Clipped in the butt by love
This article was written in the first-half of 1995
As if it is not hard enough to ride without contacting the terra firma,
there is a 'higher plane' of mountain bike existence only understood by
those who have a ton of money and spare time.
I speak of the mountain bike component known as the clipless pedal.
Yes, you can slide your foot into a plastic sheath to keep your shoes
from having to dance with about 30 spokes, but there is no rush like
having your legs all but welded to the pedals of the bike while you hammer
down a trail about a half-second from tenderizing your face on the
gravel below.
Clipless pedals can strike fear in even the most seasoned MTB rider.
If you ask anyone that has them, you will hear how great they are, and
how "you" need to get them right now. The idea was not one I was happy
about. I am used to my toe clips, and while I know they have some
downsides, I was in no hurry to get rid of them.
Finally though, I took the dive and got rid of my toe-clips a few days
ago. While still fresh in my mind (and the wounds are still fresh on my
legs), here is what I can tell you about clipless pedals.
There is no secret that a set of SPD pedals and shoes will run close to
$200. For this reason, one should be clear about *WHY* they are getting
clip-less pedals before making the investment, there are advantages and
disadvantages.
So why even connect my foot to the pedal to begin with?
Believe it or not, this is a safety issue. First, lets think about a
simple 18 inch burm you intend to take some air off of. If you hit the
burm anywhere but spot-on in the middle, you are going to need to hang
on to that bike as it gets launched from the burm and into the air.
Next, you have to hang on to the bike as it hits the ground on landing
and keep everything upright and moving forward without getting launched
towards Saturn. If you think you can do this without some sort of
'connection' to the bike, you will find yourself very wrong and very
sore.
To take a step back, you maybe familiar with BMX. BMX riders do not have
clip-in pedals and they catch enough air to qualify as an airline. If
a connection to the bike is so critical, why don't the BMX riders use them?
Actually, the geometry of the BMX bike is much different. Besides weighing
a bit less, the frame is MUCH smaller, and the bars are much higher on
a BMX bike. Also, if you look at BMX pedals you will notice they have a
cage on them that could double as a set of dentures for a large Pirhana.
On a BMX bike, you hold your body to the pedals with the bars and your
legs (much like you do on a motorcross bike), but the result is the same -
keep your body connected to the pedals at all costs.
There are also more and more BMX riders going to MTB's and the ones
i have met go
directly to clipless pedals anyhow.
Why not Toe clips?
There is nothing wrong with toe clips. Generally, they are sufficient for
most terrain and most beginner riders. The issue comes into play when you
want to do some serious climbs, jumps, and decents.
The biggest problem with toe clips is the inherient danger when you do
not have your foot in the clip - it hangs down and catches on things.
Yes, I speak from experience. It is not recommended to take your foot out
of a toe clip when on a rough surface. The toe clip will hang down and
hook itself on everything you try to ride over - this really hurts!
This can also be compounded by needing to take your foot off the
pedal. When I am taking a fast or loose turn, I get one foot off the
pedals and out to the side to act as an outrigger. This means the bike
can slide and pitch about, and with a leg out, you can keep ahead of
the bike and ride it out of the turn at full-steam.
If you attempt this with toe clips, the sequence is always the same - you
slide your foot out, the clip catches on things, you get through the turn,
and then you try to get your foot back into the toe clip and start
pedaling again. Very difficult.
This is not to say that toe clips don't have some advantages over SPD-type
pedal systems. The most obvious advantage of a toe clip is getting out
of it. You slide your foot back and down - no problem even in a fall. You
also have some float in your foot when it is in a toe clip. You can
move your heel to the left and right as you pedal and hang on for dear
life. This float allows a rider to get pretty sideways on the bike, perhaps
to recover from a bad jump (the voice of experience here) or to keep from
washing out on a turn.
Let's clip.
This is one of those "what to buy" things. There is no right answer.
First some info about the clip types. Most clipless pedals will be
LOOK or SPD compatible. LOOK and SPD dictate the type of pedal and
cleat that is used to make the connection. You can tell an SPD
setup from a LOOK setup, I recommend going to a bike shop and seeing
both for familiarity. About 80% of the pedals and shoes out there are
SPD or Shimano Pedaling Dynamics compatible. For the sake of simplicity,
it is recommended that you choose a SPD-compatible system. Later you may
need parts for your pedals, or cleats for your shoes. By choosing SPD,
you will have no trouble getting the stuff you need in the future.
The SPD system consists of a shoe with a metal 'cleat' screwed into the
bottom of it, and a pedal which will accept the cleat and allow it to
click in. This is done rather simply. Think of the cleat as a triangle
with a corner pointing towards the front of the shoe. You slide the
the front corner of the triangle into a little notch in the front of the
pedal. The rear of the triangle (the other two corners) press down on
a metal bar which yields to the pressure, moves out of the way to the back,
and allows the back of the triangle to 'click-in' beneath it. You are now
clipped in. To get out of any SPD, you just twist your foot outward from
the bike. If you have miltiple-release cleats, you can twist your foot
inward or upward also.
There are a number of variables when dealing with SPD shoes and pedals.
First is the type of pedal. You can get SPD pedals which are rebuildable,
and some are even made with SUPER lightweight parts. Some SPD's have
'cages' like a normal pedal, while most others are cageless. There are
even SPD pedals which you can clip in to both sides!
Some SPD's have a bit of lateral 'float' to them, usually 4 to 6 degrees -
this is a function of the pedal and not the cleat as one may think.
SPD cleats are a bit more cut and dry. You do have a choice of materials
that the cleat is made from - usually stainless steel - but this effects
only how long the cleat will last. Yes, cleats do wear out. You will
need to start a memorial cleat fund if you ride a lot.
Other than that, the only option is if the cleat is multi-release or not.
As mentioned earlier, a single-release cleat will only allow you to get
out when you twist your heel out away from the bike. This is done so
that there is little which will accidentally dislodge you. If you find
you are clipped in and always stay that way, you will want the single-
release cleats.
A multi-release cleat will allow you to get out by twisting away from the
bike, into the bike, or by pulling upwards a bit. They are easier to get
out of, and you can get disconnected very easy when the trail gets
rocky.
So, how to make a decision?
I can only tell how I made the decision to get SPD's.
My biggest hurdle with mountain biking was jumps and hard-burmed turns.
On the jumps, I would occasionally get too squirrely on the take off, and
found myself contorting my body while in the air to correct for the bad
launch. The jump was compounded because my feet were loose in the toe
clips and I could not goose the bike to work with me. I had to keep
myself on top of the bike as opposed to keeping the bike under me.
Next are the turns. When there is a high-burmed turn I like to come
up to it at full-tilt. This means taking a foot off the inside pedal,
going into human-outrigger mode and hanging some bootie while I shred the
turn and exit out with full impulse power. Problem with the toe clips
is that I cannot get back into the pedals quickly and cleanly, and I have
to fumble a bit to get under power again.
The decision to get SPD's was easy for me. I had reached a point where the
toe clips were impeding my ability, and it only took 6 years to have this
realization!
With the MasterCard in hand, I ordered a set of Shimano caged SPD pedals.
Why caged you ask? One of the great rushes in mountain biking is the
slalom. This is where you have a set of twisty trails which are
slightly downhill and you and some other psycho start at the top and see
who can get to the bottom the fastest. The problem is that you are rocking
so hard on the way down, that you do not want to be clipped in at all.
With cages on my SPD pedals I can still do the slalom with the gang,
and even wear my big stoner boots when I ride. Caged SPD pedals may not
be for everyone.
There was one other reason I got caged SPD pedals - clicking in.
I found that none of the SPD pedals were weighted too well.
Most of them would rotate to the rear of the bike when you clipped
out. Some would rotate to the front, and some would even rotate upside
down! This means that you need to know how the pedal will 'fall' when
you take your foot out so you can clip back in. Most of the Shimano SPD
pedals will fall to the back. This means that the rear of the SPD pedal
is the heaviest, so when you take your foot off the pedal will rotate
back about a half-turn. Knowing this, you can assume that the front of
the SPD pedal will be "up" when your foot is not in it. You can then
enter the SPD pedal by moving your foot forward from the rear of the
pedal.
The point here is to go get a set of SPD's you are interested in, and
grab them by the spindle to see where they 'fall'. As odd as this sounds,
no one seems to know about it, and I can see that this would be a real
pain if the pedals were not behaving as you expect. If you find nothing
that statisfies you, you can get a set of SPD pedals with
a place to clip in on both sides!
Do you need float? What about the shoes?
There are many things to determine what you should get for SPD's. The
biggest factor will be that you are new at this. Why buy something
that you cannot take full advantage of?
When you first use SPD's you will have to deal mostly with clicking in
and getting out. The biggest hurdle is getting out of the SPD pedals
when you are about to crash. This is one thing that can take a long time
to master.
I recommend a good shoe, one that fits well. The advantage to the shoe
is that the insole is reinforced. By preventing the flex you get in a
normal shoe from going down the sole of the shoe, you put MUCH more of
your energy into turning the cranks and less into bending your footwear
when you are hammering on your bike.
As to the cleats, I think you should decide what you want to use them for.
If you want to clip in and stay there, I recommend the single-release
cleats. If you want to come out easy, or you find yourself having
trouble getting out of the single-release cleats you may prefer the
multi-release cleats. Since cleats are about $20, you may want to buy both
and see which one you like the best.
For pedals, you really need to only think if you want cages or not.
With cages, you do not need to have your SPD shoes to go for a ride,
and you can hang with the big guys in tight twisties. The downside is
that you have less ground clearance than a cage-less SPD pedal.
Start with an affordable, name-brand pedal. You can get the top-of-the-line pedal later. Until you use the pedal for a few *months*, you cannot
expect to know 'what you want' and how you 'want it to work'. Better to
buy a pair of $60 pedals to start with and then upgrade to a better set
later. Besides the fact that the technology changes every 8 months, things
get cheaper and better as time passes.
Remember that todays top of the line component is tomorrows entry-level
component.
Impressions of the first time SPD rider:
Oddly, it was easier than I thought it was going to be. The biggest
problem is crashing. Normally I try to approach things without fear.
As long as you are not afraid, it is easy to keep a light touch on the
bars and to moto through terrain that is trying to buck you off.
When you get nervous, you will tend to death-grip the bars and sometimes
you will not react the way common-sense tells you to.
What I find most prevalent with the SPD's is that I am now a bit afraid
of falling. As a result, I get into some stupid situations where I
am not doing what is needed to keep the bike on the line.
My fear stems from the SPD setup. I like to separate myself from the
bike when the poop hits the cooler, and with the SPD's I have this fear
I will not clip out in time, and I will have to take a fall with the
bike connected to me. This has never happended, but I think about it
when I ride. I know this will pass in time, but it was an unexpected
side effect.
Another problem stems from the SPD pedals themselves.
You cannot buy an SPD pedal without a disclaimer in it. Every SPD pedal
had a form you were supposed to sign which stated that the pedals had
been installed by a pro, and that you had been trained in the use and
maintenance (wd-40) of the pedal. This was, in a manner of speaking, a
litigation disclaimer against the manufacturer of the product.
This disclaimer is also stuck to the inside of the SPD boxes so that you
cannot do anything without seeing all these disclaimers and forms.
Seeing all the stuff in the box immediately gives you a sense of doom
from the get go. Geez, no one lectured me about being careful when I
bought my bike! You should see what I can do with it!! Why are they
putting all this product-fear into the consumer about a set of bicycle pedals?
Not a good way to get new users to buy pedals as far as I am concerned.
Reciprocally, the pedals have many upsides to them.
First is the air, more air, big air. My goodness, you can catch air when
you are connected to the bike! I would guesstimate that my bunny hops
gained about 4 to 6 inches on day one, and I can take familiar jumps at
a lower speed and catch much more air! I also have less fear on jumps
because I am connected to the bike. If I leave a jump at the
wrong angle, I can just use my arms and legs to put the bike
back under me the way I want it to be. No more stratospheric body
contortions as the bike leaves the gound and I leave the bike!
Tabletops??? Weeeeeellll, no not yet, but I can get the front tire way
crossed-up before landing. More on this later.
The next SPD gem are climbs. Climbing gets much easier because you can
put less energy into the pedal to get it to turn. Remember that your SPD
shoe has a rigid insole, and it will put all your energy into the pedal
and not the sole of the shoe! This means you can use the energy you have
now to climb a bit higher, or grind up a hill a bit longer. You also
can pull your cranks through the stroke when climbing. This is harder
than it sounds, but if you master it you can save even more energy.
What if you could move your whole bike to the left or right a few inches
when the doo-doo was about to connect with a fan? Pretend you are coming
up to a small ledge with a 18 inch drop-off. As you get to the edge you
realize that going on the line you are on will result in getting
bounced off and probably launched into space. Just before you get to the
edge, you can move (hop) the bike a bit to the left or right to correct
the line you leave the ledge with. Sounds much harder than it is, and
you will probably surprise yourself the first time you do this. It will
save your butt. On a similar note, the SPD's allowed me to take jumps and
hops off a line. That is, I can leave the ground on an object and
land a few inches to the left or right of it. This is also nice when you
have to catch air on a turn. You can actually get into the air on the turn,
and keep the bike lined up for the leaned-over landing - way cool!
Overall, the SPD's have helped my riding. Considering the cost, it helps
if you are not new at this. I would not recommend SPD's for anyone
who is less than serious about thier MTB experiences. For the money
you could buy a pretty radical rim, or add a suspension where there was
not one to begin with. If your bike has it all, or you're real comfortable
with your bike, then SPD is for you.
As with anything, be prepared to practice and to get hurt - SPD's are
not forgiving, but if you want to reach a new level of control they are
a good investment.
Non-stop flights leaving daily,
Flyin Al
Got a question for Flyin' Al?
If you have any fishing or mountain biking questions for Flyin' Al,
you can send an email to:
aeb@adobe.com
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