Clipless Pedals for Mtn Bikes

The Story

Last weekend I purchased Shimano PD-M520 clip in pedals and some shoes. Since I've owned my 06 Specialized Rockhopper comp, I've debated getting clip in pedals but have never purchased them because I always think of other things to buy instead.

Long story short...I was going to hike the Grand Canyon with my sis Liz but ended up buying the pedals and shoes instead. (She decided to buy them first, so I just followed her) So rather than pay for gas and other expenses to go to the canyon we bought ourselves some new toys.

Replacing the pedals was fairly easy...clicking the shoes in was not quite as easy...riding with the pedals......that was interesting. I started off with one pedal. Piece of cake. I clicked in with both pedals and started riding around feeling pretty confident. It didn't feel much different. Liz was riding around on hers too...clicking in and out just getting a feel for it. I decided to "pop-a-wheelie". Earlier on in the week I'd been riding around with my nephew Steve J. and we had been seeing how far we could pedal with just our back wheel on the ground. This is what inspired me to try and pull this off. I pulled the wheelie and pedaled a little too hard. I let go of my handle bars and forgot for a brief second that my feet were still attached to the bike. I landed right on my behind. Ouch! That was an immediate note to self....don't try wheelies with click in pedals.

Street Riding

My own opinion (so far) about the pedals is that they're awesome for street riding. My sis and I rode 40 miles on pavement this last weekend with the clipless pedals...and they performed great.

Trail Riding

I'm still forming my opinion about this. I've been on trail rides so far: 1)Logan river trail and, 2) Green Canyon trail. Technical areas make me more paranoid because I start thinking about clicking out before I even hit the terrain. I think the more terrain I ride the more comfortable I'll get. Downhill seems to be even better. When I hit rocky patches my feet don't slide off like they normally do. One thing I've really enjoyed about the pedals is that it makes bunny hoping even easier....for example: at the Green Canyon trail there were logs placed into the trail to help prevent trail erosion. These small logs were fun to hop over. Very cool. Better riders wouldn't need the clip ins to help them hop over the logs...but having them makes it so much easier.

Conclusion

I like the clipless pedals. There's a definite learning curve to getting used to them. I'm still trying to figure them out. Even on my ride tonight I thought about putting my old pedals on. I'm still sitting on the fence with the pedals....but I can see the definite advantage to keeping them on. I'm going to force myself to become more confident in them on the technical terrain.

Ride On!