Not falling for clipless

By Cycling UK
At your suggestion I bought Shimano MT60 shoes and A530 pedals. I had problems releasing the shoes from the cleats even at the lightest setting. After several crashes onto my side I gave up and went back to flat pedals. I am now considering cleats again. One ankle has an old skiing injury and doesn't like twisting. Is there a similar but easier-to-release cleat system?

David South

I should’ve suggested fitting the alternative multi-release cleat, SM-SH56, to your shoes. Some Shimano pedals, those models especially aimed at beginners, come with that cleat, which releases with either an outward or inward twist – and with less force – or even with just a hard upward pull. In combination with an SPD pedal on minimum tension, this cleat releases more easily and with a smaller twist than any other system that I’ve tried.

Unfortunately, I haven’t tried Shimano’s Click’R pedals. They were new last year and reviewed in Aug/Sep Cycle, but the report got a few things wrong. The model name should be PD-T700 and the picture was of an altogether different pedal!

Since I didn’t review them, I can only repeat Shimano’s information that the springs are 60% weaker and that a Click’R pedal adjusted to half tension should be about the same as a standard SPD on minimum. And all Click’R pedals naturally come with multi-release cleats. Our reviewer, who also found it difficult to get out of normal SPDs, liked them a lot.

So if you’re not sure the multi-release cleat alone will be enough improvement, do try a pair of PD-T700 Click’R pedals.

(David subsequently wrote back to say: ‘I have now fitted the PD-T700 pedals and SM-SH56 cleats, and they certainly seem to be the answer for me – many thanks!’)

Chris Juden

 

This was first published in the February / March 2015 edition of Cycling UK's Cycle magazine.

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