Pedals – baulking the trend?

Within days of buying my first road bike I had purchased some clipless pedals (Shimano R540 SL) and shoes (DHB). This was about 18 months or so ago.

I love the way they feel when I ride, HOWEVER, at times I find that they also ‘put me off’ going for a quick spin.

I can only put this down to the fact that I used to always use toe clips and straps when commuting and BITD when mtbing. I then left cycling for a while and on my return was just mtbing and moved to flat pedals.

Currently my ss is in need of some serious tlc but it is wearing some Wellgo v8 style flatties as the old clip ‘n’ strap jobs need re-building/replacing.

My Kona mtb has Kona wah wah flatties on it too.

I spilt my time on my bikes which usually works out as when with family/friends its the mtb and when on my own its the road bike so it isn’t that one is used that much more.

I have only had 1 incident when I first got them and I had an ‘off’ – but that wasn’t me forgetting to unclip but rather turning into a narrow road to find my path blocked by a careless motorist and not having time to unclip! I admit it did end up with a nasty twisting injury to a liagment but I have used them plenty of times since.

I just keep having this nagging thought that I would happier if I ran clips and straps though, partly because the action feels stiff and awkward to unclip despite the soft/easy setting and partly because it feels more of a faff when jumping on the bike and just going for a spin for some reason.

Has anyone else gone back to clips?

Other than just persisting has anyone got an tips that got them more at ease with clipless pedals?

I don’t feel uncomfortable in a ‘need practice’ way but do seem to lack confidence with them.