[snaily]

Having persuaded my wife to get a road bike I bought her some Shimano touring shoes that take 2 bolt spd cleats. She was hoping to use these in conjunction with some Shimano A530 pedals. Shes been using the road bike for commuting nearly every day come rain or shine but wearing trainers for the past few months. I was hoping to improve her pedaling efficiency and overall speed.

Today we decided to see how she can get on with them, first trying to clip in the right foot in the garden leaning against the wall, took a while but no real problems.

Then we tried the left foot and this is where the issues start. My wife suffers with Charcot marie tooth and shes had numerous operations on her left ankle, the last one was to break the ankle and refuse it to stop her going over on her ankle.

It took her some time to clip in, probably due to trying something new but finally managed it but she was unable to unclip, she could twist her ankle but it just wouldn’t unclip as she couldn’t twist far enough. We will have another go tomorrow and see how we get on.

In the meantime I would like to ask if road SPD-SL cleats would unclip any easier or if anyone has any other solutions.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Neil

Topic

[muddydwarf]

The cursing and stamping when
The cursing and stamping when I try to get my left foot into my Shimano 105 pedals amuses my riding buddies but its really dispiriting. I can wrestle my right foot into the pedal and then it stays there til its time to dismount, my left is a never ending source of anger.
I’m really tempted to go back to using SPD pedals but I dislike the loose feeling when riding longer distances on the road.
For the OP I would suggest multi release cleats and trying different clear angles, CMT means some very odd angles of interface ive found.

[jacknorell]

I did assume no other issues,
I did assume no other issues, my apologies.

That does make sense! Before I got the cleats in the same position on both the winter & normal shoes… hilarity* ensued.

* Sketchy moments with foot flying off the pedal…

[muddydwarf]

jacknorell wrote:muddydwarf

jacknorell wrote:

muddydwarf wrote:

Very true, but not everyone is confident enough to take primary at lights & many will wait near the kerb.
My dominant foot is the right one, trying to kick off on my left is very odd & doesn’t feel safe.

I know, the fear is a real issue. But it does increase actual danger.

Shouldn’t wobbly much on taking off though, that’s a problem with balancing technique.

If you have issues around clipping in, wobbling will be a part of it. My left foot turns in quite markedly due to various corrective surgeries, but if I try to strike on that foot I veer horribly. Right foot twists in too but that foot doesn’t make me wobble (yes, I run like a crippled penguin!)

[jacknorell]

muddydwarf wrote:Very true,

muddydwarf wrote:

Very true, but not everyone is confident enough to take primary at lights & many will wait near the kerb.
My dominant foot is the right one, trying to kick off on my left is very odd & doesn’t feel safe.

I know, the fear is a real issue. But it does increase actual danger.

Shouldn’t wobbly much on taking off though, that’s a problem with balancing technique.

[muddydwarf]

Very true, but not everyone
Very true, but not everyone is confident enough to take primary at lights & many will wait near the kerb.
My dominant foot is the right one, trying to kick off on my left is very odd & doesn’t feel safe.

[jacknorell]

muddydwarf wrote:The problem

muddydwarf wrote:

The problem is that in the UK, the left foot is often the one we need to unclip at lights etc. By that I mean starting off with the left foot clipped in (IME) leads to veering rightwards briefly.
I would suggest trying the cleats in positions that at first seem odd, with My CMT I find my feet point in funny directions & not always directly ahead.

This is a non-issue. Use whatever side is best. If a cyclist veers off so much it impacts anything (more than a foot), it’s time to look at technique.

The position at lights will be either all the way in front of the cars (*never* on the left-hand side of vehicles) or in line with traffic… right ahead of the car’s bonnet.

Anything else is to invite close passes or left-hooks. Better deal with the occasional irate driver than riding in the gutter, which is much more dangerous.

[muddydwarf]

The problem is that in the
The problem is that in the UK, the left foot is often the one we need to unclip at lights etc. By that I mean starting off with the left foot clipped in (IME) leads to veering rightwards briefly.
I would suggest trying the cleats in positions that at first seem odd, with My CMT I find my feet point in funny directions & not always directly ahead.

[runskiprun]

I am a below knee amputee and
I am a below knee amputee and its been a journey to find out what works best. I started with the humble toe over clips, but also had a fear of not being able to remove my foot if needed. I then tried the MTB cleats after reading some other blogs on amputee fitness. I was happy with them, as they meant I could walk wearing the MTB type shoes. Its a process thing, you’ve got to try to see what works best. I’m now onto the road type pedals (3 bolt type), as it makes putting tri type shoes on easier on my prosthetic foot..

I would suggest getting her to clip in on her left foot first, and keep her right foot for unclipping and pushing off at intersections.
Good luck!

[snaily]

Again thanks for the replies,
Again thanks for the replies, very much appreciated and nice to know she is not alone in her quest for easier unclipping and there are people out there willing to help.

Seems as though according to muddydwarf that the SPD-SL cleats / shoes combination would be harder to unclip so sticking with the touring shoe and spd cleats seems the easier option.

I’ve been too busy to get the SH56 cleats today but will order some online in the near future, the weathers been rubbish also 🙁

She will quite happily continue to wear her trainers but I just feel she is missing out in terms of efficiency in pedaling also safety when cycling in the wet and the ability for some decent waterproof overshoes.

Thanks

[Beefy]

I’m probably being overly
I’m probably being overly optimistic about BCF but I woulder if they have any sort of link person who can advise cyclists with varying physical challanges on how to over come these problems, I intend this as a question if any one might know. If BCF don’t then they are missing out on helping a large section of society engage in a wonderful sport/hobbie.

[muddydwarf]

I have CMT too, for the last
I have CMT too, for the last year ive been struggling to get some SPD-SL cleats & 105 pedals to work for me.
For whatever reason, its really frustrating as I simply cannot get them to ‘click’ in the way that SPD’s work – ive been riding MTB’s with SPD’s for over 10yrs without trouble but SPD-SL’s are rapidly becoming a nightmare.
I find I have to almost ‘screw’ my foot into the pedal before it binds & simply cannot find a position where it clicks into place without a strong twisting motion combined with a LOT of downward pressure.
If anyone can offer help I would be very grateful.

[snaily]

Thanks for the replies so
Thanks for the replies so far, I forgot to mention the pedals are a already set to the lowest tension for easier release.

I could try the SH-56 cleats, I’ll have a look tomorrow.

Thanks

Neil

[jacknorell]

There are multi-release
There are multi-release cleats available, these are easier to get out of.

You’re looking for the SH-56 ones. About £10 from your favourite online retailer.

And as GKam84 says, start out with the lowest tension possible and tighten only until your wife needs to intentionally move to release the cleat.

I can imagine that given her ankle, if she’s a hard time to release the current version (single-release is what comes with the pedals, model SH-51) then clipping back in could be tricky too. So avoiding unnecessary release is probably good.

[Gkam84]

NO, you are on the right set
NO, you are on the right set up for easy unclips. Just back off the left pedal a bit so she doesn’t have to twist and pull so much, should just be able to lift her leg and unclip, but not enough for her to unclip every rotation.

If that makes sense. Back it off in stages until it is easy for her to get in and out of.

[Author]

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