Going “clipless”
A Guide for Beginner (and Experienced!)
Cyclists, to the Art and Practice of Cycling. Becoming Proficient, Fit, and Happy on your bike.
For you who are going through this for the very
first time: By now you’ve heard
about “clipless” pedals. Sometimes
these are referred to as “clip shoes,” or “clip pedals.” They are the kind of pedals that
require a special shoe and cleat combination to lock your foot into a special
pedal.
What does this mean? And why on earth are they called that?
In the beginning there where bicycles. These machines had pedals that the
rider pushed to make the bike go.
(The pedals were also used to make the bike stop. But that’s
another story.) Somewhere along
the line, some unsung genius figured out that the bike could be made to go more
efficiently if the foot was attached
to the pedal.
At that time bicycles were all the rage among
the upper classes, so this genius simply had one of the servants tie his boots
to the pedals. And lo! It worked! Of course, the genius needed an
assistant to tie the shoes to the pedals.
More, the assistant had to be present at the stop in order to untie
the shoes. This wasn’t a truly
practical system for most riders.
Along came another genius to improve on the
idea. This individual fashioned a
metal basket to the front of the pedal.
The purpose of this basket was to hold a strap open so the rider could place his or her own foot in it. The
basket affair was called a “toe clip.”
So serious
riders used bikes equipped with toe clip
pedals. That’s about where things
stayed for a long time. There were
minor variations, plastic replaced metal, but mostly the system was the
dominant one until some time in the late 1970s.
About then some Europeans figured out that it
was possible to make a great improvement on the toe clip. They did
this by attaching a special cleat to
the bottom of a stiff soled riding shoe.
The cleat was made in such a way that it could lock into a pedal. With this arrangement, the rider could
make power all the way around the crank stroke. Since this new technology did away with the toe clip, it was naturally called a clipless pedal.
Why bother?
The truth of the matter is that anyone can
benefit from using clipless pedals.
From the moment that a rider first “clips in” to clipless pedals, there will be an improvement in efficiency of
effort. We all want to be able to
go farther, faster, and stronger with the same effort. At least that’s the assumption we
make. The simple fact is, that if
a rider’s feet are solidly connected to the pedals, that increase in efficiency
will take place. But… (Of course there’s a “But”)… the benefit is immediate, but it’s not
necessarily complete.
The Catch
To fully appreciate that improvement requires
a good bit of training. (We’ll
cover that more in next week’s post.)
This training comes in two distinct forms. They are, (1) Learning how to operate the pedals and not
fall over, and (2) Developing the necessary psychomotor skill and musculature
enhancement to make full use of the benefits of the device.
For now, we’ll only concentrate on the first
of those two training aspects.
This is the part where we discuss how to not fall down.
Full Disclosure: When you start riding with clipless
pedals, you ARE going to fall down. It’s completely unavoidable.
The above is true, but it does not have to be a catastrophe. Before we discuss how to not fall down, let’s consider how to
best take that fall with minimal injury.
Here it is. When you fall
down, hold onto your handlebars with a death-grip, and go ahead and
scream. That’s it. Here’s the reasoning. The most common injuries that adult
cyclists suffer are 1) Rotator
Cuff injuries (broken collar bones, tears, fractures, dislocations), 2) Hyper
extensions of the elbow, 3) crushing injuries to the wrist. All of these come from extending the
arm and hand to “break the fall.”
If you are wearing a helmet, it is not necessary to protect your head at
the cost of serious injuries to the shoulder, arm, and wrist. (If you don’t wear a helmet, maybe the
wrist injuries are worth it. Head
trauma being so much worse. Just wear your helmet!)
If you hold the bar all the way to the ground,
you will land on the flat outside of your upper arm, and the flat outside of
your thigh. You will suffer some
bruising, and possibly a couple of small “strawberry” abrasions. Not too bad.
And that scream we mentioned? Do it! An open airway, with air being expelled (say by yelling)
makes the thorax more resilient and more capable of absorbing impact without
damage.
More Insurance ~ How to become more fall-proof.
The secret to being really good with clipless
pedals, and to not falling down, is…
PRACTICE!!!! Practice a lot! Work with both feet. Work on clipping out at the top of the crankstroke, and the
bottom, and the front, and the back.
Left foot. Right foot. Do it again. Do it more.
During the first year of riding “clipless” you should be working on the practice at least an hour of every
week. The objective here is to
install a new set of conditioned reflexes. Your goal is to become so adept, that you can get out of
your pedals with either foot, at any time, without thinking about it.
Yes, it takes some effort, but not the kind that makes you sore, stiff,
and tired. Just plain old pattern
practice.
What Type of Pedal should I
get?
That question starts a whole volume of
discussion. Listen to your
friends. Read what the “experts”
say. But, before you buy, go to a shop, talk with the folks there. Explain your intentions and your
desires, and then listen to their
advice. And then… Buy
the product from them. Yes,
you can get it cheaper online, but
the advice you just got is likely to save you a lot of money, and possibley some
injury. Why not pay it back?
Next Week: “Training in the Off-Season” or “Spin Class?”
~//~
This series
began with the post on Tuesday, 19 June 2012. It is intended to continue for three years. Each week, we will discuss exercises,
skills, practices, and activities designed to bring the new (or “experienced”)
rider a high level of cycling competence.
We’ll address common problems, and (always)
stress safe practice.
~//~
A Note on Timing: This series uses Mid-June as the
starting point of the “Cyclists Year.”
We do this because this is the time that most folks decide to start
riding. If you are following this
guide, you can “adjust” the timing to fit your personal “first three
years.” Do note that some of the
posts will concern weather and seasonal changes. When that starts to happen, just swap the “months” around to
fit your personal timeline.
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