes my shoe to sink into the pins & the concavity more, and forces my heels down. Is there a reason why most clip people seem to like the spindle much more rearward? I'm guessing it's easier on the calves or ankles?

I pedaled around my yard a bit, and didn't die. There's still a good chance I will when I take them out on the trail tomorrow. Clipping in and out of the XTs does indeed seem really easy. The float feels weird. Like, even the 4 degrees of XT float feels huge to me. I'll reserve judgement for when I take them out on a trail, but I can't imagine wanting MORE float.

Traditional recommendation was ball of foot over the pedal spindle. Now I believe it’s generally recommended to be further back - between ball of foot and the fifth metatarsal head as a starting point.

That’s for efficiency/power, though. So for road riding or XC mountain biking.

Pushing the cleats further back will decrease efficiency a little, and make sprinting harder, but feels more stable/comfortable on downhills.

My mtb cleats are slammed back (on Shimano ME7 shoes). My road cleats are also slammed back (on Shimano S-Phyre) but the road shoes don’t have nearly the range, so it’s not too extreme.

There’s no right or wrong here, just preferences and trade-off’s.

[Dantheman]

Put the cleats wherever they feel natural and comfortable.

[XXX-er]

pay attention to cleat angle cuz that can fuck yer knees

turn down the retention to start with and don't forget to turn down both sides of the pedal

[The Reverend Floater]

^agreed on natural position and keeping them loose. I run mine nearly as loose as they go and have no problems.

[plugboots]

I have five bikes and I’m super anal about keeping the cleat position the same on all. On my road bike shoes I had to take a Dremel tool and slot the holes deeper towards the heel to get them to feel the same. YMMV

[Andeh]

Thanks. First thing I did was dial the retention fully minus (both sides). I'll adjust angle if necessary after first real ride, but I usually try to run my feet squared up, so guessing that 0 rotation will be fine. I only ever find my heels in after descending where I'm moving the bike around a lot, so guessing float would take care of that.

I messed around doing figure 8s in my lawn some more and got the first awkward topple over sideways checked off. I was trying to do a tight low speed turn and I'm guessing that I naturally had my outside foot down, which made it hard to twist the inside/up foot. Trying to clip in with the cleat forward as I have it feels easy when I can be precise, like just after starting moving, but when I'm rolling I can see how it would be easier to sorta just mash the middle of your foot down. I guess that's a draw to Mallets too, since you can engage either the front or back of the cage first.

[XXX-er]

You wana set up cleat angle so your knees are not grating against either limit of float when you are just riding along not while you are thinking about where your knees are pointing or if your feet are perfectly square to forward

As opposed to yeah whatever man this is really important IMO, I got a buddy who fucked up his knees and he should have known better cuz he is a doctor, but not a real doctor ... just a radiologist

https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/yh...4&action=click

there is lots of info on line, this might be info ^^ on how to set up every pedal made

[gorgonzola]

Plus time makes an "easy" cleat. I've never used it, but I've heard the angle makes them really easy to release from.

shimano also has an "easy" cleat, been runnin' the silver mutli-directional pussy cleats for mtb and gravel for years

[Andeh]

So, I did my usual ride Thursday with the XTs, had an obligatory spill. (Indirectly attributable to the clips - a corner where you kinda drift into a rut, and because my position was hesitant, the bike didn't really catch and just slid out.) I really, really dislike the feeling of the float. It felt like my shoes were just hovering over the pedals and my heel / foot inputs weren't doing anything. From the Blister article "Which Mountain Bike Pedals, and Why", this pretty much sums up what I felt: "Flats can also offer a more direct-feeling connection to the bike, without any float or rocking between the shoe and pedal to mute that connection. " I noticed going off one small jump, I ended up jerking my achilles because I cheated and pulled up with the pedals, only to land and have my heel drop into the landing.

So, since everyone says that you've got to give clips a lot of time to feel ok, what clipless pedal minimizes or reduces that float feeling (but is still easy to get out of)? My buddy has a set of Saints he will loan me, but from what I've read about those, the pins only really are there to stabilize the shoe before clipping, and don't really make contact with the sole after you clip in.

[VTskibum]

^^ depends what kind of shoes. I took the pins out of my saints w Shimano AM shoes.

I do think Shimano likely has lowest float of any major pedals.


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