Time to take my life in my feet!

[Kermit power]

Morning all,

I've been using SPDs on my road bikes for years, and wouldn't go back to flats for anything.

My MTB, on the other hand, has DMR v12 flats, and I've always been rather wary of being less able to predict when I might need to get a foot down in a hurry off road!

Thanks to CRC wanting to charge me £1.99 postage for a tiny bit of plastic, however, I just ended up browsing around for something else relatively inexpensive to buy to take me over the free postage threshold (yes, I know, not the best economic decision!) and have decided to try SPDs on my MTB as well.

I'm thinking I'll just start them out nice and loose and hope I don't manage to embarrass or damage myself too much! I'm completely comfortable getting in and out of the things in predictable circumstances on the road, but if anyone has any tips for using them off road, feel free to comment.

[rhinochopig]

I've always ridden SPDs on my MTB and never had problem getting unclipped if needed - even when going over the bars at speed. As you say just start with them loose.

Re-starting on a hill if you've stalled can be a little tricky though so always get one clipped in first and really hammer the first few pedal strokes to give yourself the momentum to re-clip. I'd advise against trying to clip straight in at the start.

[The Walrus]

If you want a quick and easy system I found crank brothers candy's much better than SPD's

I have SPD's on my MTB and find them much harder to locate than the candy's the only downside was cost and life of the cleats compared to SPD and the fact they were harder to use in normal shoes which is why I now have the XT SPD.

[Kermit power]

The Walrus said:

If you want a quick and easy system I found crank brothers candy's much better than SPD's

I have SPD's on my MTB and find them much harder to locate than the candy's the only downside was cost and life of the cleats compared to SPD and the fact they were harder to use in normal shoes which is why I now have the XT SPD.

Sadly, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I've already got summer shoes, winter boots and two other bikes all on SPDs!

[daddy cool]

Didnt realise CRC now charged postage... try Ribble - im using them increasingly more now, as they are free postage and quite often the parts are cheaper too (and occasional discounts on top too)
As for SPDs, i'd never have anything else on my MTB - never not been able to unclip in time. At ~£15-£20 for Shimano M520's its a no-brainer.

[Kermit power]

daddy cool said:

Didnt realise CRC now charged postage... try Ribble - im using them increasingly more now, as they are free postage and quite often the parts are cheaper too (and occasional discounts on top too)
As for SPDs, i'd never have anything else on my MTB - never not been able to unclip in time. At ~£15-£20 for Shimano M520's its a no-brainer.

They only charge £1.99 postage on orders under £9 and nothing on orders over £9, which seems fair enough.

[JEA1K]

Kermit power said:

They only charge £1.99 postage on orders under £9 and nothing on orders over £9, which seems fair enough.

Yep, I bought a new cassette for my winter bike on Monday for £11.99 ... using CRC's free postage it was delivered on Tuesday.

[HughG]

JEA1K said:

Yep, I bought a new cassette for my winter bike on Monday for £11.99 ... using CRC's free postage it was delivered on Tuesday.

Lucky you, ordered some bibs and a jersey on Thursday afternoon and they didn't turn up until Tuesday, and that was with their £2 express delivery as I really wanted them for the weekend.

[Kermit power]

HughG said:

JEA1K said:

Yep, I bought a new cassette for my winter bike on Monday for £11.99 ... using CRC's free postage it was delivered on Tuesday.

Lucky you, ordered some bibs and a jersey on Thursday afternoon and they didn't turn up until Tuesday, and that was with their £2 express delivery as I really wanted them for the weekend.

They do seem rather hit and miss. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one though, as I placed the order for pedals and plastic thingy at 10:09 this morning, and got an email at 12:45 to tell me they'd dispatched it, which makes me hope I'll have it by Monday at the latest.

[MiseryStreak]

I went for SPDs for the first time with my new mountain bike last month. I haven't regretted it at all, I've had a couple of moments, both on the same black run in the mud at Bedgebury Forest, but they seem to have a panic release system where if you panic enough they pop out just in time!

After having DMR V12s myself for 15+ years I now think there's no comparison, having to think about placing your feet, no connection to the bike, scraping your shins occasionally, only being able to push when spinning uphill - awful! I always hated SPDs, I thought they were for middle aged roadie scum, then I realised I was middle aged roadie scum and have embraced them fully. I now scoff at the kids with their flatties as I blast past them (not really).

I got the Shimano M530 pedals, they are great as very good value for money (Just get Evans to price match Wiggle or CRC and then you can try them out) and as they are 'hybrid' pedals they allow you to get some power down and speed up before clipping in, useful pretty much everywhere.

Pedals are cheapest here or Wiggle, with free delivery it says:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-m530-sp...

The Shimano M088 shoes I got are got are also wonderful to the point where I now want to get Shimano road shoes too, the ratchet strap is genius, I'd have one on all my shoes if it didn't make me look a bit too special needs.

I reviewed them here:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shimano/m088-s...

[Matt London]

Kermit power said:

HughG said:

JEA1K said:

Yep, I bought a new cassette for my winter bike on Monday for £11.99 ... using CRC's free postage it was delivered on Tuesday.

Lucky you, ordered some bibs and a jersey on Thursday afternoon and they didn't turn up until Tuesday, and that was with their £2 express delivery as I really wanted them for the weekend.

They do seem rather hit and miss. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one though, as I placed the order for pedals and plastic thingy at 10:09 this morning, and got an email at 12:45 to tell me they'd dispatched it, which makes me hope I'll have it by Monday at the latest.

I stopped using them after they moved to shipping everything in boxes and taking longer to get them out of the door.

Shame really...

[Kermit power]

Matt London said:

Kermit power said:

HughG said:

JEA1K said:

Yep, I bought a new cassette for my winter bike on Monday for £11.99 ... using CRC's free postage it was delivered on Tuesday.

Lucky you, ordered some bibs and a jersey on Thursday afternoon and they didn't turn up until Tuesday, and that was with their £2 express delivery as I really wanted them for the weekend.

They do seem rather hit and miss. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one though, as I placed the order for pedals and plastic thingy at 10:09 this morning, and got an email at 12:45 to tell me they'd dispatched it, which makes me hope I'll have it by Monday at the latest.

I stopped using them after they moved to shipping everything in boxes and taking longer to get them out of the door.

Shame really...

I ordered a pair of pedals and a plastic thingy yesterday with free postage. If I hadn't locked myself out of the house, I would've made it to the Post Office in time to collect them this afternoon!

I also got some new disc rotors and pads from them earlier in the week, and those came in a small package rather than a box, so it does seem as though their shipping may have reverted to previous.