@sabaray, just saw your post. How much time do you want to spend on the bike? Do you have access to a spinning bike for your workouts? If you PM me your email, I can send you a ton of varied ride profiles for indoor cycling that you could play with. If you are looking for heart rate based structured workouts, let me know that too and I can provide you with some additional info.
@Nrdsb4, MOWC posted some great info. I would add the following thoughts. When choosing a clipless pedal/shoe system (which is what the “clip in” systems are actually called), the most important thing to think through is what you type of riding you will use the shoes/pedals for. If you are going to be getting off the bike frequently and walking around or if you are going to be riding on terrain that is not a paved roadway or path you will definitely want a mountain bike style pedal/shoe system where the cleat is recessed and therefore the shoe is easy to walk on and the sole of the shoe has sneaker like treads that give you traction when on your feet. If you are going to be riding on paved surfaces and infrequently getting off the bike, road style shoes and pedal systems may suit you better.
The most noticeable difference between the 2 systems is walkability. But it doesn’t end there. Mtn bike style systems have a smaller cleat/pedal interface. If you are doing long rides, the smaller contact patch sometimes results in pressure point sensitivity unless you spend the money to get very stiff shoes. There are plenty of good shoes out there but be prepared to spend at least $150 to get Mtn Bike shoes that are stiff enough that you can do long rides without pressure spots developing during the ride. Within this style, the most common design is SPD cleat/pedal/shoe systems. There are other cleat systems but sticking with SPD will give you the broadest variety of shoe and pedal brands. An exception to this is Speedplay Frog mtn bike pedals. The Speedplay cleats are compatible on virtually all mtn bike shoes that take SPD cleats. More on Speedplay in a moment. Another thing to consider is that Mtn bike pedals are double sided, which means that you have less of a need to position the pedal when trying to clip in.
Road shoe/pedal systems generally have a much larger contact patch and are more efficient in transferring your pedaling energy. The only drawback is that the cleats are mounted on the surface of the sole of the shoe. If you need to get off the bike to walk, you generally walk like a duck with your toes up and your heels down. The soles of the shoes are a hard, stiff treadless material and are susceptible to slipping on walking surfaces. You also need to put rubber cleat covers on to avoid premature wear from walking and slipping. There are several major manufacturers of road pedal systems with the most frequently used ones being Look and Speedplay. Most road pedals are single sided, meaning you may need to spin the pedal to get things into position. Except for Speedplay road pedals which are double sided.
Whether road or Mtn, which brand and system works for you can be very subjective. That being said, I love and always recommend Speedplay pedals. Both their road and Mtn bike pedals are double sided. They are the easiest pedals in the industry to clip in and out of. I use Speedplay Frogs (Mtn bike pedals) on my cyclocross bike and Speedplay X’s on my road bikes (although the newer road Zero’s are now the rave- it would just be too expensive to change all my road bikes to Zero’s). The other great thing about Speedplay is that they are the easiest pedals in the industry to set up. You do not have to worry about the “toe in” of the cleats which is a concern with other systems to avoid knee alignment issues. They also have the greatest amounts of lateral float which facilitates the natural alignment of your foot/ankle/knee.
With practice, you will get proficient in the use of clipless pedals and will never switch back. Every new user’s fear is that they wont be able to unclip and will fall over at stops. I recommend riding your bike around on lawn areas and practice getting in and out. That way, if you do fall over, you’ll have a soft landing :).
Thanks for all the info. about the clip system. Yes, I am very fearful of falling! BUT I have been feeling I’m not getting the most efficiency out of my biking-I feel like there is some wasted energy going on, and I’m feeling more worn out than I need to as a result.
I will need to read these posts more carefully again!
Nrdsb4, after 2 weeks of riding clipless, it will be second nature. Just take the time at first to think through unclipping when coming to a stop and making sure that you shift your weight to the side that you unclip on so that your bike leans in that direction. It’s embarrassing when you unclip on the left but lean to the right as you stop. I know, I’ve done it! Seriously though, once you switch to clipless you will never want to switch back.
Nrdsb, I recommend copy/pasting the content of the posts you find helpful into a word or some sort of notepad file. This thread moves fast, and fishing for posts could be a challenge!
I copied everything for Mr. - Maybe I can convince that it time to graduate into a real bike. He refuses to get a real bike. Rides his crappy unisex mountain bike we got for kiddo ages ago. He is really proud that he can pass some well-outfitted Microsofties on his punk bike. I keep dragging him to the local stores after our rides/runs and hoping that someone would swipe the punk bike out of our truck’s open bed! No takers so far. Rolleyes.
Awesome, Michael - I am looking at cycling probably 3 times a week, up to an hour - that’s about my tolerance for indoor exercise. Definitely can access a spin bike at the gym - they’re pretty lonely most of the time! Am sending my email, thank you so much!
Nrdsb4- You will appreciate this. Back in my triathlon days in Dallas, I was riding one morning before work and was coming back westbound on Forest Lane near Medical City hospital and climbing the short hill up to Hillcrest. I got going too slowly in morning traffic, couldn’t unclip in time and fell over in the middle of Forest Lane. I was blocking the whole lane of traffic and cars were honking at me- like I WANTED to be lying in the street! It’s hard to get unhooked from the other pedal when you are on the ground! It was not a good moment. One of our local friends here did the same thing and reported “All the cars were honking and wondering why this giant black man was lying in the street attached to his bicycle!” Don’t mean to scare you off- it does become second nature, but you do have to be aware!
^^^^Yeah, that is my concern. I stay off city streets, though; I’m just too chicken. I’ve been doing White Rock a lot lately and plan to check out some trails north of Dallas soon.
I am friends with a female physician that was either hit on her bike or the vehicle came close enough and caused her to have such a severe head injury (cracked her helmet); happened in relatively smaller town in TN and the driver didn’t stop but may (charitable thought) have been unaware that she was in trouble; that Vanderbilt did not think she would make it - she had huge pools of blood in her brain even 30 days after the injury while she was still recovering; her husband fought for her and made them not give up on her. She is disabled but alive and has pretty good physical movement - wears a special glove on one hand and something bracing her one knee; she just has lost a lot of mental ability and can only write a few very short notes. Verbal skills are good. She actually knew from before med school that she would have a very major medical issue (but didn’t know what it was). While initially recovering from the brain injury, she actually saw her deceased mom who said it wasn’t time for her and sent her back from after-life.
In our area of the country, not high caution for bikers, and not the penalty for any carelessness by drivers.
This is just like sensitivity to things like impaired driving - some states are harsh (as they should be) while others seem to have impaired drivers getting picked up over and over w/o jail time.
Bikers in our area go out really early morning hours so they have no traffic, and go on green-ways and really wide areas with a group. Research park area on weekends.
I’m a big fan of the Speedplay pedals. 20 years ago I couldn’t use the Look style clip ins . Bad knee pain. Love the lateral play of the Speefplays. No knee pain. Gained an extra 2 mph be switching to clip ins.
Nrdsb4, given your comments about where you intend to ride, I would definitely go with a mtn bike pedal and shoe system. For pedals, look at Shimano, Crank Brothers and Speedplay. For shoes, look at Shimano, Specialized and Sidi. In shoes, price gets you sole stiffness, weight and fastening systems. In pedals, price gets you weight. Look for comfort and sole stiffness in the shoes. Look for contact patch size and ease of unclipping in the pedals. My favorites are Sidi and Speedplay Frogs.
Great workout with trainer today–lots of body weight exercises plus working with kettle bells.
Re bike shoes–I don’t bike outside, but I do spinning. The shoes help so much that I won’t go to spin class if I don’t have my bike shoes. I have Shimano shoes, which I got at a bike store in Boston.
So far I’ve been able to stay on my marathon training plan with the travel here in China. Tomorrow will be the real test, with the plan calling for a 13 mile run. I’m going to run first thing in the morning so hopefully that will help with the heat. It has been 100-104 degrees in the evenings this week when I have been running, so it will be a lot better early in the morning. In Shangai, sunrise is at 5:09am and I have been awake by then every morning so far (the joys of international travel!).
BB-awesome job with those treadmill runs. I hate running on a treadmill and now I’m super paranoid about them as well. Not too long after Dave Goldberg died, the president of our division at work had a treadmill accident and broke his neck. He’s doing fine now after surgery to fuse two vertebrae, but it just terrifies me!
I enjoyed reading the comments about how supportive and encouraging everyone is on this thread and how there isn’t any competition amongst each other - we are all setting our own goals and challenges. And I agree that the accountability push is a big help. So now I’ll have to push through those 13 miles tomorrow morning to be able to get online and say I did it!
Good luck with those miles, C3Baker! Is it Shanghai that has an issue with air quality or am I thinking of somewhere else?
Our area is big on mountain and trail biking - not so much on the spinning. Thanks to Michael I now have some options for indoor activity that won’t bore me to death! On a plus note, my legs are starting to feel better and perhaps next week I’ll be able to start doing some run/walks as the article Bunsen posted suggested. Not going to overdo it though or push it, which is really hard for me! I’ve been wearing hideous but comfortable shoes to work, only changing them when I need to see a client. Our fashionistas would not approve!
Thank you. This has become such a fun thing for me, and good for me as well, so price will be no object. I don’t spend money on clothes, shoes, or purses, so I feel justified in splurging. I want the best for my program, form, anatomy, etc.
Seriously though, once you switch to clipless you will never want to switch back.