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Hi all,

Just a quick one today - I have recently been looking into riding clipless instead of flats as I have really been struggling with parts of my local trails, especially sharp ascents. I took the plunge on Sunday and ordered myself some Shimano XC30 MTB Cleated shoes with some Shimano M530 SPD pedals (both of which should be here early this week).

My question is simply, do you guys have any tips to clipless riding? My dad does a lot of road riding and he says it makes it a lot easier to climb hills and its a lot more efficient.

Thanks guys!

Ive tried, hate them !! although can see benefit in peddle efficiency<had no confidence riding trails !which meant for me no fun

Slacken them right off to start with and enjoy the low speed spills you will have a few
I'm back on flats as I had a few years off and lost confidence so was bottling everything clipped in

I love the feeling of being attached to the bike, but for steeper stuff or jumpy stuff glats all the way.
My tip is ride somewhere you know really well for your maiden voyage.

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Also being able to trackstand can come in handy!

If in doubt take both feet out
i fell in a ditch as i took the wrong foot out on my maiden voyage
you get used to them real quick, but i am only talking road stuff which is different but tbh i don't take my feet off that much when mtb'ing
i'm tempted to try them on my dh bike soon

Thanks for the tips guys! Just planning on going for a blitz around the local park before attempting any longer journeys with them! any chance of them popping out easily on the trails? I don't do too technical bits (don't think the bike could handle it) so it should be okay, right?

That depends on how much tension you have set on the pedals, how much force you apply on the upstroke of the pedal cycle and whether your foot rotates left and right when you ride (cleats with a bit of float will help here). To be honest, I wouldn't worry too much about that, just wind the tension right out to the lowest setting, prop the bike up again the wall and sit on it. Then practice clipping in and out. Go for a ride and take the allen key with you, if you are coming unclipped then increase the tension by 1 click (both side of each pedal) and ride some more until you think it's right. Take the allen key with you for the next few rides. Good choice of pedals, they're bombproof. I've had mine for about 3 years and never had a problem with them that wasn't my fault!

Only prob I had with shimano was there is not enough float for my dodgy knee. So I swapped to crank bros pedals but see how you go and enjoy

I recently put clips on my enduro bike and I did topple over a couple of times to start with haha, but unclipping starts to feel natural after a while. The only times i have had problems with unclipping by accident was riding some pretty techy stuff like inners and aston, and was mostly due to being lazy and not dropping my heels!

also, snapping a chain on a steep climb can be catastrophic as I found out!

Oh god that sounds nasty!

Simon rides clips and some how he managed to unclip mid air / crash / bridge /ditch at Epping the other day at speed and come running out the other side without bike and he crashes a lot and seems to manage to get unattached every time, its most comical to watch... never a dull moment ! LOL

I look forward to this experience! Better wear shin pads the first few times LOL. As I said, my dad swears by them so hey! Nothing lost. Look forward to riding the trails on Saturday morning with the new cleats! Nothing better than being thrown into the deep end! Haha.

I look forward to this experience! Better wear shin pads the first few times LOL. As I said, my dad swears by them so hey! Nothing lost. Look forward to riding the trails on Saturday morning with the new cleats! Nothing better than being thrown into the deep end! Haha.

Riding clips is like learning to ride a bike........just keep pedalling dude and good stuff happens!