She’s been riding 6 months and is pretty good,
But it so easy now after 10 years I have forgot how long it took me.
This is a whole new thing for her and I will probably need a drink out of frustration after. lol
Any tips apart from try try try and try again.
Cheers

It’s not compulsory!

I rode spd’s for years then changed to flats and haven’t looked back. Have more confidence on technical stuff by NOT being clipped in.

Depends…. my missus races in flats as she’s not happy in clipless, even though she uses clipless on the road…

When I was learning I just went to the local woods and rode slowly, and practiced unclipping.

Its easier is you buy some secondhand cleats, and if you’re using a spring clipless system – put it to its slackest setting.

Personally though, I find Crank Brothers easier to unclip and clip in to – but others will disagree.

learn to unclip before you learn to clip in (if that makes sense)

I wouldn’t be without clipless on the road, still struggle off road. I find the one foot in, one foot out method quite good!

Taking spds and flats to my next race (tomorrow) so I can do a lap of the course and see what I think…if there’s no where I feel like I’m going to need to get my feet on the ground or if there’s a lot of climbing/ grassy bits spds might win…if not it’ll be flats!

Make sure you’re behind her, offering encouragement. Tell her to stay relaxed – a little lube can help too. Make sure it’s fully engaged before pushing too hard and let her know that if it doesn’t feel right she can go back to the old way. There are bound to be tears at first, but she’ll be glad she gave it a go.

This technique works for SPDs too.

But on a serious note…

If you’ve got some worn out pedals and cleats that would be a good start. They tend to release a lot easier (specially with Time Atacs).

And she’ll have 3 rides with 3 tumbles a ride before she gets it.

Serious question, not trolling, but does she need to learn how to ride in cleats ? If she’s comfortable riding flats, then maybe it would be better to upgrade to better flat pedals and better shoes rather than try and force her into doing something she’s not comfortable with ?

Just because they might be suitable for you, doesn’t necessarily mean they will work for her.

Not trying to be rude or argumentative, just trying to present another side of the argument.

Some interesting thoughts here http://www.bikejames.com/cardio-training/top-3-clipless-pedal-myths/

Make sure you’re behind her, offering encouragement. Tell her to stay relaxed – a little lube can help too. Make sure it’s fully engaged before pushing too hard and let her know that if it doesn’t feel right she can go back to the old way. There are bound to be tears at first, but she’ll be glad she gave it a go.

That your failsafe technique is it BigJohn? 😉

Anyway, don’t push her onto clipless pedals, if she wants to use them then let her (obviously) but don’t make her feel like she should be using them if she doesn’t want to. They are by no means compulsory, or should they ever be deemed to be so.

IMHO rocky technical climbs are easier in cleats as your feet do not bounce around on the pedals.
Also the 10% or so extra pedal efficiency on fire roads appeal to her.
It’s not a case of forcing her but if she learns early into riding then she will have the choice.
This will be her second go and she is the one that keen.

I would also make sure she wants to, rather than you wanting her to.

When you think about it, the only big deal is wanting to put your foot down – which you really should not do randomly. If you want to stop, then plan to stop and go ahead and stop – ie deliberately and with control. What I mean by that is having the option of dabbing your foot down all the time is not really to do with flat or clip pedals, and it’s more about keeping control of your mind. What we’ve found over the years is that one of the biggest things with improving a rider is getting them to stay in a controlled state of mind and never getting into panic mode, in which case flats vs spds is neither here nor there.

IMHO rocky technical climbs are easier in cleats as your feet do not bounce around on the pedals.

Cleats can make up for bad technique…Maybe if she is starting out you’re better of teaching her how to keep her feet planted on bumpy ground, and efficient pedalling?

Only 6months? There are many, many skills to be worked on before getting someone on clips!
You haven’t said if she even wants to use them yet

This will be her second go and she is the one that keen.

why do people assume she is being forced to use them? can’t she make her own mind up?! clearly she wants to, and the thread is about getting tips on how to make it easier to learn 🙄

old cleats, a bit of lube on the pedal, loosen the tension on them (if possible), and practice practice practice on grass. friend of mine has/is going through the same process at the moment, cos SHE wants to.

Buy some knee pads. People clipped in hit the floor more often (in a straw poll of my riding buddies)

It’s a bit of red herring focussing on making the cleats easier to get out of, unless there is something actually wrong with them. The problem in “learning” spds is (1.) forgetting to unclip, which only really happens when you’re flustered (as I said before, being unflustered is an essential mtb skill) and also (2.) a little anxiety that can build up when you’re stressed (again, being able to control your stress is an essential mtb skill).

You haven’t said if she even wants to use them yet

Er, he has, and she does.

My GF is the same – she wants to use spuds, I think it is a bit early as she is only just beginning to build confidence, but my opinion is she dosn’t need to be wrapped up in cotton wool and she can decide for herself, and learn from her own mistakes. I’ll just give what advice, support and encouragement I can. If she wants to go back to flats, no problem.

The worn cleats thing is a good idea though – she dosn’t ride enough to wear in new cleats quickly enough. I’ll try that.

As with a lot of things in life though, you’ve either got to commit to doing it properly, or not do it at all. Trying to ride descents with only one foot clipped in, or the pedals so loose you can fall out of them is hardly going to help matters! Being fixated on being able to bail out all the time just means you end up having to more often.

Think the last time she tried was with new cleats..
So maybe I’ll swap them with my worn ones(if I can get them off)

I taught Mrs Ononeorange how to use cleats – and yes, I had her consent first! – there were a few tumbles, but we found some of those pedals (324?) with flat one side and clips the other. Those just did the trick, knowing she could revert to a flat if she wanted. The only problem is that now she won’t take them off her bike!

Oops, missed the part about her being keen…. i blame my phone 😳

I still stand by my comment of get the general riding skills down before clipping in though. E.g. can she bunny-hop, jump, drop, corner consistantly well already? These would all be points I’d encourage before moving onto making your bike less manoeverable and fun (this is from a history of playing on both flats and clips, flats are wwwaaayyy more fun and much better for cornering imo, the only bike I still clip in on is the XC machine and it’s sketchy as hell!)

shimano are possibly the best ime to clip in and out of, but tbh theres not much advantage of spd over flats, these days i’m mostly using flats for general riding and spd for races.
incorrect setup spd can cause issues with your knees