I bought some clippy pedals, some orthopaedic clogs and borrowed an open mind from a friend. Today I went on my first ride. Here's what I thought.
Initially, things didn't feel too different. Other than the 5 minutes it took me to clip in, things seemed pretty normal. I've been running the pedals (Shimano M530) a couple of clicks off the loosest setting, until I get a bit more comfortable.
So, I rode for a bit, and some odd things started to happen. When I was sat down, I felt like my feet were tipping forwards on the pedals. I couldn't work out why? I wondered if my cleats were set too far forward, but surely that would have the opposite effect. They're set so the axle sits over the ball of my foot, where it would be on my flats.
I normally have my seat relatively low. I've been trying to find the optimum "comfortable for all situations compromise" and feel like I got it pretty close. HOWEVER, when riding with the clips, this felt way too low. I kept nudging the seat up in small increments and ended up with it outrageously high! I'm not so sure I like this and might just have to learn to deal with it being back where it was, as a bit of neck/back pain was starting to appear by the time I got back.
Over the course of the ride, I felt slow. Much slower than normal. Now, whether this is down to the crazy wind, the fact that I haven't been riding much of late or the clips, is up for debate, but it did feel slow. I felt like I lacked power in the climbs and found myself in a much lower gear than normal.....as well as sitting down a bit more. That said, STRAVA claims that I was only 5/10 mins off normal pace, which could maybe be attributed to faffing about and vainly stamping on pedals.
When it came to descending, It felt really natural, which was a pleasant surprise. The bike (BFe) seemed to have more grip and, in most cases, was much more controllable. I was a little tentative, due to the nature of being physically attached to the bike, but everything seemed to be ok.
All in all, it was a relatively pain free experience. The trails around me aren't particularly technical, but offer a wide range of terrain to test the new deelies. I'm looking forward to having a go at something a bit steeper/bumpier/gnarnia.
Would anyone like to offer any words of wisdom for my next adventure into the world of clips?
Don't try to wheelie unless you're good at it, it won't end well. I did it today on the way to work, looped out and landed on my arse in a puddle. And don't stop next to big drops and forget to unclip, that doesn't end well either.
There is part of my ride where the trail runs along the top of an old railway cutting and is littered with perpendicular roots and washed out sections. I normally ride this with no problem but I chickened out today, fearing the worst if I couldn't unclip in time 😳
Went back to clips today after 6 months on flats due to an unfortunate unclipping in mid air incident earlier this year. Was glad to be back on them, took on steeper climbs than I would have normally bothered attempting and only had one topple over moment due to having clips adjusted pretty tight. It was whilst I was crossing a bog so it was a soft but cold and wet landing.