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A little context first as I have time on my hands and it will probably give some of you a wry smile:
A simple 20 mile road/XC route this morning on the new bike. Everything was going well until i was met with a multi junction crossing with my mind still in a 6am fug, cleared the first road, assessed the traffic light sequence for the 2nd road and felt comfortable to go, turned for a last check to my right and a roadie was coming along. Bit of a wake up call to not rely so much on my ears when assessing traffic but i stopped in time not to cause him an issue. Problem came when i realised that I had completely forgotten I was clipped in to my new DH Mallets, close your eyes and picture a fat man on a 29er slowly tipping sideways onto the road and being unable to move as they are still attached to the pedals.
The roadie stopped and checked I was OK and other than a grazed leg and bruised ego I was fine. For the next few miles I was trying to clip in and out but finding it really hard to get the shoe unclipped. After 20 mins or so I had pushed the incident to the back of my mind and was enjoying the new bike on some easy XC terrain, it felt lovely. Heading towards a nice little wooden footbridge that is quite narrow that I like the challenge of negotiating it (even though it's not really that hard)I was pleased with the lack of wobble I had until I got to the end and found that the exit off the bridge had dropped off leaving a step of about 1 ft. Not really a problem to roll off on a 29er which I did but stopped dead as the wheel hit a bank on the edge of the stream. Time to close your eyes again and picture the fat man on the 29er but this time slowly tipping into a stream.
So now you have had a laugh at my expensive, as have I, can you offer any advice on the mallets? I have ridden with shimano clipless for a few years and had no issue clipping in and out but I am finding it really hard with these pedals. I have fitted the easier release cleats so nowhere further to go with that, but I wondered if the position of the shoe on the pedal might help or hinder? I like to have them in the center of my foot rather than at the toe as it feels more stable. Could this positioning give less leverage to release the cleat? Or am I just going to have to sell my gorgeous shiny pedals and go back to boring Shimano spd's?
If you have fitted the cleats for maximum float then try swapping them over. Should mean less twisting pressure required to release them.
There is something especially painful about that slow static fall to the side with your feet locked in. I think its to do with the fact you know its coming but can't stop it.
The last one i did was pulling up at the work garage, i tried to stop and grab the door in one go as it just needed a little push. I overreached and couldn't get my foot out as i was already going down. There was much amusement for the many office people walking past.
If you have fitted the cleats for maximum float then try swapping them over. Should mean less twisting pressure required to release them.
As in just move left to right right to left? even though they have 'L' & 'R' stamped on them? is that not like crossing the streams?(showing my age) Will the shoes not explode?
If you haven't, wind in the pins for now at least.
If you haven't, with CB pedals always use the black plastic* shims under the cleats (your shoes will thank you too)
There are easy release cleats available too I believe
I had to learn to always unclip my foot at the front /top of the stroke as the chunkiness of "almost flat" clipless shoes combined with the rearward cleat position meant I often caught my toes on the crank and couldn't get out of the pedals.
As in just move left to right right to left? even though they have ‘L’ & ‘R’ stamped on them? is that not like crossing the streams?(showing my age) Will the shoes not explode?
They won't explode but it'll take a few weeks to get used to having the shoes on the wrong foot. Don't try putting your left foot on the right pedal and vice versa, it doesn't work well.
In seriousness they used to be dots not letters on the cleats and one way round had a shallower release angle the the other, the manual thing explained, I can never remember which way round was which.
*Aftermarket metal ones were available and good.
If you haven’t, wind in the pins for now at least.
If you haven’t, with CB pedals always use the black plastic* shims under the cleats (your shoes will thank you too)
There are easy release cleats available too I believe
Sadly all of the above were in place prior to ride
Sadly all of the above were in place prior to ride
Swapping cleats left to right might not work for easy release ones.
I feel your pain. I used Shimano spds for a good 20 years up until 2016 when I switched to flat pedals. Early this year decided to give clipless another try on my mtb as I’d been using them on the commuter bike and enjoyed the extra pedal power from stiff soles and being clipped in.
I bought some mallet e pedals and they’re very different from Shimano pedals. Much harder to get in and out of (tried the cleats both sides). I also had a couple of low speed spills on steep climbs where I stalled and then couldn’t clip out in time. It ended up making me nervous on anything technical so I’d clip out beforehand, so basically riding flat pedals with stiff shoes. It was at that point that I sold them and went back to flats.
It was at that point that I sold them and went back to flats.
I am considering this but they are so sexy looking 🙂
I haven’t used clipless for donks, went over to flats and never looked back, but I started with a Cannondale fitted with Shimano clipless, from a Specialized with toeclips, and pretty much never had an issue once I got the tension set up, the point being that Shimano pretty much got the tech right from the beginning, and I don’t think anyone really did any better. I’ve still got my original Shimano pedals out in the shed, I think they’re the 737’s? Heavy, but indestructible.
Yeah, they’re the XT PD-M737 pedals, heavy and overbuilt, but all the better for it.
I had this problem. I persevered and entertained friends for about 6 weeks with my comedy falls. Gave up and went back to shimano, no more problem
This is looking like an expensive pedal faux pas
Pedal fall pas surely?
Pedal fall pas surely?
someone is on form today 🙂
Too much shoe/ pedal interference?
Take off your pedals, take off your shoes and connect them together by hand.
Are you still able to achieve the float?
Do you see if/where they are binding?
Every new pedal has a learning curve though but if you've an odd sole interference then it'll be even more tricky.
Practice a bit more when at home and leaning against a wall. I find Shimano pedals you can pull up and outwards a bit whereas CB you just have to rotate outwards, CB also require you to go just a little bit further than Shimano even when you have the cleats set for minimum float.
Give it a bit more practice, I prefer CB pedals now I've got used to them but it did take a little while
I ride flats these days but used to ride spd.
Then thought I'd try Crank Bros.... Never ever got used to them and almost had a really bad incident when I fell outward into the middle of the road.
Went home and took them straight off and sold them.
I had been an SPD rider for years and had a brief go with egg beaters but didn't enjoy them. I think it was after a day at Revolution on M530's and Mavic disco slippers that I realised I needed something else. I switched to Mallet DH and wouldn't change back, I even had a quick ride on some spare SPD's last night and wasn't impressed
Shims under the cleats and wind most of the pins almost all the way in. Just ordered a new pair as the 8 year old set I've been using finally gave up last weekend, didn't even look at anything else as I can't fault them, well possibly the price but best pedal I've ever used. Shimano AM9 shoes
surely I'm not the only one who opened this thread expecting to hear that the pedal body had come off the axle..
surely I’m not the only one who opened this thread expecting to hear that the pedal body had come off the axle..
I even thought it when wrote it to be fair