Please help!

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
Samuel D
Posts: 3088
Joined: 8 Mar 2015, 11:05pm
Location: Paris
Contact:

Re: Please help!

Post by Samuel D »

I use clipless pedals, but they really make no difference for an endurance event. They are useful for bursts of power – as periodically required in a race, for example – but they do very little (or nothing) for efficiency. See this video, for example. And this gent tours remote areas at a hundred miles a day with flat pedals.

If you have the slightest doubts about them, get rid of them immediately. Buy a pair of flat pedals for a tenner and cycle in whatever shoes you have available. Come back to clipless pedals when you’re ready, not when you’re doing Ride London for the first time. This isn’t a big deal; don’t make it so.

Almost anyone can get up almost any hill with appropriate gearing and pacing. You just need to slow down, use (or fit if necessary) a very low gear on the bike, and ride within yourself.

As TrevA said, ride plenty in the next four weeks, then take a break to give your body time to fully recover for the big day. You’ll be fine. (And how could you possibly “embarrass yourself”, as 661-Pete suggested?)
Bicycler
Posts: 3400
Joined: 4 Dec 2013, 3:33pm

Re: Please help!

Post by Bicycler »

Samuel D wrote:If you have the slightest doubts about them, get rid of them immediately. Buy a pair of flat pedals for a tenner and cycle in whatever shoes you have available. Come back to clipless pedals when you’re ready, not when you’re doing Ride London for the first time. This isn’t a big deal; don’t make it so.

+1 Barring mechanical failure or "clipless moments" I don't think pedal choice has ever seriously affected someone's chance of finishing a ride. It really is not crucial outside of racing. You may find that not having the worry about releasing your feet at a sudden stop or fall may increase your confidence to travel faster. In any case you will feel better and enjoy the event more without worrying about pedals.

Longer term you could try Shimano's Click'r pedals which release much more easily.Having abandoned clipless pedals before, I am currently giving Click'r a try and finding them more to my liking than the 'normal' clipless pedals I previously used.
User avatar
661-Pete
Posts: 10593
Joined: 22 Nov 2012, 8:45pm
Location: Sussex

Re: Please help!

Post by 661-Pete »

Earlier on, I hinted that putting up a post against clipless pedals might raise a furore. I was evidently wrong - folks are a lot more understanding and tolerant here on the CTC forum. Sorry to have cast aspersions! :oops:

I still believe that, in one or two "other places", I might have got lynched for saying something along those lines. Indeed, exactly that did happen to me in earlier incarnations. Happy days!

Racashaw, I hope you overcome your demons and get into lots of cycling. You won't regret it!
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
Flinders
Posts: 3023
Joined: 10 Mar 2009, 6:47pm

Re: Please help!

Post by Flinders »

I was dead against clipless, and was eventually persuaded to try them on a friend's bike. I hated them, found them claustrophobic - I had to get off PDQ.

However, I eventually decided to try them on my own bike to give them a fair trial. My bike shop put them on, but insisted I spent a fair bit of time in the shop on a turbo getting them in and out until they were satisfied I was safe. That meant I didn't scare myself again by wobbling around trying to get them out before riding home in them. I think that was psychologically dead right - for me anyway.

I haven't had trouble with them since, I'm perfectly relaxed about them; I like that I feel more in contact with the bike than I did with clips and straps, and I feel safer than when in straps as I can get out quicker (I never tightened the straps very tight).

It sounds to me like you feel as I did after the first try. There just isn't any point using them if you find they continue to worry you. We don't cycle to prove anything, but because we want to. If they make you unhappy, take them off.

As for the hills, I think that's just practice. I commuted for a while where there was a hill. Day one I had to get out and push, in a few days I got further and further up it and by the end of the first week I could grind all the way up. A few weeks later it was just part of the journey, and no big deal except after a particularly hard day.

*If later you feel ready for another go with the clipless, I'd suggest doing what they made me do, playing with them on a turbo where you don't have to balance until you feel completely relaxed about them. (I use SPDs, BTW, not full-on road ones.) They may not be for you, though, it may be as simple as that. It doesn't matter if they aren't.
Neil C
Posts: 123
Joined: 11 Mar 2014, 6:37pm

Re: Please help!

Post by Neil C »

rachashaw wrote:I have just got into road cycling. I have a trek lexa .....

I have signed up for Ride London at the start of August and I am nowhere near ready. I tried to cycle up a huge hill near me which I believe to be similar to the hills in Ride London, couldn't make it. Physically, I am fit (I think). I'm a very sporty person and have transitioned from running to cycling.

.....
Should I drop out of the event?

Please help!


The hills on the Ride London Surrey 100 are not particularly steep but two or three do go on for over a mile. The maximum gradient is about 7%.

The gears on the 2015 Lexi ( 50/34 and 11-28 ) are rather high but should be ok. Take it steadily and get in a low gear early rather than struggling in a higher gear and wearing yourself out.

The last hill of the day in Wimbledon is less steep but plenty of people were walking up as the previous 90 miles caught up with them. And there's plenty of encouragement from the crowds.

You must do it. You will enjoy it. You will regret it if you don't.

P.S. I love my SPDs but please take yours off and get back to enjoying your cycling.
User avatar
Vantage
Posts: 3050
Joined: 24 Jan 2012, 1:44pm
Location: somewhere in Bolton
Contact:

Re: Please help!

Post by Vantage »

Your fear of clipless pedals is perfectly normal. It happened to me and more than likely to every other cyclist who's ever used them. The worry of what happens if this happens or what happens if that happens despite having worked out how to unglue yourself from the bike at planned stops and emergency stops does eventually vanish and in time they'll be no more scary than flat pedals :)
A 100 mile ride (I had to google the Ride London as I'm from up north and don't know about such things) is no easy task for a seasoned cyclist let alone a new cyclist so get your distance training in. It's more to do with endurance than raw power for these events. Although some muscle for the hills is a nice perk to have :) Failing that, lower gearing will certainly help.
Stupidly high gearing has been an issue for a long time and for a lot of cyclists, myself included a and spot of grumping about it is not unheard of around this forum. Your bike shop can help you here if they've any mechanical sense. Some don't.
I've never been a runner or anything else for that matter other than a cyclist, so I couldn't say with any certainty, (and more than likely talking a load of tosh) but it's been said here and elsewhere that running and cycling use different sets of muscles and in different ways. You might need to 'adapt' to cycling before any fitness you gained through running starts to really blossom.
If all else fails, turn up for the ride, take your time, walking even (no shame in it) and just enjoy yourself. If you don't enjoy it, its pointless and just another job really.
And welcome to the forum :)
Bill


“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx
It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
rachashaw
Posts: 8
Joined: 24 Mar 2015, 7:41pm

Re: Please help!

Post by rachashaw »

Thanks guys! I'm going to take off the spds this weekend and get back to my training!
User avatar
cycleruk
Posts: 6065
Joined: 17 Jan 2009, 9:30pm
Location: Lancashire

Re: Please help!

Post by cycleruk »

You can get pedals that are SPD on one side and the other side is flat.
That way you could still use SPD shoes and have the choice of clipping in or not.

Such as :-
http://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-m32 ... tAodMhYDIA

There are other variations and makes but I would stick with the same manufacturer as your cleats.
Some cleats can be awkward if used with other manufacturers pedals.
You'll never know if you don't try it.
Flinders
Posts: 3023
Joined: 10 Mar 2009, 6:47pm

Re: Please help!

Post by Flinders »

It's certainly the case that cycling uses some muscles a lot that running doesn't use to the same extent, or in the same way....same as walking uphill is different to walking on the flat. If you can walk 20 miles on the flat, it doesn't mean you won't struggle with 6 miles in the Lakes if you're going up the mountains. I think joint angles for each activity may have a lot to do with it.

Good luck with your ride (and the pedals cycleruk mentions with a flat side and a clip side sound like a great idea).
User avatar
horizon
Posts: 11275
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 11:24am
Location: Cornwall

Re: Please help!

Post by horizon »

Although the OP mentioned traffic (for the obvious reasons), I think hills are initially the bigger problem with clipless. Given he may have high gears, wants to ride up steep hills and isn't quite ready, the chances are he'll need to think about getting off - by which time he hasn't the motion to clip out before the bike has stalled. It took me a while to get used to this and I don't think a high pressure situation like the 100 mile is the best time or place. Like others have suggested I too would say, ditch the clipless for now and then re-introduce them slowly and relaxedly until the fears are overcome and the full benefits (I do believe they exist!) can be enjoyed.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
Bicycler
Posts: 3400
Joined: 4 Dec 2013, 3:33pm

Re: Please help!

Post by Bicycler »

I think the OP may be a she :D
karlt
Posts: 2244
Joined: 15 Jul 2011, 2:07pm

Re: Please help!

Post by karlt »

horizon wrote:Although the OP mentioned traffic (for the obvious reasons), I think hills are initially the bigger problem with clipless. Given he may have high gears, wants to ride up steep hills and isn't quite ready, the chances are he'll need to think about getting off - by which time he hasn't the motion to clip out before the bike has stalled. It took me a while to get used to this and I don't think a high pressure situation like the 100 mile is the best time or place. Like others have suggested I too would say, ditch the clipless for now and then re-introduce them slowly and relaxedly until the fears are overcome and the full benefits (I do believe they exist!) can be enjoyed.


That phenomenon got me up a few hills where I'd have been walking if I'd been on flats a couple of years back...
Flinders
Posts: 3023
Joined: 10 Mar 2009, 6:47pm

Re: Please help!

Post by Flinders »

horizon wrote:Although the OP mentioned traffic (for the obvious reasons), I think hills are initially the bigger problem with clipless. Given he may have high gears, wants to ride up steep hills and isn't quite ready, the chances are he'll need to think about getting off - by which time he hasn't the motion to clip out before the bike has stalled. It took me a while to get used to this and I don't think a high pressure situation like the 100 mile is the best time or place. Like others have suggested I too would say, ditch the clipless for now and then re-introduce them slowly and relaxedly until the fears are overcome and the full benefits (I do believe they exist!) can be enjoyed.



Agreed 100%. When road speed is dropping on a steep hill, it isn't the easiest time to unclip. There is also the temptation to stay in so as not to slow even further as you unclip, in the hope that you will make it. But if you don't, and have to stop, you fall over. :(
mercalia
Posts: 14630
Joined: 22 Sep 2013, 10:03pm
Location: london South

Re: Please help!

Post by mercalia »

simple put on some ordinary pedals
User avatar
bigjim
Posts: 3244
Joined: 2 Feb 2008, 5:08pm
Location: Manchester

Re: Please help!

Post by bigjim »

I had some knee problems using cleats, though I don't know if they were the cause. Anyhow I switched to some platform pedals fron Clas Ohlson. They cost me no more than £4 for a pair and I rode for 12 months with these. Club runs everything. I never noticed that they affected my performance in any way.
Image
Post Reply