[CaroCO]

I've recently switched to clipless after a couple of years on flats and am struggling with the shoes sliding around while clipped in. I'm on XTR trails and Specialized Tahoe shoes. I've got them setup loose while I learn, but even at about 3/4 to full tightness on the pedal, I am sliding around a lot in turns, greatly reducing my confidence on more technical trials. I feel like I'm going to just slide out of the clip if I put any amount of lateral pressure on the pedal. I ride in Colorado so usually pretty dry and dusty.

Has anyone else had this issue? I was considering adding skateboard tape to the platform on the pedal around the clip before buying new shoes. I'm used to using my weight on outer and inner edges of the pedal for control when using flats, but just can't bring myself to trusting the clip with it moving around so much. I've considered moving to CB mallets, but have heard so many bad things I'd rather stay with old reliable. Any ideas? Are the shoes just terrible? I've looked at other shoes like the Terraduro and see the same vertical line around the cleat, leading me to believe I'd have this issue regardless of what shoe I wore.

These are my current shoes.


Thanks!

 

[Legbacon]

Do the soles contact the pedal platform. If not, maybe the shoe, pedal combo is not a good one.

 

[TwoTone]

Clipless is just a different feeling, it's the cleat that holds you to the pedal. A lot of them have some float, it's why I rode Time pedals when I did run clipless The platform has pretty much nothing to do with it- look at all the clipless pedals without any platform- like egg beaters.

 

[CaroCO]

Looks like it's mashing on there just fine, but maybe I need to move the cleat left/right a bit to get it where I want it.

 

[Blatant]

Did you adjust the tension on the pedals?

 

[CaroCO]

Yes. I have them all the way loose after breaking my body on moab's slickrock, but they were just as slippy with them tightened almost all the way.

 

[RS VR6]

As TwoTone mentioned...you are feeling the "float" with the cleat and pedal interface. Tightening the tension won't affect the way the float feels. Flat pedals don't allow float and it's probably something you just got used to.

 

[CaroCO]

Ya I'm definitely not used to float. Feels like I'm just going to fly off the pedal if I put any pressure on it. I think I'm going to try the tape and see if that gets me where I'm comfortable.

 

[alexbn921]

Looks like there is too much space between the tread of your shoe and the contact points of the pedal. Did you install the plastic spacers under your cleats? If so take them out. You want the shoe to be solid against the pedal with just enough pressure that you can still float them side to side. If you can't move the shoes after you clip in then it can hurt your knees.

 

[CaroCO]

Thanks, Alex. I haven't used the spacers. I'm going to take another look at it tomorrow and see what I can sort out. It's rainy here so it's project time!

 

[alexbn921]

A picture of the bottom of your shoe might help

 

[CaroCO]

A picture of the bottom of your shoe might help

Should be in the first post. Is it not showing up?

 

[Jayem]

I'm not a big fan of the trail pedals, I find the marginal platform does not offset the worse clipping-in compared to 545/647s and regular non-caged pedals. I run the regular 520, XT and XTR pedals most of the time and only run the trail pedals on some DH runs. I think the draw is people look at these as compared to 545s and 647s and see how light they are and then can't justify the heavier pedals. The heavier ones are significantly better and more secure though, so much so that I'd recommend them over the "trail" every day. IMO, the "trail" is a minimalist approach for the racer-types.

 

[CaroCO]

Welp. I just gave it a closer look and the shoe's rubber is contacting nicely with the pedal platform area, but it's flat metal, so it's not like there's going to be a whole lot of grip there anyway. This is my first go at clips so maybe I'm expecting something I shouldn't. I'm going to try the grip tape and see how that does and just figure out how to trust the pedals more.

 

[Lone Rager]

Yeah. As others have mentioned, clipless is a whole 'nother thing. Set up properly, your foot can rotate a bit (float), and there is very little resistance to prevent your foot from rotating, but it won't come out unless you want it to. You get used to this. I rode clipless for nearly 20 years before switching to flats on some bikes. That's probably a lot weirder than going flats to clipless. I still ride clipless in some conditions.

No matter what, I can get my foot out and down significantly quicker with flats than I can with clipless, so it's a trade-off.

 

[J.B. Weld]

This is my first go at clips so maybe I'm expecting something I shouldn't.

I think so. I agree with the Lone Ranger and RS VR6, clipless shoes "float" on the pedals which probably feels pretty weird if you've been on sticky flats for awhile. I think the pedal/shoe interface is fine.

 

[TwoTone]

What are you trying to gain, because you will lose some skills with clipless.

 

[CaroCO]

What are you trying to gain, because you will lose some skills with clipless.

I much prefer climbing in the clips but I'm still not there with descending. I had a free pair of these pedals laying around so I figured I'd give it a go with some inexpensive shoes. I'm still worlds more confident descending on flats and since I'm going to try my hand at enduro racing this year, I'll probably just stay with those for the parts that matter. It's just so nice not being totally gassed after a climb. I rode flats the other day for the first time in a month and was dying on the climbs.

 

[alexbn921]

I meant your shoe not a generic picture. Anyway if you put a ruler across your shoe over the cleat everything should be on the same level. If you tread or cleat is sticking up then something is wrong.

 

[TwoTone]

I much prefer climbing in the clips but I'm still not there with descending. I had a free pair of these pedals laying around so I figured I'd give it a go with some inexpensive shoes. I'm still worlds more confident descending on flats and since I'm going to try my hand at enduro racing this year, I'll probably just stay with those for the parts that matter. It's just so nice not being totally gassed after a climb. I rode flats the other day for the first time in a month and was dying on the climbs.

I would think that has more to do with technique. I went back to flats after over 20 years on clipless, don't notice a difference on climbs.

I did notice the degradation of skills that clipless allowed me to get lazy on over the years, like bunny hops etc.