I’ve got some Time Z Freeride pedals which i’ve been using for years on a commuter when i lived up in london. Usually ride the mountain bike on flats but recently thought i’d give clips a try. Found them difficult to panic unclip out of or even when trying to unclip a foot for a corner as you seem to have to twist your foot a long way before they release. Never bothered me when commuting as i never really needed to get out in a hurry. Are the Shimano ones which seem more popular easier to get out of quickly? And does the surrounding grip on the shoes make a difference? I’ve got some standard specialized spd shoes, xc race style one.

Ta muchly.

I’ll not use a shimano pedal again, as they have crap mud and ice clearance, means that off-road either Time or Eggbeater’s are the best choices (Time in my case).
Have you got the cleat the right way round? IIRC you can fit them two different ways, one will give you more float, this ‘may’ cause the extra twist your reporting. Personnaly I’ve never had an issue upclipping with Times, even when gong over the bars (quite regularly lately) I always find myself unclipped.

Time.

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I’ve just got some time z controls after previously using Shimano SPDs. Can’t say I’ve noticed any difference in the ease of unclipping, I think it just becomes second nature after a while. You can reverse the cleats to change the angle of engagement, not sure which way is which but it may be worth reversing them.

Hmm, must be some bad ingrained technique i’ve got from using them on the road bike. I can’t remember which way round the cleats are exactly but i seem to think i had them set on the less float setting, will maybe try that though. Also the cleats are very worn but i would have thought that would make them easier to get out of if anything.

it will never be a s quick as a flat so you need to learn to panic unclip

I have the same Time peadals and struggled to unclip also, even with the cleats on the easy unclip setting. I find Shimano much easier but my knees prefer the Times. I had 661 shoes too and these were lethal in the Times, they were far too flexible. Changed too Specialized something-or-others with a nice stiff sole which helped enormously. Now on flats and can’t really see me going back to clips on the mountain bike.

I used to use SPDs but found that unless you maintain them they can be difficult to get out of – I have the scars to prove it!.

Changed to Time and have been happy ever since (was tempted by Eggbeater when they first came out but glad I did not after friends had reliability problems with them).

Shimano, but I ride M324’s – flat on one side clip in the other. When it looks easy I clip in, when it doesn’t I flip the pedal over. If clogged with mud, I also use the flat side, but this hasn’t been a problem. I ride with very stiff Shimano shoes which have worn soles.

Keep these on all but my road bikes, as it makes shoe selection non-critical.

Shimano do multi release cleats that you can pretty much pull your feet out at any angle.

CaptainFlashheart – Member
Time.

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I also used to think this until I got some new XTR trails, now the Time Z’s are chucked in the spares box and all shoes recleated……

with a dremel you can make times as easy as you want to get out of…

My £20 Shimano Deore pedals have outlived my old Time XS pedals (£70) as the Time cleats seem to be made of cheese!

You probably have too much flexibility in your shoes, with a more rigid sole you can unclip much easier as you’ll be twisting the cleat rather than the sole of your shoe!

Stick with em, they’re worth it

stop using the spds and stick with the times – the mud clearance on the times is far superior – one day you will find yourself stuck in the spds as you fall and end up with a nasty knee injury.

Clip into your pedals and then take your foot out of the shoe. Twist the shoe and look if the tread is preventing the shoe unclip. My Specialized shoes needed the tread trimming for both my ATACs and Freeride pedals.

DONT GET MULTI RELEASE! they are totally crap for offroad. Trust me they release too easily and could cause problems over rough ground of even on jumps.

+1 for new XTR trail pedals.

Been using times for years, I’ve got both Z freerides & atac. It’s well worth checking your shoes, had some Specialized Buzzsaws which needed some trimming done to the sole treds. As had been mentioned before shoes whith stiffer soles are better. It’s worth sticking with & it’s surprising how quick you learn to unclip with fear as a teacher or everyone laughing when you fall off.