1. Start-stop start-stop
So you’ve found a quiet traffic-free road. It’s practise time. First of all, make sure your gears are not in the hardest nor easiest setting. Straddling your bike, clip in one foot as you keep your weight on the other leg. As this point, don’t try to sit on the saddle – it’ll probably be too high! When you push down on the clipped pedal you can lift yourself up to sit on the saddle and place your other foot on the pedal. You don’t have to clip in straight away. Get some movement so you have balance and then after a few pedals, try to clip in by feeling, yes that’s right, WITHOUT looking down. Look where you are going, it’s so important.
2. One step (or foot) at a time
So to take it step-by-step and let the brain understand the motion and movements required, it might be an idea to focus on clipping out and clipping in with just one leg first. Once you’ve tried a few rounds on one leg, give it a go on the other. You might find the movement on one foot a little more comfortable and therefore you may well decide at this point that you will always clip out from one side first.
3. Practice the movement in a doorway
Not feeling so confident on the road? Well, why not take your bike to a doorway where you have something to rest on and practice the movement. If a road bike is new to you, getting the balance right will be essential to understand.
4. Make sure they are loose to unclip
Finding it hard to unclip? You may find that the pedals are on a setting that’s too tight and you need too much force to unclip. Of course, this is going to cause panic on the road, so try it out first and if it requires too much force to unclip, readjust the settings. How? On the back of the pedal there should be a little screw where you’ll see a plus and minus indicator which illustrates which way to turn the screw to either make it tighter or looser. Usually, it requires a 2.5mm or 3mm hex key.
5. Practice on the flat before taking a hill
You’re feeling pretty confident having tried on a quiet road. Take your time and do a few rides on the flat before heading out to tackle the hills. You may find having that automatic movement will come in handy if you have to stop suddenly!
6. Get in the right gear before you clip out.
It’s important to think about clipping in again before you even clip out so that you can adjust your gears to be in the correct gear for when you start up again. If you are in a really high gear or a really low gear when you stop on the flat it’s going to be much harder to start up and clip in – either your legs will need to spin super fast to get going and you’ll have no chance to clip in, or you’ll find it difficult to even push on the pedals if you are in such a high gear.
If you are ready to take on a hill, you should get into a low gear if you need to clip out so that it’s easier to start once you clip back in.
7. Unclip always with the same foot
What has come naturally to us is unclipping always with the same foot first. It then becomes second nature. It’s obviously always worth now and again practicing with the other foot for those emergency stops so you’re not caught off-guard.
8. Keep in mind
It’s a beautiful ride and the scenery is great. You see a T-junction ahead…so just start planning that stop and unclipping in advance for certainty.
9. It’s all about balance
Getting used to your bike is essential. Road bikes are a lot more unstable and reactive than city bikes or mountain bikes so it does take time. Having good balance is an important factor that will help you feel more confident on the bike so you know which side of the bike your weight must be shifted when unclipping. Shift your weight to the other side and you may not have given yourself enough time to unclip. BOOM, you find yourself giggling on the floor because you misjudged your balance or timing!
10. Enjoy the journey
We have all been there. We all must start from 0 so don’t feel like you are the only one going through this motion. You may pick it up super quickly, in which case, nice work, or you may take a little longer to be confident at managing the clipless pedals.
Take it at your own pace. There is no rush, so get to feel confident with your bike handling skills first, then slowly you can follow these steps to help you with the transition and you’ll soon start loving the smooth pedal movement much more!
