Learn to Ride a Road Bike With Clips
It’s never too old to learn to ride a bike—and the same saying goes for never being too old to learn to ride a road bike with clips, as well! Although you’ve gotten this far in your life without having to clip into your bike, today is always a great day to start something new.
Some may consider riding a road bike with clips a major step in the journey to becoming a better cyclist—even possibly a pro! And this is so true—if you move to ride a bike with clips, then you’ve taken a major leap in becoming a more high-performing cyclist!
What does it mean to ride a road bike with clips?
By locking your cycling shoes in place, then this eliminates the possibility that they slip around while you’re riding. This can help your legs stay more aligned and prevent any injuries due to a misalignment in your knee, ankle, and hips. By clipping in, your feet are then forced to stay in place and not slip around, which makes it harder for your body to get into bad form while cycling.
This can also make riding much more comfortable for your feet. Although some may think that clipping in can cause some discomfort, it’s actually quite the opposite!
When you’re riding, especially for longer times, then it can be hard to keep your body in proper form for the entire ride. As your ride gets longer and longer, then it’s more of a possibility that your form is also compromised.
So, biking with clips can be a great way for you to help bypass or at least minimize the possibility of this injury.
Making the Switch
Whether you’ve been riding for a long time or you’ve just got started without clips and are looking to make the switch, this article can help you with tips and tricks on how to get started and get used to riding a road bike with clips.
Seen as a possible “rite of passage”
when it comes to taking the next step on your learning how to ride like a pro journey, switching to clipless pedals can help you not only feel like but be like a proper cyclist. However, learning how to ride with pedals can help you avoid injury and can present a few difficulties at first.
If you’re worried about first falling over and hurting yourself, you may want to consider practicing on either a stationary bike at your local store or even mounting your regular bike next to a sturdy surface where you’re able to hold your balance. This can help you make that transition from off the bike to on the bike without much trouble.
Once you’ve stepped into your pedals, start off by going backward, first. This can help you get used to the feeling of the clips without having to worry about biking forward and moving away from your safe wall or balancing object!
Getting out of the pedals is also something you want to be able to familiarize yourself with. To do so is quite easy—all you need to do is twist your heel away from the bike with little to no force. At no point should this process be painful or make you feel uncomfortable. You may first have to work on your balance, but this is normal—the process takes time to learn. Make sure when you’re doing this, that your foot is parallel to the crank. That way, you’ll avoid tangling your foot up and through the pedal.
Before you get out on the road, we would definitely recommend you practicing beforehand until you feel comfortable doing so on your own!
What are clipless pedals?
This is when you’re riding a bike out in the real world but it may feel like you’re in a cycle class on a stationary bike. A clipless pedal means that your shoes are held in place by a spring mechanism.
If you don’t quite understand that—no problem! Just think about it as if you’re on a pair of skis—locked in and held in place.
Although there are a ton of negative feelings often associated with locking your feet into the pedals of your bike—for example, the fear of not being in control or being “imprisoned” to your bike if something goes wrong—there are some benefits to it!
Fortunately, if you are able to slow the bike down with enough time, you’re going to be able to get your foot out of the pedals before you have to stop. If you do have to make a short-distanced stop, this is where some issues can happen, increasing the risk of falling to the side while still clipped in.
So, with all the risk—what’s the point of clipping in?
Riding a road bike with clips, as we mentioned before, can have some benefits. Some of the advantages include giving your foot a more guided, consistent position throughout your ride so it’s not going to be moving forward, backward or sideways on the pedal. This can be comforting if you’re going on a long ride and don’t want to exert extra energy doing so.
Having this feature is also great for safety when it comes to the risk of injury.
It also helps you bike more efficiently. A clipless pedal will give you the perfect environment to be able to apply power more efficiently throughout the stroke, keeping the force you exert more consistent—even on your longer rides. As you get better and better on your bike, you’ll also feel more comfortable clipping into your bike pedals without worrying about falling over. Plus, once you do fall over (if that happens), you’ll have it happen once and know what to do.
Investing in a Pedal Clip System
For the biking newbie, this part is important to familiarize yourself so you don’t go into a bike store completely lost!
In this section, we’re going to go through the clipless pedal system and the different parts it has. Learning how to ride a road bike with clips means knowing what you’re dealing with.
In this case, you’re going to be working with pedals, cycling shoes, and cleats. These three parts are essential to any pedal system to work properly. If you are new to cycling and haven’t yet invested in a pair of cycling shoes, this should be something to consider.
In this next section, we’re going to talk about some tips for when you’re on the road to help make your experience as comfortable and as easygoing as possible.
Practical Tips
If you’ve already taken the time to invest in clips, then you’re going to have to take some more time to learn how to best use them and advance your biking.
First and foremost, you should start off by learning how to feel comfortable getting in and out of the pedals with ease. To help you get used to the feeling, here are our tips:
- Don’t worry about locking your feet completely into the pedals before you begin moving. Just because your feet are not locked in, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the pedals won’t work! Actually, on the contrary—you should get yourself comfortable with clipping yourself in after you’ve been able to get your bike up to speed.
- Try your best and plan ahead when you need to stop your bike. As we mentioned earlier, the worst-case scenario with clips is that you’re not able to unclip yourself before you stop your bike. This may mean that you could be stuck in your bike as you fall to the ground, without any way to stop it! You should make it a priority to start dislodging from the clips at least 25 yards away from the desired stop point. This can give you an ample amount of space and time to stop effectively.
Being able to master these two tips can definitely help you feel more and more comfortable when it comes to doing so and riding with bike clips without any trouble.
After you’re fully comfortable getting in and out of the clips with no movement and then slow movement, it’s time to turn to our next and final tip:
Make sure you practice!
You can even practice with these clips if you have a stationary bike. This can help you feel comfortable with the entire process and setting up the bike without having to worry about falling over when you’re in (fast) motion.
If you don’t have a stationary bike at home, check with your local bike shop to see if you’re able to simply practice with theirs.
We hope this article has helped you learn the ins and outs of how to ride a road bike with clips! With these tips and tricks, you’re that much closer to feeling comfortable on a bike with clips, which can help you feel even closer to becoming a biking pro!