I've been using some CB pedals for over a month now and am very happy with them. I am very cautious and will unclip whenever I may need to stop (road crossings, passing kids etc.) Hence I do a lot of clipping and unclipping on my rides. Is unclipping only possible at the very bottom of the stroke? Or should I be able to unclip at any spot in the cycle? Being that I can only unclip at the bottom forces me to anticipate well in advance. Please let me know if I am doing something wrong. Also, what's a "hotspot" with regards to clipless setups? TIA!

I have been using CB Quatros for about 2 months(my first clippless). I am having to force myself to learn to unclip from other than the bottom of the stroke, It is much harder, just use a firm fast motion. A hotspot is a spot on the bottom of your foot that gets sore because of the presure of the peddle not being evenly spread across you foot.

I've been using some CB pedals for over a month now and am very happy with them. I am very cautious and will unclip whenever I may need to stop (road crossings, passing kids etc.) Hence I do a lot of clipping and unclipping on my rides. Is unclipping only possible at the very bottom of the stroke? Or should I be able to unclip at any spot in the cycle? Being that I can only unclip at the bottom forces me to anticipate well in advance. Please let me know if I am doing something wrong. Also, what's a "hotspot" with regards to clipless setups? TIA!

IME, I slowly trained myself to learn to disengage from the pedal by always giving my foot a firm sideways twist. I've been using clipless for around 5 years, so it is all second nature to me now. You are right about it being easier on the bottom of the stroke. You are able to plant your foot firmly on the pedal and find the perpedicular direction to twist more easily.

Probably the best way to practice is on a stationary trainer. I sort of beat the thought process into my head by clipping and unclipping with the bike motionless (either in a trainer or leaning up against a wall). Give it time and you will soon feel naked when you ride a bike without clipless :) .

-R

Probably the best way to practice is on a stationary trainer. I sort of beat the thought process into my head by clipping and unclipping with the bike motionless (either in a trainer or leaning up against a wall). Give it time and you will soon feel naked when you ride a bike without clipless :) .

-R
Or, try in your backyard or other open field (preferably where there is no audience) come to a full stop -- still clipped in -- and practice getting a foot down before you fall over. You'll find that you favor one side over the other but try to keep it balanced because you never know which way you'll need to lean sometimes.

With the leg extended, the foot can be rotated much more powerfully than it can with the leg bent. So unclipping at the bottom of the stroke is correct.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you saying that you "need to anticipate well in advance" makes me think that you feel the need to pedal strongly forward until you get the pedal you're going to unclip to the bottom. That certainly works. But try this and see if you don't feel more at ease:

As you roll up to a road crossing, stop sign, etc., stop pedaling just as the pedal you're going to unclip is at the bottom. Now coast. If you went past that point, remember that you can pedal backwards to get the pedal to the bottom. No need to "go around again." Keep rolling towards your stopping point, pedal always at the bottom, until you feel you need to unclip.

My point is to break the stopping process into two parts.First: with the "unclip-pedal" at the bottom, coast and relax. Second, unclip when you need to.

god... i remember the time i was still getting used to clipless... the first time, i forgot about it and as I reached the stop sign i tried putting my foot on the curb and boy, did people laugh. I fell sideways into the curb. Ended getting bruises and a few cuts on my arm.

god... i remember the time i was still getting used to clipless... the first time, i forgot about it and as I reached the stop sign i tried putting my foot on the curb and boy, did people laugh. I fell sideways into the curb. Ended getting bruises and a few cuts on my arm.

Remind you of anything?

I just did this TODAY. And today was the first time I tried out my clipless shoes and pedals. This was about 10 minutes into my ride and I completely forgot about them. You know what happened next :) Of course a big SUV with two people in the front got to watch the whole show as I "rolled" to my side and let the bike go in the air above me....shoes still attached to pedals.

Classic. I just figure every noob has to go through that experience at least once so that from then on they won't forget.

I must admit, while I was initially embarrassed I now feel kind of "cool". I'm going to hit 30 years pretty soon and this little scrape reminded me of my skateboarding days 15 years ago. It's been a long time since I bailed on something.

Remind you of anything?

I just did this TODAY. And today was the first time I tried out my clipless shoes and pedals. This was about 10 minutes into my ride and I completely forgot about them. You know what happened next :) Of course a big SUV with two people in the front got to watch the whole show as I "rolled" to my side and let the bike go in the air above me....shoes still attached to pedals.
Classic. I just figure every noob has to go through that experience at least once so that from then on they won't forget.

I must admit, while I was initially embarrassed I now feel kind of "cool". I'm going to hit 30 years pretty soon and this little scrape reminded me of my skateboarding days 15 years ago. It's been a long time since I bailed on something.

Haha I got you beat, I had my clipped in incident in the middle of the bike department of a large outdoors gear retailer. Fun stuff

Anti-Gravity is right, after a while it will become second nature to you. You will be out of the pedals before you even realize you did it. You can expect to fall a couple of times when learning to use clipless pedals. We've all done it. If anyone says they haven't, they're lieing. IMO. The best part is, when you fall you are barely moving so it hurts your pride more than anything else.

Oh, and yes, you should be able to unclip from any position of the crank. Just remember to unclip the side you plan to put your foot down on. ;)

Anti-Gravity is right, after a while it will become second nature to you. You will be out of the pedals before you even realize you did it. You can expect to fall a couple of times when learning to use clipless pedals. We've all done it. If anyone says they haven't, they're lieing. IMO. The best part is, when you fall you are barely moving so it hurts your pride more than anything else.

Oh, and yes, you should be able to unclip from any position of the crank. Just remember to unclip the side you plan to put your foot down on. ;)
As others said, it'll become second nature and you'll do it when needed without thinking.

But the other side of the coin is that you'll get better at controlling your speed and balance at stop signs and crossings. Now if you're a firm believer in complete stops, this won't matter, but if you're like most of us, you'll slowly enter the intersection and wait for it to be clear and go without needing to stop.

Wise counsel to newbies on clipless:

Go ahead and fall over. It WILL happen anyway, so just get it done and behind you. Once you fall over, you will find out it's not that big a deal. You may lose some skin, but I've never heard of any serious injury from failing to clip out. Once you know it's not that big a deal, you'll worry about it less and focus less intently on it and start doing it instinctively, which is what you're striving for.

Oh, also: No matter how many years you ride, how experienced you are with clipless, about once a year or so something unexpected will come up and you'll fall over again. Guaranteed to happen at an embarrassing moment, like in front of some hot chicas. Just laugh and go on. It's just part of the deal when you sign up.

I've been using some CB pedals for over a month now and am very happy with them. I am very cautious and will unclip whenever I may need to stop (road crossings, passing kids etc.) Hence I do a lot of clipping and unclipping on my rides. Is unclipping only possible at the very bottom of the stroke? Or should I be able to unclip at any spot in the cycle? Being that I can only unclip at the bottom forces me to anticipate well in advance. Please let me know if I am doing something wrong. Also, what's a "hotspot" with regards to clipless setups? TIA!
I changed to Crank Brothers Candy SL's a couple of weeks ago. I've actually found them easier to clip out of than the various SPD models I've used in the past. It doesn't seem to take as much of a conscious effort, and has yet to fail, even when clipping out at the last second. At this point I don't even think much about clipping out anymore. It just happens and works.

With the SPD's it seemed on occasions it might snag. Haven't experienced that yet with the CB's.

The CB design allows the cleats to be positioned for either a 15 or 20 degree release angle. It's a cleaver idea and design. Make sure your's are positioned for the 15 degree release angle.:)

Hot Chicas think your more manly when you can laugh at yoreself anyway.

BT

From the Crank Brothers instructions:

Why are the two cleats different?
One cleat has two small dots in the center between the bolt holes, and the other cleat does not. If you put the cleat with two dots on it on your right shoe, then both feet release outwards at a 15 degree angle and if you put the one with the two little dots on your left shoe, then both feet release outwards at about 20 degrees. First-time users should start with the 15 degree release angle.

How can I change the release angle?
For a 15 degree release angle (earlier release) on both feet, place the cleat with the two dots on the right shoe. For a 20 degree release angle (later release) on both feet, place the cleat with the two circles on the left shoe.

I used the 15 degree angle and don't see any reason to ever change it.